Saint Catherine Of Siena
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Caterina di Jacopo di Benincasa (25 March 1347 – 29 April 1380), known as Catherine of Siena, was an Italian mystic and pious laywoman who engaged in papal and Italian politics through extensive letter-writing and advocacy. Canonized in 1461, she is revered as a saint and as a
Doctor of the Church Doctor of the Church (Latin: ''doctor'' "teacher"), also referred to as Doctor of the Universal Church (Latin: ''Doctor Ecclesiae Universalis''), is a title given by the Catholic Church to saints recognized as having made a significant contribut ...
due to her extensive theological authorship. She is also considered to have influenced
Italian literature Italian literature is written in the Italian language, particularly within Italy. It may also refer to literature written by Italians or in other languages spoken in Italy, often languages that are closely related to modern Italian, including ...
. Born and raised in
Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...
, Catherine wanted from an early age to devote herself to God, against the will of her parents. She joined the " mantellates", a group of pious women, primarily widows, informally devoted to Dominican spirituality; later these types of urban pious groups would be formalized as the Third Order of the Dominicans, but not until after Catherine's death. Her influence with
Pope Gregory XI Pope Gregory XI (; born Pierre Roger de Beaufort; c. 1329 – 27 March 1378) was head of the Catholic Church from 30 December 1370 to his death, in March 1378. He was the seventh and last Avignon pope and the most recent French pope. In 1377, ...
played a role in his 1376 decision to leave
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for Rome. The Pope then sent Catherine to negotiate peace with the
Florentine Republic The Republic of Florence (; Old Italian: ), known officially as the Florentine Republic, was a Italy in the Middle Ages, medieval and Italian Renaissance, early modern state that was centered on the Italian city-states, Italian city of Florence ...
. After Gregory XI's death (March 1378) and the conclusion of peace (July 1378), she returned to Siena. She dictated to secretaries her set of spiritual treatises, ''The Dialogue of Divine Providence''. The Great Schism of the West led Catherine of Siena to go to Rome with the pope. She sent numerous letters to princes and cardinals to promote obedience to
Pope Urban VI Pope Urban VI (; ; c. 1318 – 15 October 1389), born Bartolomeo Prignano (), was head of the Catholic Church from 8 April 1378 to his death, in October 1389. He was the last pope elected from outside the College of Cardinals. His pontificate be ...
and to defend what she calls the "vessel of the Church". She died on 29 April 1380, exhausted by her rigorous fasting. Urban VI celebrated her funeral and burial in the Basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome. Devotion around Catherine of Siena developed rapidly after her death.
Pope Pius II Pope Pius II (, ), born Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini (; 18 October 1405 – 14 August 1464), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 August 1458 to his death in 1464. Aeneas Silvius was an author, diplomat, ...
canonized her in 1461; she was declared a
patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...
of Rome in 1866 by
Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...
, and of
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(together with
Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone ( 1181 – 3 October 1226), known as Francis of Assisi, was an Italians, Italian Mysticism, mystic, poet and Friar, Catholic friar who founded the religious order of the Franciscans. Inspired to lead a Chris ...
) in 1939 by
Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...
.
Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

''Pontifical Brief'', 18 June 1939



She was the second woman to be declared a
Doctor of the Church Doctor of the Church (Latin: ''doctor'' "teacher"), also referred to as Doctor of the Universal Church (Latin: ''Doctor Ecclesiae Universalis''), is a title given by the Catholic Church to saints recognized as having made a significant contribut ...
, on 4 October 1970 by
Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...
– only days after
Teresa of Ávila Teresa of Ávila (born Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda Dávila y Ahumada; 28March 15154or 15October 1582), also called Saint Teresa of Jesus, was a Carmelite nun and prominent Spanish mystic and religious reformer. Active during the Counter-Re ...
. In 1999
Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...
proclaimed her a Patron Saint of Europe. Catherine of Siena is one of the outstanding figures of medieval Catholicism due to the strong influence she had in the history of the papacy and her extensive authorship. She was behind the return of the Pope from Avignon to Rome, and then carried out many missions entrusted to her by the pope, something quite rare for a woman in the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
. Her ''Dialogue'', hundreds of letters, and dozens of prayers also give her a prominent place in the history of Italian literature.


