"Pray for Us: 75 Saints Who Sinned, Suffered, and Struggled on Their Way to Holiness" is a wonderfully unique collection of Saint stories. Many of these Saints and their stories are not as well known as some of the more famous Saints, but their stories are still fascinating and convicting. Meg Hunter Kilmer has managed to find a wide diversity of Saints to feature from all over the world, a variety of ages and socio-economic stages, throughout the timespan of history, and representing a range of vocations and states in life.

The stories are split across 12 different thematic sections including "Saints who defied expectations", "Saints who never gave up", "Saints who lived ordinary lives", and "Saints who had difficult families". Within these sections, there is a brief introduction to the theme and then each individual Saint's story is between 2-4 pages. The heading of each story includes their name, years of life, country, feast day, and a catchy one-liner that encapsulates their life. At the end of the book, there are a number of indexes that are very useful if you want to look up a particular Saint alphabetically, in chronological order of the century they lived in, their feast day, country/region of origin, or topically based on key elements of their stories or challenges that they overcame.

I think this book would be perfect for teens around Confirmation age or adults looking for short, inspirational stories to add to their daily devotional time. I ended up buying a physical copy of this book after receiving the eARC copy because it is one that I wanted as a permanent fixture on my Saint book shelf!

*DISCLAIMER: I received an eARC of this book from Ave Maria Press through NetGalley for the purposes of providing an unbiased review.*

Due to some health issues, I was unable to get this book read and reviewed in a timely manner. I apologize.

In Pray for Us, a-not-so ordinary saint book, Meg Hunter-Kilmer, a popular itinerant missionary, aims to stretch our notions of holiness by exploring the lesser-known lives of seventy-five extraordinary people, whose human struggles and limitations reveal the power of God’s grace. Through short edgy profiles of each ‘saint’, full of fresh and fascinating stories, Hunter-Kilmer explores the universal call to holiness and how God can transform anyone – from grouchy theologians to bratty teenagers – into saints.

Overall, I thought Pray For Us was a very interesting read about flawed and blessed individuals, from throughout history. It was also inspiring to see ordinary people strengthened by their faith to endure loss, imprisonment, torture and death, as well as in contrast enduring mundane lives of quietness, illness and disappointment. I imagine this is even better in its physical format, as you will be able to use the index to look up individuals that might match a theme, feast day or mood. A very… Good Read ⭐⭐

Pray For Us reminds us that the Saints were not perfect but they were perfect for God's purpose in their messy, real-life situations. Meg Hunter-Kilmer has reminded us of little known Saints who are just like us!

I really enjoyed reading this book. I loved the way it was organized and laid out. I also loved the fact that we were focusing on more obscure saints and holy people that come from all different corners of the world and from different time periods. It reads great as a book to pick up and read in one go, but it also works wonderfully as something to take your time with and go back and reference. My husband also really enjoyed it as well. I went ahead and purchased my own copy. Thank you for my gifted copy in an exchange for an honest review. I look forward to seeing more books like this. Beautiful cover too!

For anyone who's tired of saccharine saints who seem unapproachably holy, this is the book you've been waiting for. In Pray For Us, Meg Hunter-Kilmer offers an array of saints whose vices and trials somehow bring them down to a level that's very different than the usual hero worship and much more like real friendship and fellowship . (Saints -- They're Just Like Us!)

Her categories include saints whose paths to heaven were complicated by both exterior and interior stumbling blocks. More notably, this thoroughly researched work brings us a wide variety of saints beyond the usual cohort -- varied in historical period, geography, culture, socioeconomic status, (dis)ability, vocation -- but singularly united by their devotion to God. I almost wrote "unwavering" devotion out of sheer habit, but some of these saints wavered quite a bit, actually... and that's Hunter-Kilmer's whole point.

The author's tone is relaxed and engaging; in each story, you get the sense you're chatting in a cafe about someone she knows. She weaves her narratives deftly, highlighting the specific crosses of each saint (everything from alcoholism to lukewarmness to prostitution to outright satanism), then leading us along to their reward in heaven, but without the tidy red bows we've come to expect in most saint stories. These saints are complex, multi-faceted, and richly rewarding to get to know.

Pray For Us is a compelling read for anyone who's turned off (or feels left out) by traditional depictions of sainthood. If we are all invited to holiness, Hunter-Kilmer's book is a much-needed handbook on just how very many ways there are to get there.

