Real Women, Real Saints: Friends for Your Spiritual Journey

by Gina Loehr

Heaven's doors are wide open and God is doing everything he can to make us all into saints. --from Chapter Eight What would it take for you to become a saint? If you're thinking of quiet cloisters and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0867168587
• ISBN13: 9780867168587
• Release Date: July 2008
• Publisher: Franciscan Media
• Length: 166 Pages
• Weight: 0.53 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Real Women, Real Saints

Came in great condition! Gave it as a gift, but read a few of the stories before handing it on...excellent, very inspiring.

We Can Learn from Them

In Real Women, Real Saints, Gina Loehr writes of 100 women who loved the Savior completely and lived in harmony with his will. She defines this "harmony-in-action" as virtue. Fittingly, the book's chapters are based on the theological and cardinal virtues: faith, hope, charity, prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. A definition of the virtue from the Catechism of the Catholic Church and a passage from Scripture open each chapter. The women Loehr has chosen represent time periods from the first to twentieth century and myriad geographic locations, vocations, and personal circumstances. All are canonized or on the four-step path to canonization. Their stories, though often less than two pages long, highlight their special connection to the virtue under which they are listed. Loehr's theme is that we are all called to be saints, and those thus far recognized by the Church struggled with difficulties similar to those we face today. In short, we can learn from them. Clearly, this is a book for individuals and groups to browse according to their interests and needs. Following is an example from the Women of Temperance chapter. Saint Monica (331-387) wife, mother; feast day, August 27. Her patronages include abuse victims, alcoholics, difficult marriages, and disappointing children. As a girl Monica developed a taste for wine, and drank in secret. She changed her ways "on the spot" when confronted by a friend. Though she was from a Christian family, her parents arranged for her to marry a pagan, who turned out to be nasty and unfaithful. And her live-in mother-in-law didn't like Monica at all. "Yet the young wife remained charitable and even tempered," Loehr writes. She won over her mother-in-law and eventually influenced her husband's conversion to Catholicism. As for the "disappointing children" patronage, Monica's youngest son, now known as St. Augustine, had a wayward spirit that led to an early life of "dissolution and selfishness." Monica prayed and begged till he came back to the faith.

Wonderful Introduction to a Variety of Women Saints

Gina Loehr has compiled a wonderful collection of women saints' biographies in "Real Women, Real Saints: Friends for Your Spiritual Journey." Loehr, who has a master's degree theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville, writes that "sanctity will never fit into a formula. . . In these pages God's image is reflected in a hundred different forms. . . Every story in this book tells of a relationship between the Savior of the universe and a woman who loved him enough to live in harmony with his will." Loehr divides the saints into seven major categories: Women of Faith, Women of Hope, Women of Charity, Women of Prudence, Women of Justice, Women of Fortitude, and Women of Temperance. In reality, however, the majority of these holy women exhibited many of these virtues. Loehr is to be commended for the wide variety of saints she has profiled. While the well-known saints no hagiographical work could be complete without have been included, such as Joan of Arc, Mary Magdalene, Teresa of Avila, Anne, Catherine of Siena, Clare, Rose of Lima, and Therese of Lisieux, Loehr has also included many lesser-known saints. Reading about these saints is fascinating and will encourage the making of new friends up in heaven. As Loehr states, "the Church recognizes the value of having specific role models and helpers to assist us during the course of our daily lives." These saints will provide much inspiration and will hopefully encourage readers to find out more about their favorite holy women. Among these pages, there are role models for every women from every walk of life.