Pilgrim Tales is an anthology of Catholic fiction put together by the Catholic Writers Guild and published in December, 2025. The theme of pilgrimage ties the stories together. https://a.co/d/09qgScNy

These fifteen stories are so different from each other that sitting down and reading the whole book at one sitting will result in serious mental overload. However taken in smaller doses the stories are charming. They include delightful invented saints, for colonies in space or for alternate histories with dinosaurs, along with stories with a medieval or Renaissance setting. In these stories talking to God and having Him answer, is considered quite normal. The only story I really had an issue with included angels who were struggling with their emotions. Um, no, I don’t think so. 

Once I got over the idea that I could read this book all at once I found different favorites each time I looked. My all-time favorite though was Pilgrimage to L5. This story includes a set of nuns who rescue people who are floating in space, a cat, a new saint, and lovely writing.

The first story, A Pilgrim’s Romance, is an arrangement of the most classic Catholic romance trope that can be imagined. If you want know which one that is, see below. ** It was handled very well. The story also brought up the question I asked myself for the next five stories. Is pilgrimage a synonym for surrender? Probably.

The King’s Pilgrimage and Not All Who Wander are, respectively, about a medieval teenager and a modern one. Both are trying to understand what their purpose is in the world. The stories are totally different but very much from the same world view. Ultimately actions matter.

Gold in Them Hills — This story is subtle but the heroine got the point even if the reader (me) misses it the first time. I like the way this story is worked out because it’s not hitting anyone over the head. You have to pay attention, which is true in life as well as books. 

Labels for the stories are included so you can choose to suit your mood. There are stories are quiet slice of life or clean romance. Then there’s this one. 

Kyrie is called a ghost story. Don’t be put off by the title if you don’t like ghosts, and don’t be fooled if you are looking for levitation or weird noises in the night. This is really more like a saintly apparition. 

The bottom line on Pilgrim Tales is that there’s lots of fun reading to be had along with a few misses. I haven’t looked up any of the authors to see if I’d like more of their stuff, which is one of the points of doing an anthology, but it’s definitely on my list of things to do. I’ll probably look for more stories about those rescue nuns first!

Wood cut from the National Gallery of Art. 1400’s. public domain.

** Marriage or priesthood