Angels and Saints: A Biblical Guide to Friendship with God's Holy Ones

118 Pages·2014·0.72 MB·English

by  Scott Hahn

A S H
LSO BY COTT AHN
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This is an uncorrected eBook file. Please do not quote for publication until you check your copy
against the finished book.
Copyright © 2014 by Scott Hahn All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Image, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random
House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company, New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
IMAGE is a registered trademark and the “I” colophon is a trademark of Random House LLC.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data ISBN 978-0-307-59079-4
eBook ISBN 978-0-307-59080-0
Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
First Edition
CONTENTS
Cover
By Scott Hahn
Title page
Copyright page
Preface: How the Book Works
P I
ART
1. Incident in Assisi: The Science of the Saints
2. The Only Saint
3. For All the Saints
4. What Do Saints Do?
5. Talking about My Veneration
6. A Gathering of Angels
P II
ART
7. St. Michael and the Angels
8. Holy Moses
9. St. Paul, Son of God
10. St. Ignatius of Antioch, God’s Wheat
11. St. Irenaeus of Lyons, Blessed Peacemaker
12. St. Jerome and His Circle
13. St. Monica and Her Son
14. St. Thomas Aquinas, Biblical Theologian
15. St. Therese of Lisieux, Saint of Little Things
16. St. Maximilian Kolbe, Saint of Auschwitz
17. St. Josemaria Escriva, Saint in the Street
18. Queen of All Saints, Mother of the Church
Epilogue
Bibliography
Notes
PREFACE
HOW THE BOOK WORKS
When I first began to think about this book, I planned it to unfold in much the
same way as my book Signs of Life: 40 Catholic Customs and Their Biblical
Roots. In that book I began with a brief exposition of basic doctrinal
considerations, then proceeded to look at individual devotions. In this book, I
thought I’d set down a similar brief introduction before galloping on through our
encounter with many individual saints, a saint for every chapter and a chapter for
every saint.
I’m afraid, however, that enthusiasm got the best of me as I composed the
“brief” introductory chapter, and before long I saw that it had exceeded the
bounds of what normal people call a chapter. I concluded that I’d have to divide
it into two chapters.
But then I kept finding more material that simply had to be included in the
book, and soon those two chapters were three; and then those three were four;
and before long I had six.
So this is not the book I had planned to write. It is the book I had to write. It
now sets out with six chapters as it leads to the seventh and beyond. Consider the
book to be a “week” that concludes in the long Sabbath of the saints. All
subsequent chapters are meditations on the lives of a few popular saints. The
meditations are necessarily short and usually focus on only one or two aspects of
the saint’s thought or accomplishments. I hope these will pique your interest and
inspire you to find out more about the saints that attract you most. There’s much
more to learn. Entire libraries could be devoted to works related to St.
Augustine, for example. And much of the greatest western literature of the past
two thousand years can arguably be seen as a footnote to the life and work of
Moses!
With each meditation I’ve included writings by or about the saints under
discussion. I tried to choose the passages that will best inspire prayer and rouse
us to imitation of the virtues of the saints. I tried also, wherever possible, to
choose passages that discuss points of doctrine or devotion related to the
Communion of Saints. You’ll find these under the heading “Ponder in Your
Heart,” a line I’ve taken from St. Luke, who said of the Queen of All Saints:
“Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Luke 2:19).
There is otherwise nothing special about my selections—of saints or readings
—except that they are mine. I did try to include a representative variety,
including angels and regular folks, characters from the Old Testament and the
New, lay and clergy, ancient and modern. But, as I prepare the book for press, I
notice that my chosen saints tend to be those with whom I have something in
common. Most are teachers, scholars, researchers, and writers, as I am. There is
far greater diversity in the saintly communion than I’ve let on in this book!
Should you decide to write your own book, I’m certain you will have a different
list!
A note on my sources: I have drawn most texts of the Church Fathers from the
three nineteenth-century series: the Ante-Nicene Fathers (which I’ve abbreviated
ANF); the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1 (which I’ve abbreviated
NPNF1); and the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2 (NPNF2). I’ve
chosen these series because they’re easily accessible, for free, online. My
citations are fairly simple: NPNF2 1:1 means Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers,
Series 2, volume 1, page 1. I have taken the liberty of updating the language
from these old translations. I welcome you, though, to find the works online and
read the quoted passages in their original context. (I’d be happier still if you got
so excited that you learned the ancient languages, to check the work of the
original translators as well.)
I pray you will come to know these saints and know their care in your life. I
pray you will love these saints as I do. As I read the table of contents, I think of
you and me and the time we’ll spend together in these pages. And I say with
each name: “Pray for us!”
P I
A R T