Riassunto
Riassunto di Il Santo
A chi è rivolto
For readers who love novels of conscience, questions of faith, and Italy at the turn of the twentieth century, with spiritual renewal and the hope of reforming the Church.
Che cos’è questo libro
The Saint is a novel by the Italian writer Antonio Fogazzaro, published in 1905. It is the third book in a series about the Maironi family and their circle, and it follows the life of a man who has given up his old self to live as a penitent. The book appeared at a time when many Catholics in Italy and beyond were asking whether their Church should change. Fogazzaro, a believing Catholic, wrote it as a picture of what a holy life might look like in the modern world.
The hero is Piero Maironi, who now lives under another name and tries to serve God through humility and work. Around him gather a woman from his past, a monk who guides him, and crowds who begin to treat him as a saint. The book asks what holiness costs, what the Church needs, and whether one honest person can move an institution. In the pages that follow you will meet the main figures, the world they move in, and the questions the story keeps pressing. We begin with the man at its center.
In questo riassunto
- 1A man who gave up his old lifeFree
- 2The monastery and its quiet teacher
- 3A woman from the past returns
- 4The crowd begins to see a saint
- 5A call to reform the Church
- 6What the book is about and how it speaks
Punto chiave 1 di 6
A man who gave up his old life
The story centers on Piero Maironi, a man with a past. Readers of the earlier books in the series know him as a husband who failed, a lover who strayed, and a person marked by grief. When this novel begins, he has left that life behind and taken another name, Benedetto, which in Italian means blessed.
Benedetto has chosen a path of penance. He lives close to the monks and works with his hands, seeking nothing for himself. He wants to pay for his faults by serving others and by staying out of sight. The choice is not a pose. It comes from real remorse and a hunger for a cleaner way of living.
The novel is careful to show that this is not an easy road. A man who tries to erase his past finds that the past does not agree to be erased. People remember him, and old feelings stay alive under the new habits. Fogazzaro lets us feel the weight of what Benedetto carries.
This opening matters because it sets the test of the whole book. Can a person who has failed become good, and can goodness stay pure when others begin to notice it? The first part of the story plants that question.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Who’s who
- Benedetto (Piero Maironi)
- A penitent who has left his former life behind, he seeks God under the guidance of Don Clemente.
- Jeanne Dessalle
- An independent woman who once loved Piero, she seeks him out and struggles to understand his changed life.
- Don Clemente
- A gentle Benedictine monk, he guides Benedetto and shares his hopes for renewal within the Church.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 121,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 8 h 5 min
- Listening time13 h 25 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 12 other languages
Questions about Il Santo
What is The Saint by Fogazzaro about?
It follows Piero Maironi, who takes the name Benedetto and lives as a penitent among monks. As people begin to see him as holy, he turns to the cause of reforming the Church.
Is The Saint part of a series?
Yes. It is the third of Fogazzaro's novels about the Maironi family, after Piccolo mondo antico and Piccolo mondo moderno. It can be read alone, though earlier books enrich Piero's past.
When was The Saint written?
Fogazzaro published it in 1905, in Italian, under the title Il Santo. It was written in a period of debate over reform in the Catholic Church.
Why was The Saint controversial?
It urged reform within the Catholic Church and criticized faults in church life. The Church placed it on its list of forbidden books soon after publication, although the author remained a believer.
Is The Saint hard to read?
The prose is clear. Readers who like thoughtful, spiritual novels will do well.