ST CATHERINE OF SIENA - DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH; 30th APRIL

 ST CATHERINE OF SIENA

30th APRIL

St Catherine of Siena was the twenty-fifth child born to her mother on 25th March 1347, although most of her siblings did not survive childhood. She was a twin and her sister too, did not survive infancy.

At an early age she devoted herself to God and joined a Third Order of St Dominic, the ‘mantellate’, a group of pious women devoted to Dominican spirituality. This allowed her to remain at home while still a member of a religious order.

At the age of 16 Catherine’s sister, Bonaventura, died, leaving her husband as a widower. Catherine’s parents proposed that he marry Catherine in her place but Catherine opposed the marriage. She fasted, although remaining devoted to her family and respectful of her parents. Professors Mutschmann and Wentersdof observe, in relation to the Church view of forced marriage in Elizabethan times that it was and is the view of the Church that, while children must serve their parents with respect, nevertheless, "there must be complete freedom in choosing the marriage partner so that the validity of the marriage contract can never be made dependent upon the approval of parents." (1) Catherine stated that she saw her father as a representation of Jesus and her mother as a worldly representation of Our lady, which helped her serve them with humility. Her parents relented and did not force her to comply.

At the age of 21, Catherine began to have mystical experiences. In a vision, she was told to re-enter public life and help the poor and the sick. She began to travel and publicly called for reform of the Church and for people to confess and devote themselves to God. She became involved in politics and worked to keep the city-states loyal to the Pope. She was extremely influential with Pope Gregory XI and was instrumental in persuading him to return to Rome from Avignon.

She was then sent by the Pope to negotiate peace with Florence. After Pope Gregory’s death and peace with Florence was accomplished, she returned to Siena, established a monastery of strict observance in Belcaro and composed her spiritual treatises, “The Dialogue of Divine Providence”. Her letters are considered amongst the great works of Tuscan literature. She is renowned for her mystical vision of Christ where He said to her: “Do you know what you are to Me, and what I am to you, my daughter? I am He who is, you are she who is not.”

- a concept of the Creator and the creature reflecting the works of Aquinas. She preached extensively publicly and was renowned as a debater with an overwhelming intellect, albeit, accompanied by great humility. The Great Schism of the West led her to go to Rome to advise Pope Urban VI, where she sent letters to princes and cardinals to promote obedience to the Pope and defend the “vessel of the Church” – the Papacy.

For years she fasted with rigour and received the Eucharist almost daily. This extreme fasting was believed to be unhealthy in the eyes of the clergy and her fellow nuns. Her confessor, Raymond of Capua, ordered her to eat properly, but she was unable. She died at the age of 33 and her last words were: “Father, into Your hands I commend my spirit.”

She was immensely influential – one of the outstanding figures of medieval Catholicism and had enormous influence on the Papacy by her works. She was canonised in 1461 and has been declared a Doctor of the Church. Her feast day is 29th April: she is the Patron saint of Rome specifically and Italy and nurses and is the protectress against those who are ridiculed for their faith, those who suffer from sexual temptation, miscarriages, fire and illness.

(1) Mutschmann and Wentersdorf, Shakespeare and Catholicism, 1952, Sheed and Ward, at p. 224.

Sources: Wikipedia; catholic.org