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Chronological List of Saints Keyed to
Saints for Young Readers For Every Day of the Year, Volumes One
and Two*
Published by Pauline Books and Media 1995
List compiled by Sonya Romens
This list came about as I searched for a good source for
information about the saints for our familys history studies. I
could find no comprehensive book which included easy-to-read
biographies of the canon of saints that also included historical
and geographical information as well as a list of the saints in
chronological order. I did, however, find Saint For Young Readers
from the Daughters of St. Paul, which fulfilled all but the
chronological order. The stories in these two volumes are written
for a upper elementary and middle school reading level and include
information about the historical and geographical context in which
each saint lived. The books, however, list the saints, as most do,
in the calendar order by their feast days. In order to adapt the
books for easier use as additions to our history studies I compiled
the following list of the saints, reordered in the chronological
order by the centuries in which they lived and died. *Note:
Unfortunately Volume Two is currently out of print. I have included
the names of the saints, the locations mentioned in their story,
the year of their death if available and their feast day. Year of
Death: There are several reasons that I chose to use the saints
year of death to order them chronologically. First, they are the
most readily available and agreed upon dates, particularly for the
early history of Christendom. They are also the dates used to
determine a saints feast day. Also, particularly in the case of
martyrs, it connects them to other saints who died in the same year
often under the same or very similar circumstances. I have used the
dates given in the stories, if a particular year is not mentioned I
have omitted it and just placed the saint in the correct century.
Feast Days: The feast day listed for each saint is the one given in
the newest edition of the Saints for Young Readers. The feast days
serve as an index to the stories in the two volumes for those of
you who have these books. Locations: I tried to choose the
locations in which spent the bulk of his/her life according to the
stories. In some cases I included more than one country. One idea
is to look up the locations on a map as you read the stories.
Another interesting project is to chart the spread of Christianity
through the centuries. As you read through the lists you can see
the Faith beginning in Palestine and the Middle East then slowly
branch out into Africa, Europe, Asia and finally the Americas.
Also, ask your children why they think there are so many or so few
saints listed at a particular time or place. What historical events
contributed to the abundance or lack or saints and martyrs in those
areas at a given time? Can you see Gods plan for the world
reflected in the gifts of particular saints He destined to live at
that time and place? From one ancestor [God] made all nations to
inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their
existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live,
so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and
find him though indeed he is not far from each of us. Catechism of
the Catholic Church, no. 28
