My Life With the Saints

I almost deleted this book after the first 20 minutes. I had just listened to a purely factual book and expected 'My Life with the Saints' to be similar: a condensed biography of a selection of saints. It seemed too slow and conversational. But then I understood that this was his "life" with the Saints, not a book about the "lives of the Saints". Well it isn't. It interweaves the life of James Martin with lessons and some history of the Saints he selects. To use a cliche, he "makes the Saints come alive". Through the book you see the relevance of these Saints in a modern world, to the poor in Africa, to the homeless, to the student and office workers. There are some who are not canonized Saints - Pedro Arupe for example and Thomas Merton. But what "saintly" lives they led. And then there is the very last chapter. It brings perspective to "sainthood" that I hardly imaged. That was the great tour de force. I listened to the book over about a month to and from work and was excited to see who the next Saint was. I miss Father Martin's conversational style and the people - both Saints and the "ordinary" people he met in his travels. This is a great start if any one wants to visit with the Saints prior to jumping headlong into biographies of individual ones. I hope he writes / records volume 2. By the way, I am not Catholic - but my life was inspired by these men and women through the book.

I never dreamed that I would get as much out of this book as I have. I thought just another dreary account of the saints. The cover artwork was the attraction. Surprise! Father Martin is a wonderful, personal author. The saints he selected have always artracted my attention. Joan of Arc the brve. Teresa of Liseaux the sweet, holy saint. Thomas Merton, my favorite. St. Ignatius who's Exercises have enriched my journey. I am indepted to the author for sharing his story and I will continue to recommend his book to others.
God blesses you Father Martin and your readers too.
Carol Gorman

I loved this book because not only do you learn a lot about many saints, the author weaves them into his own autobiographical sketch. He highlights the saints meaning to him during a partcular time in his life. His story is also a testament to the energetic and interesting life a Jesuit leads. This book would be great for everyone, but especially good for someone considering the priesthood or religious life.

I was so excited to see St Anthony Messenger Press titles added to Audible that I quickly used up all my accumulated credits on several. In fact, I misread the title of this and thought it was a memoir of contemporary life in the Jesuits.

After my inital disappointment, it turned out to be easy listening stories of Saints, mostly from a fresh perspective -- a vehicle for Martin's tale of his spiritual pilgrmage ---which of course did eventually involve Jesuits, but much more also.

There's a certain charm in the blending of personal narrative and saintly biography that I find delightful. I enjoy people who are comfortable talking about themselves--not in the narcissistic way, but in the "I've done some reflecting on my life and would like to share it with you" way. Father Martin has that quality, and this is a good example of how he mixes himself with this subject.

The stories of the saints themselves, particularly those I didn't know much about, including the African martyrs.

I enjoyed how the saints are presented... we are called to be just like him...

Listened to it twice and still willing to read it again. Even with the knowledge of some of the Saints, it is very interesting to see how they placed in the book. I learned alot! Fun listen!

Yes, I would definitely listen to this book again. There are so many little gems about the saints and their lives and examples of how you can use their experiences to help you in your own life. It was so jammed packed I want to listen to it over and over again and take notes. I loved it!

There wasn't really just one memorable moment in this book. Each chapter dove into another Saint. Each time I turned the book on I was taken into their world and given a preview of them and their lives. I was also on James Martins personal journey as he met each saint not unlike you would meet a new friend and create a relationship with them.

I am currently going through the RCIA program at my Catholic church and am going to be baptized this Easter Vigil. During my class I was told that I could choose a saint to be named after for my confirmation. I knew about saints but felt like there where thousands to choose from and didn't know where to start.

I found this book and it was such a blessing. It taught me about a whole slew of saints. It also got me excited to keep learning about more saints and see how I can live better through their experiences.

I loved this book and can't wait to read it again to find things that I missed.

Stories of the different saints and how they have played into life experiences are quite moving and enlightening.