Our Friends in Heaven, Volume 1: Saints for Every Day January to June

by Daughters of St Paul

The saints are friends of God, and they want to become your friends, too! Some saints played soccer or rode horses. Others stood up for those who were being bullied and bravely worked for justice. Every saint has a unique story to share. Introduce intermediate readers to the amazing life stories of the saints. In print for decades, this fourth edition of a classic, bestselling, two-volume set of books contains engaging stories on a variety of saints for each day of the year.

336 pages, Paperback

First published February 15, 2021

Reviews

[Steven R. McEvoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read many books from Pauline Books and Media over the years. As a family we have read and reviewed all the books in the Encounter the Saints Series, and many other excellent books. I was very excited when I saw this new set Our Friends in Heaven, with Volume 1 spanning from January 1st to June 31st, and Volume 2 from July 1st to December 31st. There is even an entry for February 29th for Leap years. I had originally planned on reading this volume at the pace of a saint a day, but found I often could not put it down and read 2 or 3 days at a time. My son who is 14 has been sticking to the reading plan and only doing a single saint each day. My youngest daughter has been flipping around and getting ides for her confirmation saints. But, back to this volume, the description of this book is:

“The saints are friends of God, and they want to become your friends, too! Some saints played soccer or rode horses. Others stood up for those who were being bullied and bravely worked for justice. Every saint has a unique story to share. Introduce intermediate readers to the amazing life stories of the saints. In print for decades, this fourth edition of a classic, bestselling, two-volume set of books contains engaging stories on a variety of saints for each day of the year.”

The beginning of the chapter ‘How to Use This Book’ states:

“This book is the first volume of a two-part set. Volume I covers January through June. Volume II covers July through December. In these pages, you will find stories about lots of saints. Some lived long lives; others died when they were young. Some were close to God from their childhood and teenage years. Others learned the hard way that only God can make us happy.

There are saints from every part of the world. They lived in many different centuries, from the time of Jesus to our own times. You will come to know saintly kings and laborers, queens and housemaids, popes and priests, nuns and religious brothers. They were mothers and fathers, teenagers and children. They were doctors and farmers, soldiers and lawyers.

Saints are not just one type of person. They were as different from each other as we are. They were as human as we are. They lived on this earth, experienced temptations, and faced problems. They became saints because they used their willpower to make right choices and they prayed. Even when they made mistakes, they never gave up trusting in Jesus’ love for them.”

We are also informed that:

“At the top of each biography, it says when that saint was alive, which day his or her feast is celebrated on, and what he or she is the patron of. At the end, there is a short prayer to help you get to know the saint better and ask them for help in your everyday life.”
We are also informed that:

“Note: This book is not intended to be used as a liturgical calendar of Church celebrations. Sometimes, the reading for the saint is on his or her feast day, but not always.”

The chapters in this volume are:

