Often one’s perceptions of sainthood are rooted in the pages of time and Christian scripture, leaving those who have followed a calling in modern times on histories’ back pages.

A few ordinary saints’ stories were told in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union on Monday night.

Robert Ellsburg, publisher of Orbis Books and the author of such Catholic works as “The Saint’s Guide to Happiness” and “All Saints: Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets and Witnesses,” gave a lecture on behalf of a few of the forgotten saints of our time, such as Catholic Worker founder Dorothy Day, whom he worked with for five years before her death.

“Saints may seem closer to God and not human,” Ellsburg said of the common perception of saints.

He listed such figures as Vincent Van Gogh, Ghandi and Oscar Schindler as recent examples of saints.

“The forms of holiness are different, but the concepts are essentially the same,” he said.

The focus of his lecture was of the demystification of the path to sainthood, which has been clouded by the perceived “agonizing suffering and hunger” that seems to earmark the saints of old, like Saint Augustus. Ellsburg decried the Catholic Church’s system of selection for sainthood, in which one has to be deceased for many years before recognition of a life of faith.

“At what point exactly do you become a saint? It cannot be measured out,” he said. “[Sainthood] is exhibited in the living out of life.”

Ellsburg told stories about Day, who started out life as a communist workers’ advocate, but was exiled from the Communist Party for “being too religious.” The focus of her life was clarified as she began the Catholic Workers program, giving up a life of luxury for one of helping and advocating for the poor. She was recently beatified.

Ellsburg also told stories of Dorothy Stang, a nun who was killed by ranchers in Brazil for advocating landless workers, and Thomas Murton, who led of a life of “scorn and sarcasm” for his fellow man, before receiving an epiphany that he actually loved every human being and dedicated his life to helping them.

Students who attended the lecture came for differing reasons, but most found it to be beneficial. The also lecture helped to increase student knowledge of saints.

“I came out of sheer curiosity. I thought it was good mix of stories and opinion,” said Daniel Hinz, senior in electrical engineering.