Saints Preserved: An Encyclopedia of Relics

in the past, most any book dealing with this subject has generally been an academic bore or the author's own "rapture" about relics of saints. at last here is a concise and accessible book about saints' relics. it's intelligent and succinct. i love mr. craughwell's style of writing because it really is easily accessible to any reader and there is always an element of good humor in his narratives - something that is usually missing from books of this nature. it's that humor that truly makes it accessible. this element is present in his other works, such as "saints behaving badly"; another one of his books i love. for anyone - catholic or not - interested in the odd and macabre world of saints and their relics - this is the perfect book to get a clear, quick and concise view of it all. i highly recommend this book.

Very informative on a subject not often.

Amazing funny but long....It needs a table of contents for the kindle version. I love Craughwell's use of language as well

I don't understand some of the lukewarm reviews this book has received, because this is a fascinating and fun introduction to relics and saints. Each entry gives a general overview of the life of a particular saint and then talks about the relic(s) associated with the saint. I found it easy to read and and found that it sent me off to research more information about certain saints, like St. Rita, whom I didn't know much about. Mr. Craughwell has an inviting style and for an encyclopedia I thought it had a certain flair that made reading each entry like eating potato chips...I didn't want to stop after just one.

The book's title "Saints Preserved : An Encyclopedia of Relics" is somewhat misleading. The books reads like a volume of Lives of the Saints with more emphasis upon the brief biographical sketches of each saint and less emphasis upon the books primary subject matter, namely the relics themselves, their history. "Saints Preserved" is more like an introduction for the reader unfamiliar, but curious, about this aspect of Catholic devotion to the saints.

Saints Preserved is an interesting little book, giving brief summaries of the lives of various saints and other holy persons. I was a little perturbed that Mr. Craughwell did not seem to doubt the veracity of relics that most of us have long-questioned. It would have been helpful to at least post an opinion on whether the relics being mentioned seem to have a valid, traceable history or not. How many slivers of the "true cross" can there be, really?? For non-Catholics, the idea of saving various body parts of saints is likely to strike one as weird at best; or downright morose. Mr. Craughwell might have done well to have gone into more detail as to how the collection of relics began and mention the fact that some are of doubtful validity.

One thing we can count on Thomas J. Craughwell for is looking at a well-worn subject with an unpredictable eye. His previous book, Saints Behaving Badly, told shocking stories of people who later became saints. And he actually managed to shock me, which was quite an accomplishment since I thought myself unshockable. Now he brings us Saints Preserved: An Encyclopedia of Relics. That's not such a big deal, right? A finger bone here, a lock of hair there, or perhaps a scrap of tunic, all carefully preserved in churches around the world. Ummm, not exactly. Oh, the fingers, hair, and tunics are included. But I think we can all agree that is just perverse that every time I picked up this book to find a sample to include here, the book naturally opened to the Holy Prepuce, or Foreskin, of Jesus Christ. Yes. You read that right. Again, I thought myself unshockable. Again I was wrong. Some people, including Catholics I know, find the idea of relics morbid or unnatural. Craughwell, however, points out that Catholics aren't the only ones who value relics: "Even secular society prizes relics: at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois, I saw crowds press around a display case that contained the gloves Mary Todd Lincoln wore to Ford's Theatre, stained with the blood of her assassinated husband. No doubt morbid curiosity plays a part, but I believe the desire to see Mary Lincoln's bloodstained gloves represents something deeper--the longing to have a physical connection with one of the greatest men, and one of the most tragic moments, in American history. It is that same longing to connect on a physical and not just a spiritual level that draws the faithful to the tombs of the saints, the houses where they lived, the altars before which they prayed, even the prisons where they were tortured." I found myself entertained, informed, and inspired by this encyclopedia of relics. It made me think of Butler's Lives of the Saints as I read the brief biographies which covered major events, feast days, and patronage, while telling us where to find relics. The only thing this book is missing is a patronage index to the saints contained in the book, which would have been very handy. There are occasional photos which were interesting although there were so few that I wondered why there were not more photos or no photos at all. A great resource that can serve as a quick guide to a saint's biography, a tourist destination choice for those who want to mix relics and relaxation, or personal inspiration ... which was the case for me as I pondered all the varied ways that saints have done God's will over the last two thousand years. Definitely recommended.

When I chose to read Saints Preserved: An Encyclopedia of Relics by Thomas J. Craughwell, I did so mostly because I tend to think that relics are a little on the weird side. And, since I am a Roman Catholic and I work in ministry, I thought that reading up on this unique tradition in the Catholic Church, perhaps I would be able to relate to it better. This book, while it doesn't talk that much about relics in general, did help me to understand this unappreciated tradition a little better. The author reminds us to think about how we relate to our own familial "relics." For example, is it really so strange to treasure things belonging to a saint when we treasure in our own families the things that belonged to our ancestors: grandma's china, grandpa's pipe? And then there are the first class relics--but is it strange to treasure the bodies of saints (or body parts) when there are plenty of families that have their ancestors' cremated remains in their homes? Or, when we visit graves of deceased friends? Craughwell makes it seem that relics are really a natural part of the human experience. Catholics just seem to talk about them a little more than most. In addition to giving me a greater appreciation for relics, I think that the real strength of this book is that it gives you an opportunity to learn more about saints. Craughwell writes a little blurb on each saint discussed, tells you why they were thought important enough to honor their remains. Then, he tells the (sometimes humorous) tale of how their remains ended up where they are, or how claims about the remains were made. When talking about one of the many saints that apparently have multiple sets of remains, he gives both accounts, never taking a side. This book is interesting and is a great opportunity to learn more about both Saints and relics. It is exactly what the title makes it sound like: an encyclopedia of relics. If you're looking for a more clear theology or better information on why we honor relics, this is not the book for you. However, if you want a little information on relics, a little information about saints, and a few laughs, I highly recommend Thomas J. Craughwell's Saints Preserved: An Encyclopedia of Relics.