How to Use This Book
JANUARY
1. Mary, Mother of God
2. Saint Basil and Saint Gregory Nazianzen
3. Saint Genevieve
4. Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton
5. Saint John Neumann
6. Saint André Bessette
7. Saint Raymond of Peñafort
8. Saint Apollinaris Claudius
9. Blessed Alix Le Clerc
10. Saint Gregory of Nyssa
11. Blessed William Carter
12. Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys
13. Saint Hilary of Poitiers
14. Blessed Peter Donders
15. Saint Arnold Janssen
16. Blessed Giuseppe Tovini
17. Saint Anthony of Egypt
18. Saint Jaime Hilario Barbal
19. Saint Canute
20. Saint Sebastian
21. Saint Agnes
22. Blessed Laura Vicuña
23. Saint Marianne Cope
24. Saint Francis de Sales
25. Conversion of Saint Paul
26. Saint Timothy and Saint Titus
27. Saint Angela Merici
28. Saint Thomas Aquinas
29. Blessed Villana de’ Botti
30. Saint David Galván Bermúdez
31. Saint John Bosco
FEBRUARY
1. Saint Brigid of Kildare
2. Blessed Benedict Daswa
3. Saint Blaise
4. Saint Gilbert of Sempringham
5. Saint Agatha
6. Saint Paul Miki and Companions
7. Saint Giles Mary-of-Saint-Joseph
8. Saint Josephine Bakhita
9. Saint Apollonia and the Martyrs of Alexandria
10. Saint Scholastica
11. Our Lady of Lourdes
12. Saint José Sánchez del Río
13. Blessed Jordan of Saxony
14. Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius
15. Saint Claude de la Colombière
16. Blessed Giuseppe Allamano
17. Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order
18. Blessed Fra Angelico
19. Saint Lucy Yi Zhenmei
20. Saint Francisco and Saint Jacinta Marto
21. Saint Peter Damian
22. Saint Margaret of Cortona
23. Saint Polycarp
24. Blessed Josefa Naval Girbés
25. Blessed Rani Maria Vattalil
26. Saint Porphyry
27. Saint Anne Line
28. Blessed Daniel Brottier
29. Saint Oswald of Worcester
MARCH
1. Saint Albinus of Angers
2. Saint Angela of the Cross
3. Saint Katharine Drexel
4. Saint Casimir
5. Saint John Joseph of the Cross
6. Saint Colette
7. Saint Perpetua and Saint Felicity
8. Saint John of God
9. Saint Frances of Rome
10. Saint John Ogilvie
11. Saint Mark Chŏng Ui-Bae and Saint Alexius U Se-Yŏng
12. Blessed Aniela Salawa
13. Saint Dulce Pontes
14. Saint Matilda
15. Saint Louise de Marillac
16. Blessed Torello of Poppi
17. Saint Patrick
18. Saint Cyril of Jerusalem
19. Saint Joseph
20. Saint Józef Bilczewski
21. Saint Rafqa Pietra Choboq Ar-Rayès
22. Saint Deogratias
23. Saint Toribio of Mogrovejo
24. Saint Oscar Romero
25. Saint Marie-Alphonsine Danil Ghattas
26. Saint Margaret Clitherow
27. Saint John of Egypt
28. Blessed Jeanne-Marie of Maillé
29. Saint Jonas and Saint Barachisius
30. Saint John Climacus
31. Blessed Joan of Toulouse
APRIL
1. Saint Hugh of Grenoble
2. Saint Francis of Paola
3. Saint Richard of Chichester
4. Saint Isidore of Seville
5. Saint Vincent Ferrer
6. Blessed Notker
7. Saint John Baptist de la Salle
8. Saint Julie Billiart
9. Blessed Antonio Pavoni
10. Saint Magdalene of Canossa
11. Saint Gemma Galgani
12. Saint Joseph Moscati
13. Blessed Margaret of Castello
14. Saint Peter Gonzales
15. Blessed Lucien Botovasoa
16. Saint Bernadette Soubirous
17. Blessed Savina Petrilli
18. Saint Marie of the Incarnation
19. Blessed James Duckett
20. Saint Agnes of Montepulciano
21. Saint Anselm
22. Blessed Maria Gabriella Sagheddu
23. Saint George
24. Saint Pedro de San José Betancur
25. Saint Mark the Evangelist
26. Saint Peter Chanel
27. Saint Zita
28. Saint Gianna Beretta Molla
29. Saint Catherine of Siena
30. Saint Pius V
MAY
1. Blessed Hanna Chrzanowska
2. Saint Athanasius
3. Saint Philip and Saint James
4. Blessed Marie-Léonie Paradis
5. Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice
6. Saint Dominic Savio
7. Saint Rosa Venerini
8. Blessed Miriam Teresa Demjanovich
9. Blessed Mary Theresa Gerhardinger
10. Saint Damien of Molokai
11. Saint Ignatius of Laconi
12. Blessed Imelda Lambertini
13. Our Lady of Fátima
14. Saint Théodore Guérin
15. Saint Isidore the Farmer
16. Saint Simon Stock
17. Saint Paschal Baylón
18. Saint Felix of Cantalice
19. Blessed Raphaël Louis Rafiringa
20. Saint Bernardine of Siena
21. Blessed Franz Jägerstätter
22. Saint Rita of Cascia
23. Saint John Baptist de Rossi
24. Saint Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi
25. Saint Bede the Venerable
26. Saint Philip Neri
27. Saint Augustine of Canterbury
28. Blessed Margaret Pole
29. Blessed Joseph Gérard
30. Saint Joan of Arc
31. Saint Michael Hồ Đình Hy
JUNE
1. Saint Justin Martyr
2. Saint Marcellinus and Saint Peter
3. Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions
4. Saint Mary Elizabeth Hesselblad
5. Saint Boniface
6. Saint Norbert
7. Blessed Ana of Saint Bartholomew
8. Saint Mariam Thresia Chiramel Mankidiyan
9. Saint Ephrem
10. Saint José de Anchieta
11. Saint Barnabas
12. Saint Juan de Sahagún
13. Saint Anthony of Padua
14. Saint Methodius I of Constantinople
15. Blessed Clement Vismara
16. Blessed Maria Theresa Scherer
17. Saint Émilie de Vialar
18. Saint Gregory Barbarigo
19. Saint Romuald
20. Blessed Michelina of Pesaro
21. Saint Aloysius Gonzaga
22. Saint John Fisher and Saint Thomas More
23. Saint Joseph Cafasso
24. Saint John the Baptist
25. Saint William of Vercelli
26. Saint Josemaría Escrivá
27. Saint Cyril of Alexandria
28. Saint Irenaeus
29. Saint Peter
30. Saint Paul
Acknowledgments

