Seven Holy Women: Conversations with Saints and Friends

by Melinda Johnson, Laura S Janson, Georgia Briggs

Overview

Written by a group of friends, ​Seven Holy Women​ is a one-of-a-kind journey into the lives of seven women saints. Each section of the book includes a story from one saint's life, told vividly and imaginatively in the second person; additional information about the saint to give her context; a reflection on ways the writer, reader, and saint intersect on their journeys; personal surveys for the reader and a friend to complete; and a journal prompt that encourages the reader to explore and document her encounter with themes from the saint's life. Created as both a deeply personal and enriching communal experience, ​Seven Holy Women​ speaks directly to the reader, drawing her into the lives of seven saints as it invites her to look more closely and lovingly at her own spiritual journey and her friendship with the cloud of witnesses.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781944967857
Publisher:	Ancient Faith Publishing
Publication date:	10/20/2020
Pages:	194
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.45(d)

About the Author

Melinda Johnson earned an MA in English literature from the College of William and Mary and a BA in English with minors in journalism and education from the University of Richmond. She is the author of Letters to Saint Lydia (Conciliar Press, 2010), The Other Side of the Bonfire (Lingua Sacra, 2012), Shepherding Sam (Ancient Faith Publishing, 2016), The Barn and the Book (AFP, 2018), Piggy in Heaven (Paraclete Press, 2019), and Painting Angels (AFP, 2020), along with numerous essays. She has led parish, regional, and national retreats for women, teen girls, and Orthodox writers and podcasters, and as the CEO of Ancient Faith Ministries, she works with Orthodox creatives and researches Orthodox market trends and voices daily. Melinda is a wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend, and she belongs to a corgi named Ferdinand.

Laura S. Jansson is a puddle-stomping, tea-brewing, pen-chewing, dough-punching Orthodox Christian. For the past decade and a half, Laura has been supporting growing families as a doula and childbirth educator and has attended scores of births. Her book, Fertile Ground: A Pilgrimage Through Pregnancy (AFP, 2019), is a spiritual guidebook for the journey to motherhood for women who want to spend their pregnancy growing in faith as well as in girth. She also contributed to Behold a Great Light (AFP, 2023). Laura was born in California and has lived in Fiji, Germany, and Serbia. She holds an MA in theology and philosophy from Oxford University and currently resides in the UK with her husband, four children, and an elderly mutt who thinks he is still a puppy.

Georgia Briggs grew up near Birmingham, Alabama, listening to her father tell stories stolen from Shakespeare, Bronte, and Orwell. After college, having failed to find Deeper Magic in a wardrobe, she stumbled upon it in the Orthodox Church. She is the author of Icon: A Novel (AFP, 2016) and The Fullness of Joy (AFP, 2022). Now Georgia divides her energies between her family, -iconography, and writing. She enjoys singing in the choir at Saint Symeon Orthodox Church in Birmingham.