Three books in one, although it really only counts as one in my book count for the year. The volume collects three stories of the early church in the Ireland and England, and focuses on three saints.

First up is the Odyssey-like The Voyage of St. Brendan, which is a cyclical aquatic voyage with devils, islands that are really whales, and sea monsters. Brendan really never shows fear, as he believes God will protect him and his traveling companions, although a few don't make it to the end. The point of the trip is to find the "Land of the Saints," but they are not allowed to stay, so they wind up going home.

The next two stories actually intersect, although without a heads-up from the introduction, I probably wouldn't have noticed. In The Life of Cuthbert, we again find a holy monk who does a lot of traveling, followed by periods of isolation. He really believed in fasting, which he partakes of in almost every other chapter. He does a few miracles, including exorcising demons, leading the author (Bede) to offer a valuable lesson in theology: "God, in his inscrutable designs, sometimes lets the innocent in this world be blighted by the devil, in mind as well as body." One story I wasn't quite sure I understood was when several monks came to visit the (surprise!) fasting Cuthbert. They had brought their own food, but Cuthbert offered them a goose. They opted to eat their own food. "[T]o show you quite clearly ... saints are meant to be obeyed in even their most casual commands," the visitors were stuck on Cuthbert's island until they ate the goose.

Finally, we have The Life of Wilfrid. Wilfrid was actually assigned to Cuthbert's monastery after Cuthbert was expelled in a political rearrangement. Wilfrid's importance was based on his belief of the Roman system of dating Easter, which was a huge doctrinal issue in the early years of the church. Wilfrid, trying to stay in communion with Rome, attempted to enforce this on the British Isles, but it wasn't particularly successful. Over time, Wilfrid would appeal to Rome -- actually going there in person -- three times, vindicated by three different Popes, but still encountering difficulty in his homeland. While he was certainly dedicated to his cause, the story got a bit repetitive, and the long ostentatious petitions weren't page-turners ("I now make bold to assail your ears with the request that your benign clemency may see fit to confirm with abounding holy benevolence all these good and just decrees made so unanimously on my poor behalf by your illustrious predecessors"). One sentence got me laughing, although I'm sure the author in his day meant what he said: the devil "chose his usual weapon, one by which he has often spread defilement throughout the whole world -- woman."

I try to read something spiritual during Lent each year, and I guess this one qualifies. The stories don't quite seem as instructive as they could be; we learn about the many things the saints did but not perhaps why (or even how) they did them. We can't fault the authors for not asking the right questions -- I'm sure they'd be surprised their stories are still being read almost 1500 years after being written! (There is a more recent version of this title, and sight unseen, I'd probably recommend it over this one, as this translation seems stilted at times.)

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LT Haiku:

Fantastical tales
of three men of God who tried
to live holy lives. ( )