Mystics & Miracles: True Stories of Lives Touched by God

In the Gospel of John, Jesus promised that even the most ordinary believer could work the mightiest miracles: "Anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing." In Mystics and Miracles, author Bert Ghezzi takes Jesus at his word, describing the paradoxically exalted and down-to-earth characters of Catholicism's greatest saints. The book collects almost two dozen brief character sketches composed of lively and often humorous anecdotes, most of which concern the role of the Holy Spirit in empowering believers, and the ways that saints both desire and resist the Spirit's power. St. Lutgarde of Awyieres, for instance, asked God to take back her healing powers when the lines of petitioners grew so long that she barely had time for prayer. Mystics and Miracles offers an easy-to-read introduction to saintly lives that will particularly appeal to young people. --Michael Joseph Gross