Early life

Caterina di Jacopo di Benincasa was born on 25 March 1347 (shortly before the
Black Death The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...
ravaged Europe) in
Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...
,
Republic of Siena The Republic of Siena (, ) was a historic state consisting of the city of Siena and its surrounding territory in Tuscany, Central Italy. It existed for over 400 years, from 1125 to 1555. During its existence, it gradually expanded throughout south ...
(today
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), to Lapa Piagenti, the daughter of a local poet, and Jacopo di Benincasa, a cloth dyer who ran his enterprise with the help of his sons. The house where Catherine grew up still exists. Lapa was about forty years old when she gave birth prematurely to her 23rd and 24th children, twin daughters, named Catherine and Giovanna. After birth, Giovanna was handed over to a
wet nurse A wet nurse is a woman who breastfeeding, breastfeeds and cares for another's child. Wet nurses are employed if the mother dies, if she is unable to nurse the child herself sufficiently or chooses not to do so. Wet-nursed children may be known a ...
and died soon after. Catherine was nursed by her mother and developed into a healthy child. She was two years old when Lapa had her 25th child, another daughter named Giovanna. As a child, Catherine was so merry that the family gave her the pet name of "Euphrosyne", which is Greek for "joy", and the name of an Euphrosyne of Alexandria.''Lives of Saints''
John J. Crawley & Co., Inc.
Catherine is said by her confessor and biographer
Raymond of Capua Raymond of Capua, (ca. 1303 – 5 October 1399) was a leading member of the Dominican Order and served as its Master General from 1380 until his death. First as Prior Provincial of Lombardy and then as Master General of the Order, Raymond u ...
's ''Life'' to have had her first vision of Christ when she was five or six years old: she and a brother were on the way home from visiting a married sister when she is said to have experienced a vision of Christ seated in glory with the
Apostles An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary. The word is derived from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", itself derived from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to se ...
Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...
,
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, and
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. Raymond continues that at age seven, Catherine vowed to give her whole life to God. When Catherine was 16, her older sister Bonaventura died in childbirth; already anguished by this, Catherine soon learned that her parents wanted her to marry Bonaventura's widower. She was absolutely opposed and started a strict fast. She had learned this from Bonaventura, whose husband had been far from considerate but had changed his attitude after his wife refused to eat until he showed better manners. Besides fasting, Catherine further disappointed her mother by cutting off her long hair in protest of being encouraged to improve her appearance to attract a husband.Foley O.F.M., Leonard. ''Saint of the Day, Lives, Lessons, and Feast''
(revised by Pat McCloskey O.F.M.), Franciscan Media,
Catherine would later advise Raymond of Capua to do during times of trouble what she did now as a teenager: "Build a cell inside your mind, from which you can never flee." In this inner cell, she made her father into a representation of Christ, her mother into the
Blessed Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...
, and her brothers into the Apostles in the New Testament. Serving them humbly became an opportunity for spiritual growth. Catherine resisted the accepted course of marriage and motherhood on the one hand, or a
nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 5 ...
's veil on the other. She chose to live an active and prayerful life outside a convent's walls, following the model of the Dominicans. Eventually, her parents gave up and permitted her to live as she pleased and stay unmarried. A vision of Dominic de Guzmán gave strength to Catherine, but her wish to join his order was no comfort to Lapa, who took her daughter with her to the baths in Bagno Vignoni to improve her health. Catherine fell seriously ill with a violent rash, fever and pain, which conveniently made her mother accept her wish to join the "Mantellate", the local association of devout women.Catherine of Siena. Available Means. Ed. Joy Ritchie and Kate Ronald. Pittsburgh, Pa.: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2001. Print. The Mantellate taught Catherine how to read, and she lived in almost total silence and solitude in the family home. It was customary for Catherine to give away clothing and food without asking anyone's permission, which cost her family significantly. However, she requested nothing for herself and by staying in their midst, she could live out her rejection of them more strongly. She did not want their food, referring to the table laid for her in Heaven with her real family. Shortly after joining the Mantellate, Catherine started to fast for longer but found it challenging. While tending to a woman with cancerous breast sores, she was disgusted. Intending to overcome that disgust, she gathered the sore pus into a ladle and drank it all. That night, she was visited by Jesus who invited her to drink the blood gushing out of his pierced side. It was with this visitation that her stomach "no longer had need of food and no longer could digest."


