The Directory of Saints: A Concise Guide to Patron Saints
Dictionaries of saints abound, but few offer access by area of patronage. Sandoval, whose interest in saints began in parochial school, offers a handy compilation of several hundred saints listed alphabetically by patron subject (places, conditions, and occupations). Her introduction gives a simple overview of the saint-making process today (though the required scholarly investigative volume is a positio, not postio). She includes modern saints in her listing, but the majority date from the early centuries to the Middle Ages; some patronage areas have more than one saint assigned. While the short biographies are quite readable, entries are not referenced, and there is no reverse list by saint names to patron subjects. Persons formally declared "Blessed"-a stage toward beatification, as with Margaret of Castello, invoked for the unborn-are not included. A shorter second section includes a Roman Catholic saints calendar, baptismal names, and a brief bibliography. Similar to Helen Roeder's older Saints and Their Attributes: With a Guide to Localities and Patronage (1956), this book is interesting to browse. Recommended for its convenience where there is a demand.Anna M. Donnelly, St. John's Univ. Lib., New YorkCopyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.