Angels and saints. Catholics tend to think of them as different from the rest of us. They’re cast in plaster or simpering on a holy card, performing miracles with superhero strength, or playing a harp in highest heaven.
Yet they are very near to us in every way. In this lively book, Scott Hahn dispels the false notions and urban legends people use to keep the saints at a safe distance. The truth is that Jesus Christ has united heaven and earth in a close communion. Drawing deeply from Scripture, Dr. Hahn shows that the hosts of heaven surround the earthly Church as a "great cloud of witnesses." The martyrs cry out from heaven’s altar begging for justice on the earth. The prayers of the saints and angels rise to God, in the Book of Revelation, like the sweet aroma of incense.
Dr. Hahn tells the stories of several saints (and several angels too) in a way that’s fresh and new. The saints are spiritual giants but with flesh-and-blood reality. They have strong, holy ambitions—and powerful temptations and opposition that must be overcome. Their stories are amazing and yet familiar enough to motivate us to live more beautiful lives. In this telling of their story, the saints are neither otherworldly nor this-worldly. They exemplify the integrated life that every Christian is called to live.
Still, their lives are as different from one another as human lives can be. Dr. Hahn shows the heavenly Church in all its kaleidoscopic diversity—from Moses to Mary, Augustine to Therese, and the first century to the last century.
Only saints will live in heaven. We need to be more like the saints if we want to live in heaven someday. Dr. Hahn shows us that our heavenly life can begin now.
It must.
"Angels and saints abound in heaven even if we cannot see them. In this masterful book, Scott Hahn pulls back the curtain on this realm of spiritual reality in a new and utterly engaging manner. Dr. Hahn has a spiritual gift that lets us experience angels and saints in a way that they no longer appear to be far beyond us. His book is a passport into the spiritual realm of these special friends of God."
—His Eminence Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington
"As an author, Scott Hahn is the master of two very different skills: expert scholarship and an easy, engaging style. This book is the proof. These pages are a wonderful explanation of what Catholics believe about angels and saints, and why—made even more absorbing by Hahn’s vivid portraits of individual women and men whom the Church now calls saints."
—Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., Archbishop of Philadelphia
"The Christian spiritual life is not an endeavor marked by isolation, but is an invitation to a relationship situated within a great communion of saints and angels, all of whom support and sustain us in our relationship with God in Christ. In this regard, Dr. Scott Hahn has created not only a brilliant introduction but a masterful treatise on how the Church understands the angels and the saints as our friends and as God-given routes of access to life in Christ."
—Very Reverend Robert Barron, Rector, Mundelein Seminary, and Founder, Word on Fire Catholic Ministries
"Why are there angels everywhere in the Bible? Are they real? And why do Christians pay so much attention to the saints? Who are they, and do they really matter? In this fascinating new book, Scott Hahn takes you on a biblical tour of the holy citizens of heaven and earth, showing that it’s true—we are not alone. If you’ve ever wondered what Scripture really says about the angels and saints in heaven and on earth, then this book is for you."
—Brant Pitre, author of
Jesus the Bridegroom