Later life

According to
Raymond of Capua Raymond of Capua, (ca. 1303 – 5 October 1399) was a leading member of the Dominican Order and served as its Master General from 1380 until his death. First as Prior Provincial of Lombardy and then as Master General of the Order, Raymond u ...
, at the age of twenty-one (), Catherine experienced what she described in her letters as a " Mystical Marriage" with
Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...
, later a popular subject in art as the '' Mystic marriage of Saint Catherine''.
Caroline Walker Bynum Caroline Walker Bynum, FBA (born May 10, 1941, in Atlanta, Georgia)Caroline Walker Bynum short CV
at < ...
imagines one surprising and controversial aspect of this marriage: "Underlining the extent to which the marriage was a fusion with Christ's physicality ..Catherine received, not the ring of gold and jewels that her biographer reports in his
bowdlerized An expurgation of a work, also known as a bowdlerization, is a form of censorship that involves purging anything deemed noxious or offensive from an artistic work or other type of writing or media. The term ''bowdlerization'' is often used in th ...
version, but the ring of Christ's foreskin." Catherine herself mentions the ring ‘of flesh’ motif in one of her letters (#221), equating the wedding ring of a virgin with the flesh of Jesus; she typically claimed that her own wedding ring to Christ was simply invisible. She wrote in a letter (to encourage a nun who seems to have been undergoing a prolonged period of spiritual trial and torment): "Bathe in the blood of Christ crucified. See that you don't look for or want anything but the crucified, as a true bride ransomed by the blood of Christ crucified – for that is my wish. You see very well that you are a bride and that he has espoused you – you and everyone else – and not with a ring of silver but with a ring of his own flesh." Raymond of Capua also records that she was told by Christ to leave her withdrawn life and enter the public life of the world. Catherine rejoined her family and began helping the ill and the poor, where she took care of them in hospitals or homes. Her early pious activities in Siena attracted a group of followers, women and men, who gathered around her. Between the years 1367 and 1374, Catherine devoted herself to helping the sick and incarcerated of Siena. With her help in the Hospital of Santa Maria della Scala and within the neighborhood that she was living, Catherine's acts of charity became well-known. This led to her being known as , or a holy woman. This reputation of holiness eventually led to her involvement in politics and a hearing with the pope. As social and political tensions mounted in Siena, Catherine found herself drawn to intervene in wider politics. She made her first journey to
Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...
in 1374, probably to be interviewed by the Dominican authorities at the General Chapter held in Florence in May 1374, though this is disputed (if she was interviewed, then the absence of later evidence suggests she was deemed sufficiently orthodox). It seems that at this time she acquired Raymond of Capua as her confessor and spiritual director. After this visit, she began travelling with her followers throughout northern and central Italy advocating reform of the clergy and advising people that repentance and renewal could be done through "the total love for God." In Pisa, in 1375, she used what influence she had to sway that city and
Lucca Città di Lucca ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its Province of Lucca, province has a population of 383,9 ...
away from alliance with the anti-papal league whose force was gaining momentum and strength. She also lent her enthusiasm toward promoting the launch of a new crusade. It was during this time in Pisa, according to Raymond of Capua's biography, that she received the
stigmata Stigmata (, plural of , 'mark, spot, brand'), in Roman Catholicism, Catholicism, are bodily wounds, scars and pain which appear in locations corresponding to the Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion Five Holy Wounds, wounds of Jesus in Christian ...