A sample days is:

“February 29
Saint Oswald of Worcester
(Unknown–February 29, 992)

Feast Day: February 28 (February 29 in leap years)

Oswald’s parents were from Denmark, but he was raised in England. His holy uncle, Saint Odo, was the archbishop of Canterbury. Odo helped raise Oswald, and they were very close. Oswald also had another uncle who was the archbishop of York. When Oswald was older, he wanted to become a monk. He traveled to France, where he entered a Benedictine monastery in Fleury. He studied there and was ordained a priest.

After some years Oswald went back to England. His uncle Odo had died, and Saint Dunstan was the new archbishop of Canterbury. Dunstan met Oswald and was impressed by his holiness. Oswald wanted to reform the monastic life in England because monasteries there had become lazy in some respects. Dunstan recommended that Oswald be appointed a bishop. So, in 961, Oswald became the bishop of Worcester. Later on, Oswald was made the archbishop of York in addition to being the bishop of Worcester.

As bishop, Oswald started some new monasteries. In 971, he built a large monastery in Ramsey that became famous and flourished for centuries. He was also devoted to reforming the clergy in his dioceses. Some priests had been abusing their privileges as ordained ministers. Oswald reminded them of what it meant to follow Jesus as a priest. He helped them lead holier lives. Oswald improved the education of the priests, too. He invited scholars from France to come to England and teach them.

Besides his work of reform, Oswald was known for loving the poor and helping them with their needs. During Lent, he would wash the feet of twelve poor men every day. He also provided food and clothing for them. Oswald was greatly loved because of his goodness to people. His holy life gave everyone a good example of how to see Jesus in each person.

Saint Oswald, pray for us that we might see where the world needs reform. Help us to remember that if we want to change the world, we must first change ourselves with the help and mercy of Jesus. Amen.”

And another is:

“January 24
Saint Francis de Sales
(August 21, 1567–December 28, 1622)

Feast Day: January 24

Patron of deaf people, writers, and the Catholic press

Francis was born at the de Sales castle in Savoy, France. His wealthy family provided him with an excellent education. By the age of twenty-four, Francis was a doctor of law. He returned to Savoy and led a hardworking life. He did not seem interested in important positions or a social life. In his heart, Francis was listening to a call that kept coming back like an echo. It seemed to be an invitation from God to become a priest. Francis finally tried to explain his struggle to his family. His father was very disappointed. He wanted Francis to be a great man of the world. Instead, Francis became a priest on December 18, 1593.

Francis lived in times when Christians were bitterly divided. He volunteered to go to a dangerous area of France to win back Catholics who had become Protestants. His father protested. He said it was bad enough that he had permitted Francis to become a priest. He was not going to let him be a martyr as well. But Francis believed that God would protect him. He and his cousin, Father Louis de Sales, set out on foot for the Duchy of Chablis. The two priests soon learned how to live with insults and physical discomforts. Their lives were frequently in danger. Little by little, however, people returned to the Church.

Francis eventually became the bishop of Geneva, Switzerland. With the help of Saint Jane de Chantal, he started a religious order of sisters in 1610. These women are called the Order of the Visitation. Francis wrote wonderful books about the spiritual life and the way to become holy. The books, Treatise on the Love of God and Introduction to the Devout Life, are still in print today. They are considered spiritual “classics.”

Francis died at the age of fifty-six. He was declared a saint by Pope Innocent X in 1665. Because of his heroic dedication to the Church, he was given the special title “doctor of the Church.”

Saint Francis, you knew what God wanted for you, and you patiently awaited your earthly father’s approval. Pray that I may be firm in my beliefs but patient and gentle with those who do not share them. Amen.”

This is a wonderful volume and One I know I will reread next year and try and stick to a single saint a day. It is another excellent offering from Pauline Books and Media. I hope the samples above inspire you to pick up these volumes and discover many new friends in heaven. Excellent to read to younger children, and for older children, tweens, teen, and even us adults. I highly recommend this book for family, church, or school libraries. I am certain it will not disappoint.

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2022 Catholic Reading Plan!