Manuela Dunn-Mascetti

Manuela Dunn-Mascetti’s Saints the Chosen Few is a text that gives account of saints from several faith traditions. Part One covers sainthood in the Christian tradition, the Jewish case, the wonders of Islam, the Hindu path to sainthood, and the Buddhist paradigms of man perfected. While Part Two addresses the question – Is there hope? A who’s who of saints and the graces granted, and miracles and pilgrimages.
The first chapter of this book looks at the otherworldly virtues of saints. Dunn-Mascetti asks, “What is a saint? How would we satisfy the enquirer’s curiosity? Would we answer by saying that saints are mostly historical figures considered holy by one religion or another? Or would we, in fact, have to admit that we really don’t know the answer?” The writer later explained a saint was any individual who is manifestly connected to the sacred reality – in the form of God, gods and goddesses, spiritual powers, or mythical realms – has always been held in veneration by the people. Like us they are human beings – but unlike us they are human incarnations of divine power.
The text itself is interspersed with saintly figures, black and white and color images of all sizes, prayers and rituals, sketches, icons, sites of pilgrimages, temples, synagogues, and churches. The book concludes with an epilogue, index, and acknowledgments.… (mer)