My Sisters the Saints:
A Spiritual Memoir
• Winner of 2013 Christopher Award
• Winner of 2013 Catholic Publishers Excellence in Publishing Award
• Now in its 13th printing with nearly 100,000 copies sold (in English)
In My Sisters the Saints, Colleen Carroll Campbell blends her personal narrative of spiritual seeking, trials, stumbles and breakthroughs with the stories of six women saints who profoundly changed her life: Teresa of Avila, Thérèse of Lisieux, Faustina of Poland, Edith Stein of Germany, Mother Teresa of Calcutta and Mary of Nazareth. Drawing upon the rich writings and examples of these extraordinary women, the author reveals Christianity’s liberating power for women and the relevance of the saints to the lives of contemporary Christians.
What others are saying:
A beautiful and inspiring story of a woman’s deep faith and the saints who became her sisters along the path to her answered prayers.
Campbell relates a provocative life story … Throughout the book, Campbell describes how various women saints helped her understand her situation and move ahead. … A charming and instructive communion with saintly sisters.
Campbell’s stories will resonate in the heart of every woman challenged by today’s culture and blessed with even a scintilla of faith. You won’t put this book down until you have finished the last page. And as you read, you will hold your breath in hopefulness experiencing with Colleen the grippingly real decisions in this woman’s life—both big and small—the response to which ultimately define who one is as a person.
Colleen Carroll Campbell is one of the finest writers on the American Catholic scene, and My Sisters the Saints shows her heart, her skill, and her keen intelligence at their best. This is a wonderful, engaging personal memoir and a great witness of faith.
From her own life’s story, Colleen Carroll Campbell has depicted a spiritual journey marked by waiting for and letting go. . . . Her personal story teaches a universal lesson: living free is different from being in control. This is a moving and beautiful book.
In My Sisters the Saints, Colleen Carroll Campbell has liberated these great historical heroines from dusty altarpieces and stone effigies and has brought them into the new millennium. … By the end, one finds oneself with six new girlfriends whose wit, common sense and faith transcend any age.
With this intimate memoir, Colleen Carroll Campbell gives a moving witness to the ‘cloud of witnesses’ celebrated in sacred scripture.
The saints undo the world—for by their sheer existence, they tell us we may have gotten it wrong: all our conventions, all our agreements, all our correctnesses and easy thoughts no help when things come crashing in. In troubled times, Colleen Carroll Campbell found herself by reading the lives of the great women saints. And you might find your own self, reading Campbell’s My Sisters the Saints.
Campbell offers a touching memoir on family, loss, and career as filtered through the lives and writings of six women saints: Teresa of Ávila, Thérèse of Lisieux, Faustina of Poland, Edith Stein of Germany, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and Mary of Nazareth. … Thoughtful and gracious, Campbell’s story will serve as an inspiration for many young women who are attempting to straddle two very different worlds—the sacred and the profane—in a society with little patience for subtlety or complexity.
Colleen Carroll Campbell has encountered most of the challenges confronting young women today—balancing dating, courtship, and marriage with a successful career, caring for a parent with Alzheimer’s, dealing with infertility—but she hasn’t faced these challenges alone. In My Sisters the Saints, Campbell introduces us to the women who helped her along the way . … Completely contemporary and totally timeless, My Sisters the Saints is an engaging spiritual memoir and the perfect guidebook for anyone who is looking for a companion to help her navigate life’s sometimes difficult and confusing journey.
[A] fascinating memoir … This lovely and highly readable book will touch many lives.
My Sisters the Saints brilliantly illuminates how the Christian life cannot be understood as an abstraction, but shows its radiant form in our friendship with heavenly companions who meet us in the real events and concrete circumstances of our lives.
Refreshing, well written, down to earth, and a joy to read (I’d often find myself grinning as I read it), Colleen has given us a sincere gift: not only the gift of her intellect and skill as a writer, but, more importantly, she has opened her heart and given us the sincere gift of herself.
An inspiring and insightful account . . . This is the story of a journey told with refreshing honesty and great insight that will benefit many.
This book is a powerful description of the long struggle Colleen Carroll Campbell had to undergo to go back to peace, to give God the place that belongs to Him: the first.