The Saint's Life and the Senses of Scripture

Ann W. Astell is professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame. She is the author of many books, including Eating Beauty: The Eucharist and the Spiritual Arts of the Middle Ages, and the editor of Saving Fear in Christian Spirituality.

Acknowledgments Illustrations Abbreviations Introduction: Brief Candle: The Saint's Life as Biblical Illumination Part 1. The Saint's Life in the Age of Monasticism 1. Psalm Use, Prayer, and Prophecy in the Lives of Saint Guthlac 2. Hexaemeral Miracles in Saint AElred of Rievaulx's Life of Ninian 3. The Song of Songs and Saint Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of Saint Malachy 4. Eadmer's Parabolic Life and History of Saint Anselm of Canterbury: A Twice-Told Tale. Part 2. The Saint's Life in the Scholastic Age 5. Saint Francis of Assisi as "New Evangelist" in Thomas of Celano's Vita Prima and Bonaventure's Legenda Maior 6. Heroic Virtue in Blessed Raymond of Capua's Life of Catherine of Siena 7. Mary Magdalene and the Eucharist: Reading Jacobus de Voragine's Legenda Aurea with Catherine of Siena, Raymond of Capua, and Osbern Bokenham Part 3. The Saint's Life in Modernity 8. The Ends of Hagiography: Erasmus's Jerome, Harpsfield's Life, and More's Epitaph 9. Modern Literary Experiments in Biblical Hagiography Conclusion: Historical Truth, Biblical Criticism, and Hagiography

"Astell seeks to frame hagiography as a form of biblical exegesis, shifting debate about the genre into new territory. In this reviewer's estimation, the shift will be enriching for both hagiography's detractors and its defenders." -First Things "Astell's book further emphasises the importance of analysing hagiography for more than just the 'historical sense' and demonstrates the potential rewards for scholars from a range of disciplines of taking the Scriptural dimension of saints' Lives seriously." -Irish Theological Quarterly "Though Astell's focus is hagiography, her aspirations extend to biblical interpretation. She 'hope[s] that a renewed biblical scholarship, combining historical-critical methods with an exegetical theology conscious of a long, living history of biblical reception, will find its partner in a renewed hagiography.' This wide-ranging and well-documented work provides valuable resources in support of achieving that goal." -Theological Studies "Astell reads skillfully, writes lucidly, and is on top of her material." -Barbara Newman, author of The Permeable Self "An original contribution to the field of medieval studies, in particular, but also religious history." -Ian Christopher Levy, author of Introducing Medieval Biblical Interpretation