St. Catherine of Siena (1347-1380)
St. Catherine of Siena was a rare individual in history who was betrothed to Christ through a mystical experience when she was just 21 years old.
She knew who she was in Christ, and she was consecrated to Him. She knew she was a child of God destined for eternal union with Him in Heaven, and so she lived an extraordinary life for a woman of the 14th century. She was a prolific writer of letters, and she inserted herself into the political life of her times.
St. Catherine of Siena could go months living off of nothing but the Holy Eucharist. She was so full of the Holy Spirit that she could easily cast out demons by demanding they leave a person and they would obey her. She experienced locutions and ecstasies, and many visions.
Early Years of St. Catherine of Siena's Life
She was the youngest of 25 children, 11 of which lived to adulthood. From the earliest years of her life she had a deep love for Jesus and conversed intimately with Him. She wanted to suffer for Christ and offer herself for the sake of the Church and for the salvation of souls. Many of her male relatives were public officials or went into the priesthood. From age six or seven, Catherine had religious visions. She practiced self-deprivation, especially abstaining from food.
At the age of 16, St. Catherine of Siena’s sister, Bonaventura, died, leaving her husband as a widower. Catherine’s parents proposed that he marry Catherine as a replacement, but Catherine opposed this. She began fasting and cut her hair short to mar her appearance. Her parents attempted to resist this move, to avoid marriage, but they were unsuccessful. Her fasting and her devotion to her family, convinced them to relent and allow her to live as she pleased. St. Catherine of Siena entered the Sisters of Penance of St. Dominic, a Dominican Third Order, at the age of 18, and she spent the next three years in prayer and seclusion.
Life as a Third Order Dominican
Fellow Dominican sisters taught St. Catherine of Siena how to read. Meanwhile, she lived quietly, isolated within her family home. For three years she remained in her room, only seeing her confessor. During this time she was devoted to contemplation and prayer. This devotion led her to develop a rich theology on the Precious Blood of Jesus. At the end of the three years of isolation, she believed she had a divine command to go out into the world and serve as a means of saving souls and working on her salvation.
Around 1367, St. Catherine of Siena experienced a mystical marriage to Christ. The Virgin Mary was present in her vision, along with other saints. St. Catherine of Siena says she received a ring—visible only to her—to signify the union.
Her visions and trances attracted many, and she was urged her to become active in the public and political world to help resolve conflicts between families and political rivals. She lived at a time when the Papacy was seen as weak. There was an urgent call for reformation of the Church in Europe.
St. Catherine of Siena wrote 383 letters to people of all social and economic classes, to both lay and religious people. Soon individuals and political figures began consulting her to mediate disputes and give spiritual advice. Gradually, a group of followers gathered around her—men and women, priests and religious. An active public apostolate grew out of her contemplative life. Her letters, mostly for spiritual instruction and encouragement of her followers, began to take more and more note of public affairs.
Opposition and slander resulted from her mixing fearlessly with the world and speaking with the candor and authority of one completely committed to Christ.
Her public influence reached great heights because of her evident holiness, her membership in the Dominican Third Order, and the deep impression she made on the pope. She worked tirelessly for the crusade against the Turks and for peace between Florence and the pope.
St. Catherine’s deep and abiding union with Christ kept her in a state of grace and caused her to fearlessly bear witness against the corruption of her day. She lived at a time when women of her day would never have dared to challenge the pope to return to Rome from Avignon, France and reclaim his rightful role as Vicar of Christ. But she was empowered to do just that by her union with Christ and desire to do His Divine will. In 1376, Rome promised to submit to papal authority if he returned. So, in January 1377, Pope Gregory returned to Rome, but then he died within the year.
St. Catherine of Siena spent the last two years of her life in Rome, in prayer and pleading on behalf of the cause of Pope Urban VI and the unity of the Church which had fallen into schism. She offered herself as a victim for the Church in its agony, during a time of the western great schism and a period of two duly elected popes, one in France and one in Rome. Devoted to prayers of reparation and penance to expiate the great sin she saw in this conflict of the Church, St. Catherine abstained from both food and water. Already weak from years of extreme fasting, she fell gravely ill. Though she ended the fast, St. Catherine died at age 33 shortly thereafter.
“Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.”
St Catherine of Siena’s Feast Day is the 29th of April. She is the Patron Saint of Italy, journalists, media, and nursing.
Learn about her life and works here.
Prayers of the Saints
Mother Teresa of Calcutta Prayer for Priests
Pray this prayer for priests by Mother Teresa of Calcutta during your holy hour of adoration dedicated to spiritual adoption of a priest.
Prayer for Divine Transformation from Within by St Faustina
The Lord Jesus Christ gave St. Faustina Kowalska a beautiful gift and through her obedience to Him she gave a message of God’s mercy to the world. Jesus revealed to Saint Faustina the way of Christian perfection based on trust in God having mercy on our neighbors.
Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi before the Crucifix
Saint Francis of Assisi had a deep devotion to Jesus in adoration. When he began his ministry of rebuilding the church he entered a ruined church and heard Jesus speak to him from the crucifix.
Beautiful Prayer for Priests by Saint Thérèse of Lisieux
Pray this prayer for priests written by St. Thérèse of Lisieux, to support parish priests in their vocations.
Prayer to St. Peter the Apostle
Pray this prayer to St. Peter the Apostle, the first Pope, who Jesus raised to high authority even though he denied Him three times on Good Friday.
Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel
This prayer to St. Michael the Archangel was written by Pope Leo XIII and published in the Roman Raccolta on July 23, 1898. This prayer to St. Michael the Archangel was recited after Low Mass from 1886 to 1964 in the Catholic Church.