****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
This is basically a dictionary of Orthodox Saints, but that description does not really do justice to this book. The author has selected from a very wide range of saints, from around the world and throughout history, from biblical times until our own time, including a good number I'd never heard of. But what I enjoyed most about this collection is that the author has avoided the usual pietistical and flat descriptions of saints that pervade most hagiographies, and he offers us glimpses into their diverse personalities. For example, in his entry on St Basil the Great, he describes how Basil's words shocked Emperor Valens' prefect who had come to arrest him, to which Basil responds, "Perhaps you've never before had to deal with a proper bishop". From prophets and apostles of the bible, to hierarchs and martyrs of late antiquity, to lesser known saints of the 20th century, such as the remarkable St. Alexander Schmorell, a half-Russian - half German student in Munich who was beheaded by the Nazis for speaking out against the regime, this book offers a rounded insight into the rich variety among the saints, and is a fresh reminder of what St Gregory the Theologian once said: "Let it be assured that to do no wrong is superhuman and belongs to God alone".
