Feb 07 2009
In the company of female friends…
Life can seem like a battle of the wills: our will versus God’s will. (p. 80)
Gina Loehr’s Real Women, Real Saints has the subtitle Friends for Your Spiritual Journey. This isn’t a typical book on the lives of the saints. It focuses solely on women, including ones who haven’t been canonized, like Blessed Josefina Naval Girbes and Servant of God Dorothy Day.
It also lends itself for use in daily reflections, both because of the brevity of its entries and their arrangement. Typical entries run a page-and-a-half. The women are grouped into categories by the hallmark of their saintly lives; e.g. “Women of Charity”.
Loehr didn’t write typical biographical entries. Most begin with a statement such as “Even when human love fails, God’s love remains” (p. 56, St. Bertilla Boscardin). Entries contain sketches of the women’s lives, but don’t go into great depth; e.g. no mention is made of St. Bertilla’s birthplace. In the case of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, the entry contains little biographical information and more reaction to her life. As Loehr states in her introduction, each entry highlights ”a relationship between the Savior of the universe and a woman who loved him enough to live in harmony with his will.” (p. 2)
Overall, this is a wonderful little book (166 pages) and a great springboard for further reading. The “Notes” section contains references to books still in print and several on-line sources.
This review was written as part of the Catholic book Reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Real Women, Real Saints.
