Sunday, October 31, 2010

Book Review: Why He Is A Saint

I just had the pleasure of reading Slawomir Oder and Saverio Gaeta's Why He Is A Saint: The Life and Faith of Pope John Paul II and the Case for Canonization.  Prior to picking up this book I thought it looked like an interesting read, but I didn't think it would be something that I'd have a hard time putting down.  It turned out that the book was so captivating that I had a difficult time taking the occasional break while reading it.

The one hundred and eighty nine page book consists of just three chapters.  They are: The Man, The Pope and They Mystic.  Each chapter has many sub-headings so you can easily (if you're not like me and can part with a good book) read a bit of the chapter at a time and not feel like you are stopping in mid-thought.  The Man covers the life of Pope John Paul II up until he is elected Pope.  Overall this chapter filled with biographical and anecdotal stories from those who knew him flowed very nicely.  There were a few moments where I felt like the time line was a bit jumbled.  There were also a few areas of this chapter where I felt that something must have been lost in translation, which is quite possible since the book was translated from Italian.  The chapter entitled The Pope is pretty self explanatory.  It covers his  pontificate.  The final chapter, The Mystic, had to be my favorite chapter of the entire book.  It was in this chapter that the reasons why he is a saint resonate best.

I found this book to be rather enlightening.  I've read many things about the life of John Paul II in addition so having watched several documentaries on him.  There was plenty in the book that I already knew about him, but there was quite a lot of information that was completely new.  Reading this book, you can't help but feel inspired by his example.

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 Why He Is A Saint: The Life and Faith of Pope John Paul II and the Case for Canonization and check out their great selection of baptism gifts while you are there.

I was provided with a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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