A compilation of short accounts of saints of all sizes, shapes, forms and frequently not at all the stained glass window depiction of saints you might have become accustomed to. This is a book based on Roman Catholic saints and while I disagree with the Roman Catholic churches teachings I nonetheless enjoyed reading this. My only caveat is that at the end of each section the saint in question is requested to pray for us. I believe only Jesus intercedes on our behalf but even if you're of a more Protestant persuasion and if you can sidestep this bit then you'll enjoy this book.

Are you lonely, or depressed? Have you lost your faith? Are you struggling with 'Covid fatigue'? Perhaps, you are simply interested in Catholic saints? There is a saint for everyone, and Meg Hunter Kilmer has written an inspirational book about saints who had to combat all kinds of huge problems in their lives, and how they can help us.
The Saints include people who led exciting lives, such as Saint Catherine Jarrige who saved priests from the guillotine during the French Revolution, those who lived simple, quiet lives like Saint Therese, and even fiery socialists. They also include disabled, or extremely ill Saints who led lives of great suffering.

I found the story of the Servant of God Rose Hawthorne the most fascinating, because she led a somewhat glamorous literary life (although she may have had an abusive husband), yet she became a nurse, founded a new religious order, and helped very poor sick people.

I received this free ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

If you read a lot of books about the saints, like I do, it devolves into the same handful of stories over and over again. This book is a marvelous look at saints whose stories are more contemporary, wild, or simply took place outside of Europe. It is an asset to any Catholic book collection and Meg Hunter-Kilmer writes with reverence but also a playfulness that I appreciated.

I loved this book for so many reasons. First, I loved that it was engagingly well-written. The story of each of the holy men & women did not whitewash their faults but told each story in a way that showed Go's Hand at work bringing them to Christ and holiness, each in a unique way.

Second, I loved that so many of these holy ones were new to me. While not all are canonized, all of them are on the road to sainthood. They come from all eras of the Church, but i loved that so many of them are from the last 150 years. It's such a wonderful testament to the bravery of Christians in the face of the brutality of the 20th Century.

The 75 stories in the book are divided into chapters that revolve around a specific theme, for example, saints who were sinners or saints who suffered. Each chapter has a short introduction that shows how this can apply to us and which encourages us. Each story brings the tale to a concluion that shows us the greater purpose of the saint's life but which also points specifically to those who might best be helped by it.

It's far better than most collections of saints' stories out there.

Whenever I pick up a book about the lives of the saints, I’m usually bracing myself for all the usual tropes. All those generic white girls with no personality and colonizing men presented completely uncritically. Glossed-over rape and glorified eating disorders. The list goes on.

What a relief it was to open this book and know from page one that I wouldn’t have to worry about any of that, In Meg Hunter-Kilmer’s capable hands, each saint really does leap out as a unique image of Christ, utterly irrepeatable, formed in this real world. You get the sense that Hunter-Kilmer has learned to see the Creator’s delight in each of us, and wants to teach us that above all. This book doesn’t shy away from difficult topics, but handles them all with instructive grace.

If the goal of this book was to make me want to be a saint… To be a part of this star-studded cast… To meet people in heaven like jungle surgeon Bl. Maria Troncatti, bold foundress Ven. Mary Elizabeth Lange, and misfit sister Bl. Sara Salkahazi… Then it was successful. Sign me up!

My words won't express how much I loved this book. I loved it so much.
The saints inspires me to seek God's will.
They had suffered, had been tempted. They're witness that holiness is possible.
The book shows a lot of servants of God, venerable, blessed, saints and some of them I have never heard about before.
Praise God for His saints.
This book is a must read. Well done, author!
Thank you Netgalley and publisher for free ARC in exchange of honest review. All thoughs are my own.

What an amazing collection of stories! Pray For Us breaks the Saints out of their stained glass windows and porcelain statues and puts them where we need them - in messy, real-life situations we can all relate to. These men and women who struggled with vice, disappointment, prejudice, disabilities, and suffering serve as examples for the rest of us: that no one is beneath God’s love and mercy, and we are all called to love Him through our own crosses. Meg Hunter-Kilmer has done an incredible job of showcasing saints from across the centuries and around the world, highlighting the incredible diversity of the Communion of Saints we are a part of.

I grew up studying in a Catholic school and I remember we used to study the lives of different saints. There are so many saints with different causes that you could pray to and most of them have stories to tell. Pray For Us is such a informative book, the stories of these saints are such that I have unheard of and are kinda unusual which is what makes it so interesting. Overall, I enjoyed the book and the quirky and usual stories, makes you realise that saints are not superheroes but just mere humans too.

I received an advance copy of, Pray for Us, by Meg Hunter Kilmer. This is a great book. I learned alot of new saints. 75 saints, actually, most I never heard of. Real people with real faults.