My Sisters the Saints

Today I am over at Ignitum Today reviewing Colleen Carroll Campbell’s most recent book, My Sisters the Saints. I had the privilege of interviewing Ms. Campbell via email, so the article is part book review, part interview. One of the themes woven through the book is the power of our suffering, and Ms. Campbell’s own struggle with years of infertility.

“I found My Sisters The Saints, Colleen Carroll Campbell’s new book, in my stocking on the morning of St. Nicholas Day, opened it, and could not put it down. Where Campbell’s first book, The New Faithful, was based on interviews and chronicled the tendency toward orthodoxy among the young, My Sisters The Saints is her own spiritual memoir. What a powerful story it is. The story of a young woman adrift in our secular, consumer culture, who through encounter with six powerhouse female saints, embraced the joy of Catholicism and the redeeming power of suffering.

From her party girl days in college, to sitting by her father’s side during his descent into Alzheimer’s, to battling the pervasive pain of infertility, Campbell’s writing draws you in with her gentle humor and raw vulnerability. The format weaves a scene from Ms. Campbell’s life together with themes from the life of a woman saint, drawing parallels which can be applied to the spiritual life of any reader. The saints from which she draws inspiration and comfort are some of the most powerful witnesses we have to the love of God and neighbor, including Teresa of Avila, Therese of Lisieux, Faustina, Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), Mother Teresa, and Mary, Mother of God.”

You can read the rest here. Thanks for checking it out!