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Audiobook edition · 13 h 24 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when a man seeking only humility becomes the person others call a saint?
In Antonio Fogazzaro’s The Saint, Piero Maironi leaves a troubled past behind and takes the name Benedetto. Among Benedictine monks near Subiaco, he seeks to serve God and others through work and humility. But Jeanne Dessalle, the woman who once loved him, discovers where he lives and comes to find him.
As poor people gather around Benedetto, some begin to believe he has special gifts. His gentle guide, Don Clemente, shares his hope for a Church open to renewal. Personal love presses against vocation, while private conscience meets public duty. Can a man trying to change himself also help change an institution?
What you’ll discover
- A life begun again Follow Benedetto as he seeks a life of service after failure, love, and grief.
- Love that seeks him out Meet Jeanne, whose return brings the claims of personal love close to his vocation.
- Quiet among the hills Enter the Benedictine world near Subiaco, shaped by prayer, work, and Don Clemente’s gentle guidance.
- The weight of holiness Consider what happens when others see a saint in a man seeking humility.
- Faith open to renewal Explore conversations about a Church willing to meet new knowledge and social needs.
Who will love it
Readers who like novels where love and faith collide will enjoy this story. It also suits those who love Italian landscapes, church life, reform and rich debate.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A rumour awakens Jeanne's hope
- Reform needs a living example
- Love must accept a boundary
- Public devotion turns into blame
- His work continues beyond the cloister
- Benedetto speaks boldly before power
- Reform begins with each believer
- Honest love meets uncertain belief
- Holiness is lived amid human weakness
Who’s who
- Benedetto (Piero Maironi)A former sinner living as a gardener and called the Saint, he longs to serve Christ and renew the faith of ordinary people.
- Jeanne DessalleA beautiful, doubting woman who has loved Piero for years and follows him, longing to see him again.
- Noemi d'ArxelA young Belgian Protestant, loyal to her parents' faith, who becomes Jeanne's confidante and a quiet witness to Benedetto.
- Giovanni SelvaAn elderly philosopher of progressive Catholicism who wants reform without rebellion and shelters Benedetto's friends.
- Maria SelvaGiovanni's young wife, a convert from Protestantism, who loves him dearly and gives courage to everyone around her.
- Don ClementeA gentle Benedictine monk and Benedetto's spiritual father, he hopes a saint will come to renew the Church.
- Carlino DessalleJeanne's witty, restless brother, a freethinker who dreams of writing a novel and dreads his sister's turn to faith.
- Professor MaydaA famous doctor and unbeliever who employs Benedetto in his garden and grows to love him.
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The Saint
by Antonio Fogazzaro · 1905
A woman who has lost her faith follows the man she loved into a world where he is called a saint.
Medium level5–10 hours to read20 languages
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In short
Two friends walk the moonlit streets of Bruges while a brother follows with a notebook, collecting scenes for a novel he may never write. Then the talk turns to a monk at Subiaco, and Jeanne Dessalle goes pale.
The Saint at a glance
- Reading time
- About 7 h 50 min6 h 15 min fast, 9 h 20 min slow
- Length
- 111,900 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1905by Antonio Fogazzaro
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A rumour reaches Bruges
The book opens in Bruges, in a small villa beside the Lac d'Amour. Jeanne Dessalle lives there with her brother Carlino, a witty unbeliever who dreams of a novel he has not written. Her young friend Noemi d'Arxel, a Belgian Protestant, has come to stay.
Jeanne carries a secret wound. She loved Piero Maironi, who gave up the world and vanished into a cloister. Then Noemi mentions a Benedictine monk named Don Clemente, whom her sister and brother-in-law know at Subiaco. They suspect he may be Piero. Jeanne insists he cannot be, because Piero never played a note of music. Still, the doubt gets into her heart.
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- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1905
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 8 h 45 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Fogazzaro, Antonio. The Saint. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-saint.
Fogazzaro, A. (2026). The saint. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-saint (Original work published 1905)
Fogazzaro, Antonio. The Saint. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-saint.
@book{fogazzaro2026saint,
author = {Fogazzaro, Antonio},
title = {The Saint},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-saint},
note = {First published 1905}
}
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What is The Saint by Antonio Fogazzaro about?
It follows Piero Maironi, a former sinner who lives as a humble gardener under the name Benedetto. Crowds call him a saint, powerful men fear him, and a woman who loved him follows him through Italy and Rome.
Who is Benedetto in The Saint?
Benedetto is the new name of Piero Maironi, a man from Brescia who gave up a sinful life. He works in a monastery garden, preaches simply, and comes to be called the Saint of Jenne.
Who are Jeanne Dessalle and Noemi d'Arxel?
Jeanne is the woman who loved Piero and cannot believe in God. Noemi is her young Belgian Protestant friend, who meets Benedetto and slowly feels drawn toward Catholic faith through him.
The author
Antonio Fogazzaro
1842–1911 · Italian novelist
Antonio Fogazzaro was an Italian novelist and one of his country's most widely read authors at the turn of the twentieth century. The Saint (Il Santo), his controversial novel of a would-be reformer inside the Catholic Church, caused a sensation across Europe and was placed on the Vatican's Index of Forbidden Books. The novel once scandalized Rome.
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