All Saints: Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses for Our Time

This is a wonderful book which I have already read through many times--and each time discover something new and wonderful and insightful. The author presents profiles, one for each day of the year, of saints and holy people, but not just the traditional ones! So you have not only the old favorites (St. Paul, St. Augustine, St. Therese of Lisieux), but also some welcome surprises (Gandhi, Dorothy Day, and even Mozart!).Taken as a whole, this book is a beautiful meditation on the notion of sanctity and reminds us that all of us are called--in our own way, in our own lives, and in our own times--to become saints.It's just a great book!

I'm just a plebe-- certainly not saintly quality, but I do want to improve my spiritual life. All Saints dropped into my life 3 weeks ago and I just can't put it down! It's a goosebump book about neat people, not just Catholic saints, but those who've stood for human goodness: ML King, Sojourner Truth, Henri Nouwen, Mollie Rogers, Stanley Rother, Simone Weil, Chief Seattle, even Van Gogh! As I read and discover about the lives and accomplishments of these spiritual giants, I am totally astounded. These people, for the most part, have been totally forgotten about (by lowly plebes anyway)and, as I slowly "rediscover" each one, I feel as if they're cheering up in the heavenlies. This book is way illuminating and could easily inspire you to gladly seek out that straight and narrow path. Like Augustine says, "Our hearts are restless until they rest in thee". Just get it.

All Saints is truly remarkable. While there are many traditional collections honoring Catholic saints, this is the first I have seen that is truly catholic (universal) in embracing many different traditions and the best of those traditions. Ellsburg's book reminds me that saints are made, not born. Each day I am presented with the story of some man or woman who struggled to grow in relationship with God and to live well in the world around him/her. Many advocates of social justice and modern "saints" (as modern as the 90s) are included here, which is wonderful to see. I have ordered many copies for family and friends! No one who knows the value of role models should be without one.

Ellsberg chronicles not only expected Saints, but also Old Testament figures, writers like John Donne and George Herbert, social activists like Fr. Pedro Arrupe, SJ, Dorothy L. Day, G.K. Chesterton, and the anti-Nazi Order of White Rose. Gandhi and Moses rub page-shoulders with Julian of Norwich, Sojourner Truth, and the Beguine martyrs. Well-documented readings feature a prefatory quote by the day's saint, a biography, and a reflective linking to other 'saints' of the day and subsequently. Have given two copies away already and am on-line to order more; like any good book, -All Saints- by Robert Ellsberg improves with every reading.

While one could fill a bookcase with one-volume guides to the saints, this new publication both takes a refreshing, innovative approach in its choice of spiritual models and sets new standards of such writing. Over one or two of the book's large-format pages, Robert Ellsberg presents each of his 365 insightful portraits of men and women who present inspiring and challenging role models for today's Christian. His selection puts individuals traditionally celebrated as saints alongside others also recognized today as spiritual giants, including some from non-Christian faiths.The profiles are presented one per day, often on their official feast days, if this applies. At the end of each entry, Ellsberg provides one or two well-chosen suggestions for further reading. An index makes the book a useful reference, in addition to it being rich spiritual reading.The merits of `All Saints' were well captured by Henri Nouwen when he commented on a draft version of the book prior to his death (Nouwen himself receives an entry in the finished book): `This book is a great treasure. Though not pious it is spiritually evocative; though untraditional, it is consistent with the larger Catholic tradition. While broadening the traditional vision of sanctity it calls us to explore our own ways of becoming a saint. I consider Robert Ellsberg to be one of the most significant spiritual writers in the United States, and this book puts him right into the center of contemporary spiritual literature.'Ellsberg is editor-in-chief of Orbis Books and has written and edited a number of award-winning books, including works on Dorothy Day and Mahatma Gandhi. In `All Saints' he has produced a compendium of holy lives that will truly speak to and inspire today's women and men. [A Selection of the John Garratt Catholic Book Club.]