Saints: A Family Story - Hardcover

by John Cavadini (Author), Catherine Cavadini (Author), Anastassia Cassady (Illustrator)

A beautifully illustrated collection of the stories of the Saints the whole family will love -- by father and daughter writing team, John and Catherine Cavadini, with stunning portraits by Anastassia Cassady.

This collection, Saints: A Family Story, is composed of stories the authors have written for their own children and grandchildren and friends. They are adapted from Scripture, from original sources within the Tradition, and from the writings of the saints themselves or their family and friends. The saints are presented as a "Family," living in many different times and places. Just think: many of these saints learned to love and to live the faith through the witness of their parents and grandparents or their brothers and sisters. Other saints form spiritual families, with connections between them found across the centuries.

The stories begin with Pope St. John Paul II because he called the Church today to sanctity by giving us the gift of more and more saints. The stories then move chronologically, from stories of saints in the Gospels, to martyrs, confessors and ascetics of the early Church, to saints of the medieval period, and to more modern saints, like Ven. Augustus Tolton, Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati and St. Teresa of Calcutta.

Through the stories of these saints, we receive new brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers in the faith. Each person's life tells the "story" of God's love in a unique and unrepeatable way. The illustrations bring shape and color to these stories, capturing the true diversity among the magnificent and beautiful "family of saints."

Author Biography

John Cavadini is Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame, where he also serves as McGrath-Cavadini Director of the McGrath Institute for Church Life. John's work as a theologian arises from his love for the Church Fathers, especially St. Augustine. Knighted by Pope Benedict XVI for his service to the Church, John and his wife, Nancy, live in South Bend, IN, where visits from any number of their 17 grandchildren are a daily diversion.

Catherine ("Katie") Cavadini is John's daughter and Tess's old swim coach. She teaches theology at Notre Dame, where she also directs the Master of Arts Program in Theology. In the classroom, Katie typically offers courses on scriptural interpretation, spirituality, and the stories of the saints. Katie and her husband, Anthony, live in South Bend, IN with their four children: Anna, James, John, and Zelie.
Anastassia "Tess" Cassady studied Art and Art History at the University of Michigan (Go blue!) and Indiana University. She resides in South Bend with her husband, Bob, and three children: Genevieve, Ivanka, and Dmitri. She has spent the last ten years teaching high school advanced art and art history at Trinity School at Greenlawn. She is also a professional freelance artist and has taken on many commissions including church murals, altarpiece paintings, paschal candles, byzantine icons, gilding a baldacchino, book covers, and private oil paintings (her favorite!). Tess swam collegiately at the University of Michigan, while Katie swam at Notre Dame. Despite all of this, they still remain friends. In her free time, if not painting, you can usually find Tess cooking Ukrainian food, making pysanky (Ukrainian Easter eggs), playing ice hockey, or cuddling with her three massive Maine Coons.