Saint Catherine of Siena
Feast day: April 29
Saint Catherine of Siena, a brave young woman who loved the Church, Doctor of the Church (29/04)
Who is she?
Saint Catherine of Siena was a young woman from the city of Siena, Italy. She did not enter a convent but joined the Dominican Third Order, people who live the spirit of the Dominicans in the middle of everyday life. She is a Doctor of the Church, patron saint of Italy and co-patron of Europe.
Life story
Catherine was born in 1347 in Siena, one of the youngest children of a fairly well-off cloth dyer’s very large family. From childhood, she loved to pray and wanted to belong entirely to God.
When she grew up, her parents wanted her to marry, but she had decided to give herself to God. She cut her hair short to show how determined she was. Her parents were upset and gave her the household chores to do. She still served cheerfully, imagining that she was serving Jesus, Mary and the Apostles.
She joined the Dominican Third Order and lived a life of prayer in a little room in her home. Then she went out to care for the poor and the sick, including people with the plague, a very dangerous contagious disease, whom many people did not dare go near.
She had little schooling, but God gave her special wisdom. She dictated hundreds of letters to Popes, kings and ordinary people, calling for peace and for the renewal of the Church. At that time, the Pope lived in Avignon, in France. She bravely told Pope Gregory XI that he should return to Rome, and in 1377 the Pope did return.
She also left a book, “The Dialogue of Divine Providence,” about God’s love. She died in Rome in 1380, only 33 years old. In 1461, she was canonized, and in 1970 she was declared a Doctor of the Church.
Why is she a saint?
Saint Catherine loved Jesus crucified with all her heart, and because she loved the Lord, she loved the Church and everyone. She served the poor and the sick, and dared to speak the truth even to powerful people, but always with respect and charity.
A lesson for you
- Pray for the Pope and for the Church every day.
- When you do housework, do it cheerfully, as if you were helping Jesus himself.
- When you need to correct someone, tell the truth, but gently and politely.
Identifying marks
- A crown of thorns on her veil: according to tradition, when the Lord let her choose between a gold crown and a crown of thorns, she chose the thorns, to be like the suffering Lord.
- A cross in her hand: she loved Jesus crucified with all her heart.
- A white lily: she gave her whole life to God as a virgin.
- A white habit and a black cloak: the clothes of the Dominican Third Order sisters she joined.
- Holy wounds on her hands (*): she received the five holy wounds of the Lord, but at her request they did not show on the outside.
(*) Only in some pictures and statues.
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