(visible, at Catherine's request, only to herself). Her physical travels were not the only way in which Catherine made her views known. From 1375 onward, she began dictating letters to scribes. These letters were intended to reach men and women of her circle, increasingly widening her audience to include figures in authority as she begged for peace between the republics and principalities of Italy and for the return of the
Papacy The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...
from
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to Rome. She carried on a long correspondence with
Pope Gregory XI Pope Gregory XI (; born Pierre Roger de Beaufort; c. 1329 – 27 March 1378) was head of the Catholic Church from 30 December 1370 to his death, in March 1378. He was the seventh and last Avignon pope and the most recent French pope. In 1377, ...
, asking him to reform the
clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...
and the administration of the
Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...
. In June 1376 Catherine went to
Avignon Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...
as ambassador of the
Republic of Florence The Republic of Florence (; Old Italian: ), known officially as the Florentine Republic, was a medieval and early modern state that was centered on the Italian city of Florence in Tuscany, Italy. The republic originated in 1115, when the Flor ...
to make peace with the Papal States (on 31 March 1376 Gregory XI had placed Florence under interdict). She was unsuccessful and was disowned by the Florentine leaders, who sent ambassadors to negotiate on their own terms as soon as Catherine's work had paved the way for them. Catherine sent an appropriately scorching letter back to Florence in response. While in Avignon, Catherine also tried to convince Pope Gregory XI, the last Avignon Pope, to return to Rome. Gregory did indeed return his administration to Rome in January 1377; to what extent this was due to Catherine's influence is a topic of much modern debate. Catherine returned to Siena and spent the early months of 1377 founding a women's monastery of strict observance outside the city in the old fortress of Belcaro. She spent the rest of 1377 at Rocca d'Orcia, about from Siena, on a local mission of peace-making and preaching. During this period, in autumn 1377, she had the experience which led to the writing of her ''Dialogue'' and learned to write, although she still seems to have chiefly relied upon her secretaries for her correspondence. Late in 1377 or early in 1378 Catherine again travelled to Florence, at the order of Gregory XI, to seek peace between Florence and Rome. Following Gregory's death in March 1378 riots, the revolts of the Ciompi broke out in Florence on June 18, and in the ensuing violence Catherine was nearly assassinated. Eventually, in July 1378, peace was agreed between Florence and Rome and Catherine returned quietly to Florence. In late November 1378, with the outbreak of the
Western Schism The Western Schism, also known as the Papal Schism, the Great Occidental Schism, the Schism of 1378, or the Great Schism (), was a split within the Catholic Church lasting from 20 September 1378 to 11 November 1417, in which bishops residing ...
, the new Pope,
Urban VI Pope Urban VI (; ; c. 1318 – 15 October 1389), born Bartolomeo Prignano (), was head of the Catholic Church from 8 April 1378 to his death, in October 1389. He was the last pope elected from outside the College of Cardinals. His pontificate be ...
, summoned her to Rome. She stayed at Pope Urban VI's court and tried to convince nobles and cardinals of his legitimacy, both meeting with individuals at court and writing letters to persuade others. For many years she had accustomed herself to a rigorous abstinence. She received the Holy
Eucharist The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in ...
almost daily. This extreme fasting appeared unhealthy in the eyes of the clergy and her own sisterhood. Her confessor, Raymond, ordered her to eat properly. However, Catherine replied that she was unable to, describing her inability to eat as an (illness). From the beginning of 1380, Catherine could neither eat nor swallow water. On February 26, she lost the use of her legs. Catherine died in Rome on April 29, 1380, at the age of thirty-three, having suffered a massive stroke eight days earlier, which paralyzed her from the waist down. Her last words were, "Father, into Your Hands I commend my soul and my spirit".


