Pocket Guide to Sainthood: The Field Manual for the Super-Virtuous Life

by Jason Boyett

Overview

"Boyett's witty, weird, and sometimes even wise Pocket Guides are proof that the best things do come in small packages." —Daniel Radosh, author, Rapture Ready!

We name our cities, hospitals, and churches after them. We flock to shrines bearing their remains. We ask for their help when we lose our keys. Who are these saints, what made them so holy, and what in the world are those birds doing on St. Francis's shoulder?

Jason Boyett's Pocket Guide to Sainthood takes an intriguing and unflinching look at the fascinating—and fascinatingly weird—lives of the saints. Whether you are a Catholic desperately needing a patron, or a Protestant trying to identify your cabbie's bobblehead, this may be as close as you ever come to true holiness. Make the most of it by learning

• How St. Denis delivered his best sermon while holding his own decapitated head

• Why both hair shirts and nakedness are mainstays of saintly fashion

• Which saints are the patrons of bowel disorders, serial killers, and other useful categories

• What is involved in the canonization process, should you get so lucky?or martyred

With Pocket Guide to Sainthood, virtue just got a whole lot more entertaining.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780470500477
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	07/08/2009
Sold by:	JOHN WILEY & SONS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

JASON BOYETT is not a professional theologian or historian but that hasn't stopped him from writing this book. His work has appeared in a variety of publications as well as on his blog (www.jasonboyett.com). He lives in Texas with his wife and children.

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

Chapter 1 There Should Have Been a St. Webster (A Glossary of Terms) 3

Chapter 2 Saints You Should Know (A–F) 43

Chapter 3 Saints You Should Know (G–Z) 75

Chapter 4 There’s a Saint for That (Patron Saints and Their Causes) 111

Chapter 5 The Canonization Process (in 18 Simple Steps) 165

Chapter 6 Sts. Flotsam and Jetsam (An Assortment of Lists) 183

Selected Bibliography 217

The Author 219