Saints and Blesseds of the Americas

Kirkus Discoveries book review:Part devotional guide, part encyclopedia, Saints and Blesseds of the Americas will find a welcomeplace on the shelves of a new generation of Catholics. Ewalds tidy collection provides an exhaustive, country-by-country listing of all the Catholic saintsand blesseds of the Western world. In Catholic theology, saints serve as intercessors between humanity andGod; blessedsthose who have undergone the process of beatificationare only one step away frombecoming saints. Believers pray to either for aid in any number of life pursuits. Perhaps the most gratifyingaspect of this catalogue is the fact that it is extremely up to date. Ewald provides not only the saints andblesseds of old but also those recently beatified and canonized. For example, he presents the BlessedLindalva Justo de Oliveira, martyred in 1993 and beatified by Pope Benedict XVI just last year. This is a timely reference guide at least in partbecause the previous popeJohn Paul IIwas a prolific supporter of the path to sainthood. According to the Vatican, Pope John Paul IIbeatified and canonized more individuals than all the popes of the past five centuries combined. Thus, Ewald fulfills an important role inbringing his devout readership up to speed. But currentness is not the volumes only strength. Ewald paints quick but thorough sketches of hismany subjects. His brief biographies never run much more than a page or two, but he has an eye for the fine points, and his portraits are alwaysextremely pertinentthere are as few wasted details as there are wasted words. However, though his book serves best as a reference volume, italso provides a surprisingly gratifying reading experience. Ewald has the skill of a storyteller, and each biography features a neat narrative arc. A helpful compendium to the heroes of the American Catholic Church. Ewald, Fr. Daniel P. SAINTS AND BLESSEDSOF THE AMERICASXlibris (318 pp.)2008ISBN: 978-1-4363-6762-2Paper: 978-1-4363-6761-5Kirkus Discoveries, Nielsen Business Media, 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003discoveries@kirkusreviews.com