Saints Maligned Misunderstood and Mistreated Part I

By Bob Lord and Penny Lord

Table of Contents: Saints Maligned Misunderstood and Mistreated Part I
Introduction
Saint Basil the Great
Saint Benedict
Saint Bernard of Clarivaux
Saint Elizabeth of Hungary
As we prepare to present to you our next book, a book dedicated to Saints who were, in some way or other, maligned, misunderstood and/or mistreated, it is almost like we can hear a soldier beating a drum - calling forth a Role Call of Great Saints. Actually, we could include in this book, almost every Saint we have ever written about; but because we believe these Saints are so powerful, and their heroic contribution so great, we want to focus on them and their lives. As some of them are new to many of you, we believe you will be happily surprised to learn about such heroes in our Church.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Journeys of Faith
• Release date: Aug 10, 2011
• ISBN: 9781465725172

Bob Lord

Bob and Penny Lord renowned Catholic Authors and hosts on EWTN. They are best known for their media on Miracles of the Eucharist and Many Faces of Mary. They have been dubbed experts on the Catholic Saints. They produced over 200 television programs for EWTN global television network and wrote over 25 books and hundreds of ebooks.

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Saints Maligned Misunderstood and Mistreated Part I

Bob and Penny Lord

Published by Bob and Penny Lord at Smashwords

Copyright 2011 Bob and Penny Lord

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Table of Contents: Saints Maligned Misunderstood and Mistreated Part I

Introduction

Saint Basil the Great

Saint Benedict

Saint Bernard of Clarivaux

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary

Introduction

Saints Maligned, Misunderstood & Mistreated

As we prepare to present to you our 24th book, a book dedicated to Saints who were, in some way or other, maligned, misunderstood and/or mistreated, it is almost like we can hear a soldier beating a drum - calling forth a Role Call of Great Saints. Actually, we could include in this book, almost every Saint we have ever written about; but because we believe these Saints are so powerful, and their heroic contribution so great, we want to focus on them and their lives. As some of them are new to many of you, we believe you will be happily surprised to learn about such heroes in our Church.

As we have said so many times before, our Church is perfect - perfect because she was founded by the Perfect One - Jesus Christ. Our Church is precious, more precious than the most beautiful, costly diamond in the world; because the cost was, and continues to be so high - higher than any price ever paid for a priceless jewel. And why is she so precious? What was the cost? Our Church flowed from the very Heart of Jesus, pierced out of love for us. And well, you might ask, if this Church is so perfect, why this book, why any book about the ongoing blood, sweat and tears shed by those who adore Jesus and His Church?

We are told that the Church is nourished by the blood of the martyrs. But there are many types of martyrs, many who lived and died for Mother Church - the Names of Jesus and Mary on their lips. Many of those Saints you will read about could have touched the world without being part of Mother Church, could have been accepted by the world solely by their merits. Then why did they choose to serve God, often suffering the malignant slings of slander, the judgments of those who misunderstood them and mistreatment at the hands of those they trusted? Why? The answer can be found in any Catholic Church - in the Tabernacle - on the Altar during any Holy Mass. It is He, Our Savior, Who is with us, as He promised, to the end of time. It is He Who is in the Church He founded, never leaving her an orphan, as He promised. This Savior stole their hearts and they would never be the same - suffering any cost, any wounds, any attacks - all for the Mother (Church) they fell in love with, as their hearts were being won by her Founder.

We are told that many of the great writers or artists, for that matter, were not accepted in their lifetime. Then why did they do it? We believe the answer can be found in the lives of the Saints you will be reading about, because they were compelled to; there was a wind at their backs propelling them forward to their writing pads or canvases. The best way to explain why they chose the path they did is to go to Hebrews 11:13, All of these (Saints) died in faith. They did not obtain what had been promised but saw and saluted it from afar. For us, the key words here are ...saw and saluted it from afar. They trusted in God; they had Faith in God, and while possibly everyone else in the world let them down, He did not disappoint them.

There is a love story that has to be told. For us, the love story is about Mother Church, her founder Jesus Christ, His Mother Mary, all the Saints and the Angels. They are like photos on the wall, or in an album, that have no meaning unless they are shared.

We want to shout, along with the Saints we are writing about, from the roof tops, from the mountain peaks - We are in love! And because we are in love, we write. And because they were in love, they served Jesus through Mother Church, without looking at the end of the story, without any promises, sometimes lonely and forsaken - always faithful.

The greatest betrayals, the ones that wound the most, are the attacks from within the family. We, who are part of the Body of Christ, are part of a large beautiful family. Only sometimes members of the family forget to look into the mirror Jesus holds up to all of us and they give in to the traps of the world; the result - good people doing bad things. Now, don't get us wrong. We are not excusing or downplaying the iniquities suffered by our Saints, at the hands of those who promised to be faithful and lost their ways. Nor are we judging those who inflicted the mortal wounds borne by our Saints. Sometimes, even for us, as writers, it is hard to separate the act from the actor. If we looked at the guilty, with the loving Eyes of Jesus, most likely we would see those who have fallen, as they once were, full of innocence and dedication - commitment and truth their standard. Sadly they forgot that the deeds that man does live after him.

But this book is not about those who inflicted pain, but those upon whom pain was inflicted, and how, against tremendous odds, they remained true to their calling and became Saints! Get to know these Saints. Get inside their souls. Let them influence you on your pilgrimage of life. They are there for you; they will help you; they will take you gently by the hand and walk you right past St. Peter through the Pearly Gates, to the Kingdom of God. And you will at last be with Family. You will be Home! Come! Let us begin!

Saint Basil the Great

Mystic - Archbishop - Defender of the Faith -Doctor of the Church

Saints beget Saints, and there is no truer analogy than that of St. Basil the Great and his family; and (as we will later see), his friends. It has been a pleasure and distinct honor to bring you the story of one of our Church's greatest Saints - Saint Basil the Great. Saints beget Saints - the Saint we want to share with you came from a family of Saints, literally!

We begin the Roll Call of Saints with his family:

his grandmother, St. Macrina the Elder,

his mother and father, St. Basil the Elder and St. Emmilia,

his brothers St. Gregory of Nyssa and St. Peter of Sebaste

and his sister St. Macrina the Younger.

As we travel deeper and deeper into his life, you will discover the many gifts that made him a Saint and had him declared