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Saint Resources

Books

There are quite a variety of saint books out there written for all age levels. Below I've listed a few options as well as what the book is like. (All books are linked to Amazon in able to read a further description.) Another excellent resource to find books on saints that may not be published in wide release is the Pauline Bookstore. (They also have a shop in Alexandria, VA on King St.)

Butler's Lives of the Saints
Fr. Alban Butler perhaps has the most comprehensive saint books out there. Although this is the 1-volume edition, there are others that span several volumes (or even by month!). This is definitely the reference to go to to find out more about your saint.

Saint Juan Diego
pThese are neat little books written in a historical-fiction format that are written with young people in mind. There is a whole series of these type of books; some of the other saints they have are St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) , St. Padre Pio , Mother Teresa , St. Maximilian Kolbe , and many more!

Anything by Louis de Wohl
These are standard novel-size books (more for adults), but if you want to get a feel of the saint as an actual living historical person, de Wohl's work is excellent. The books are written as historical fiction and are painstakenly researched to be as accurate as possible. They make take a bit longer to get through, but you'll finish the book and feel like you've met a new friend. Although all of them are excellent, the two I'd recommend most highly are Lay Siege to Heaven (about St. Catherine of Siena) and Set All Afire (about St. Francis Xavier).

Patrons and Protectors: Occupations
These are a whole series of hardback books. Although there is only a short piece on each saint, the illustrations particularly help bring the saints to life for students as they show the saints working in modern occupations.

Movies

For more movies, please visit Ignatius.com (or click on the link.) I've seen most of these movies already and can vouch for their appropriate content, but please do double-check as well as some of these saints have gone through some tough situations that are depicted in the films.. (The US Bishops actually have a very good website for movie ratings which can be found here .) I've also linked all the movies to the Amazon website so that you can access their descriptions. If you have any movies I should add, please let me know.

Song of Bernadette (about Saint Bernadette of Lourdes)

Molokai: The Story of Father Damien (about Blessed Damien of Molokai)

Therese (about St. Teresa of Liseux)

The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima (St. Lucia, Blesseds Francisco & Jacinta)

Two Suitcases (about St. Josephine)

Entertaining Angels (about Dorothy Day-- not a saint yet, but still acceptable as she's under consideration)

Internet Sites

Catholic Online Saints Page
This site has a saints index, frequently asked questions, lists the Doctors of the Church, list of popular saints, fun facts, and even which saints had the stigmata. It also has an alphabetical list of patron saints (for example, if you're looking for the patron saint(s) of music).

American Catholic Saint of the Day
Short little stories about the saint of the day (sometimes with pictures!). Checking out the monthly saint calendar is also pretty neat on this site.

Patron Saints Index
Searchable by topic or name!