Booklist Review
Ellsberg's hagiography and book of feast days notices non-Christians and even victims of those calling themselves Christians, such as Giordano Bruno, burned at the stake for heresy, for the criterion for inclusion is possession of "heroic sanctity," by which Ellsberg means contributing profoundly to humanity. Of course, Christian saints are included, also biblical heroes uncanonized by any religious organization, and such political figures as Gandhi. This more than makes up for exclusion of those sanctified by non-Christian religions. In any event, this is a rich resource because Ellsberg has chosen carefully. Proceeding in typical hagiographic form--day by day through the year--Ellsberg notes his saints on their traditional feast days, birthdays, or, for the uncanonized deceased, death days. Those whose dates are unknown (e.g., Moses) are arbitrarily assigned a day. This superb addition for biography collections has obvious reference value and also gives readers so minded someone to celebrate spiritually every day. --Jeff Ahrens
Library Journal Review
Saints have typically been figures from the distant past, canonized for miraculous lives of perfection and self-denial. Orbis editor-in-chief Ellsberg here redefines this stereotype in this diverse and substantial compendium of the lives of men and women, ancient and contemporary, who gave themselves completely to their vocations. Well-known saints, apostles, and martyrs take their place beside lesser-known figures (the woman with a flow of blood who touched Jesus' hem), theologians and philosophers (e.g., Martin Buber, Simone Weil, Kierkegaard), artists (Van Gogh, Mozart, J.S. Bach), literary figures (Dante, Tolstoy), social reformers (Gandhi, Schweitzer), and numerous others who do not fit into neat categories. A different figure is introduced for each day of the year to coincide with feast days or birth/death dates, and helpful biographical sources are provided. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
