My Life With the Saints by James Martin Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of My Life With the Saints
Book Review: wonderful book to start with the saints life
Summary: 4 Stars
I got struck by this book among other introdectory books to saints' life. SJ Martin was a excellent reader of biography of saints as well as of his own life. He introduced several of his favorite saints with the real life impact on his experience. I recommend this book to every one who is not so familiar with Catholic saints' story but very keen on learning and understanding their virtues.Book Review: great read
Summary: 5 Stars
In this book James Martin shares a portion of his personal faith journey while introducing a different saint in each chapter. I am inspired to read more about his personal decision to leave the corporate world and pursue his vocation as a Jesuit priest. If he is as good on the pulpit as he is with his pen, he likely preaches to a packed church every Sunday -- he tells a a great story and inspires you at the same time. Book Review: A CHARMING INTRODUCTION TO MARTIN AND SOME OF HIS SAINTLY FRIENDS
Summary: 5 Stars
I came to this book from Martin's smaller Lourdes Diary, and found, as I had hoped, more of the same kind of writing. In fact, Lourdes Diary is equivalently chapter 7 of the larger book, which consequently provides more or less 18 times the material for only double the price, a real bargain. Both books are spiritual memoirs in which Martin writes about his own history and spiritual experiences, and gives us in each chapter a brief story of some appropriate favorite saint (in the broad sense of that term). For a Jesuit, a former corporate business man, and now an America magazine editor, he sketches this parallelism in a surprisingly ingenuous way. He will also occasionally develop at greater length some pertinent aspect of the spiritual life in general. The book is facilely written and easily read. Martin is conversational, charming and humorous. In Catholic theology the saints are more than just inspirations and models; they are a real and interactive presence. Martin presents them as both patrons and friends, in a way that might lead some to a discovery or rediscovery of the saints and their place in the Christian life. If that is the case, Martin also recommends further reading material about each of the saints he mentions. It is good, light and edifying reading. Enjoy.
Book Review: A Different Kind of "Lives of the Saints"
Summary: 5 Stars
Though a devout Catholic, I normally find "Lives of the Saints" books very dry and alienating. This book is different. The author makes the saints he writes about come alive by relating how they have very personally affected his own life. In many cases he has visited their homes and/or villages, seminaries and convents. In some cases he has met people who knew the saints. He includes many modern-day saints, some not yet canonized by the Church. The book has a strong and warm Jesuit orientation but many lay and clerical people would find this book moving and inspiring. This book is intellectual but very readable. Book Review: Inspirational Tale of Holiness
Summary: 4 Stars
Did you ever have a plastic statue of St. Jude in your sock drawer? Fr. James Martin did. When he was a teen, he was afraid his friends would see the statue if it were prominently displayed in his room so he relegated this "Saint of Impossible Causes" to the sock drawer where he couldn't cause any embarrassment. That is just one of the stories Fr. Martin shares in "My Life with the Saints," a spiritual memoir focusing on how he became introduced to various saints and the impact they have had on his life.
Fr. Martin provides a brief biographical sketch on each of these saints who have had such an influence on him. In the process, we too become introduced, or perhaps reintroduced to these models of holiness. We may also learn some lessons from these saints along the way, like the way Thomas Merton " gave up trying to run his life according to his own plan, preferring to let God do so, instead" or St. Ignatius of Loyola who encourages us "not to be so attached to anything or person or state of life that it prevents us from loving God." St. Bernadette Soubirous who saw the Virgin Mary at Lourdes is a "model of fidelity, and a witness to the importance of trusting one's experience, no matter what the consequences," while Blessed Mother Teresa continued to serve God and do His will even as she suffered a dark night of the soul for much of her life.
Fr. Martin has an easy writing style. Interspersed with his portrayal of these saints (and many others) are stories from his own life which reveal much about the meaning of vocation and what life is like for a Jesuit today. "My Life with the Saints" is a pleasure to read. Perhaps the most important lesson to take from this book is that each saint is different, called to holiness in his or her own way. So, too, are we. "each of us brings something to the table, and we each, through our own gifts, manifest a personal way of holiness that enlivens the community."