Abstract
Patrick Coffey’s recently published Saints of Old is a book in the tradition of Christian lives of the saints, or ‘synaxarion.’ In the text, Coffey gives a hagiographical account of the lives of a number of saints in the Christian church.
In each chapter, the particularly inspirational elements of each saint’s life are laid out. Coffey, himself hailing from the British Isles but residing in North America, primarily writes about western saints including St. Ambrose, St. Leo, and St. Benedict. Furthermore, a plethora of the figures included were active in Britain such St Bede and St. Anselm. However, there are a few eastern saints included such as St. Constantine the Great’s mother, St. Helena. Especially interesting is his discussion of saints active in Celtic areas, such as St. Columba.
The text is clearly not aimed at an academic audience and the student is left without direction for follow up. Indeed, the book is devotional through and through and it is clear that Coffey writes from a pious and devout perspective, portraying his own admiration of the figures he writes about, which is exactly the perspective a hagiography should have. Coffey’s book, though primarily discussing western saints, does have an ecumenical flavor as he sometimes lists the saints’ feast days in the Church of England, the Roman Catholic Church, and Eastern Orthodox Church. Overall, the book contains some interesting and broad hagiographical information and it can certainly be read for devotional purposes.