Description
Book SynopsisWomen, Sainthood, and Power joins the study and the author's fascination of Catholic saints to a decades-long investigations of psychology, feminism, and the impact of historical, cultural, racial and class forces on women. This book explores the life stories of an international gallery of female saints from the wide-angle lens of several intellectual disciplines and the close-up view afforded by keenly observed fine points of character. She combines multidisciplinary scholarly research with a novelist's eye for detail to create vivid portraits of saints in their times and places. Using her own memories, she argues that there are lessons to learn today from the lives of these exceptional women.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Preface: A Tale about Hope, Courage, and Saints Introduction: Fire and Gas: Women Saints over Five Centuries Chapter 1: La Fabbrica dei Santi— How Politics and Culture Determine Who Is a Saint Chapter 2: Political Saints and Saintly Politics: Joan of Arc and Catherine of Siena Chapter 3: “Holy Anorexics” God, Agency, Women’s Bodies and Self-Starvation in Early Colonial Spanish-America: Rose of Lima and Mariana of Quito Chapter 4: Las Santas Criollas: Rosa de Lima, Mariana de Quito, and National Identity in Colonial Spanish-America Chapter 5: Teresa of Avila: The Love of God as Source of Authority Chapter 6: Edith Stein: Paradoxes of a Jewish Saint Chapter 7: Mystics of Political Resistance: Teresa of Avila’s and Edith Stein’s Visions of Womanhood Chapter 8: Pain, Loss, and Psychological Distress in Thérèse of Lisieux, The ‘Little Flower’ who wanted to be a Priest Chapter 9: Doctors but not Priests- Women Doctors in the Roman Catholic Church: Teresa, Catherine, Thérèse and Hildegard Chapter 10: North American Saints: Cabrini, Seton, Drexel, Tekakwitha…But No Black American Saints Yet Conclusion: Final Thoughts References About the Author