Works

Three genres of work by Catherine survive: * Her major treatise is ''The Dialogue of Divine Providence,'' which is thought to have been begun in October 1377 and finished by November 1378. Contemporaries of Catherine are united in asserting that much of the book was dictated while Catherine was in ecstasy, though it also seems possible that Catherine herself may then have re-edited many passages in the book. This text is described as a dialogue between God and a soul. * Catherine's letters are considered one of the great works of early Tuscan literature. Many of these were dictated, although she herself learned to write in 1377; 382 have survived. In her letters to the Pope, she often addressed him affectionately simply as ('Daddy'), instead of the formal form of address "Your Holiness". Other correspondents include her various confessors, among them
Raymond of Capua Raymond of Capua, (ca. 1303 – 5 October 1399) was a leading member of the Dominican Order and served as its Master General from 1380 until his death. First as Prior Provincial of Lombardy and then as Master General of the Order, Raymond u ...
, the kings of France and Hungary, the infamous mercenary
John Hawkwood Sir John Hawkwood ( 1323 – 17 March 1394) was an English soldier who served as a mercenary leader or ''condottiero'' in Italy. As his name was difficult to pronounce for non-English-speaking contemporaries, there are many variations of it in ...
, the Queen of Naples, members of the Visconti family of Milan, and numerous religious figures. * 26 prayers of Catherine of Siena also survive, mostly composed in the last 18 months of her life. The
University of Alcalá The University of Alcalá () is a public university located in Alcalá de Henares, a city 35 km (22 miles) northeast of Madrid in Spain and also the third-largest city of the region. It was founded in 1293 as a ''Studium Generale'' for t ...
conserves a unique handwritten Spanish manuscript, while other available texts are printed copies collected by the
National Library of France National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...
. At section VI.


Theology

Catherine's theology can be described as
mystical Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight ...
, and was employed toward practical ends for her own spiritual life or those of others. She used the language of medieval
scholastic philosophy Scholasticism was a medieval European philosophical movement or methodology that was the predominant education in Europe from about 1100 to 1700. It is known for employing logically precise analyses and reconciling classical philosophy and C ...
to elaborate her experiential mysticism. Interested mainly with achieving an incorporeal union with God, Catherine practiced extreme fasting and
asceticism Asceticism is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from worldly pleasures through self-discipline, self-imposed poverty, and simple living, often for the purpose of pursuing Spirituality, spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world ...
, eventually to the extent of living solely on the Eucharist every day. For Catherine, this practice was the means to fully realize her love of Christ in her mystical experience, with a large proportion of her ecstatic visions relating to the consumption or rejection of food during her life. She viewed Christ as a "bridge" between the soul and God and transmitted that idea, along with her other teachings, in her book ''The Dialogue''. ''The Dialogue'' is highly systematic and explanatory in its presentation of her mystical ideas; however, these ideas themselves are not so much based on reason or logic as they are based in her ecstatic mystical experience. Her work was widely read across Europe, and survives in a Middle English translation called ''The Orchard of Syon''. In one of her letters she sent to her confessor,
Raymond of Capua Raymond of Capua, (ca. 1303 – 5 October 1399) was a leading member of the Dominican Order and served as its Master General from 1380 until his death. First as Prior Provincial of Lombardy and then as Master General of the Order, Raymond u ...
, she recorded this revelation from her conversation with Christ, in which he said: "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". This mystical concept of God as the wellspring of being is seen in the works and ideas of
Aquinas Thomas Aquinas ( ; ; – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest, the foremost Scholasticism, Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the W ...
and can be seen as a simplistic rendering of
apotheosis Apotheosis (, ), also called divinization or deification (), is the glorification of a subject to divine levels and, commonly, the treatment of a human being, any other living thing, or an abstract idea in the likeness of a deity. The origina ...
and a more rudimentary form of the doctrine of divine simplicity. She describes God in her work, ''The Dialogue'' (which she referred to simply as "her book"), as a "sea, in which we are the fish", the point being that the relationship between God and man should not be seen as man contending against the Divine and vice versa, but as God being the endless being that supports all things. According to the writings attributed to Catherine, in 1377 she had a vision in which the Virgin confirmed to her a thesis supported by the Dominican Order, to which Catherine belonged: the Virgin said that she had been conceived the original sin. The Virgin thus contradicted the future dogma of the
Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception is the doctrine that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Mariology, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Debated by medieval theologians, it was not def ...
. Cardinal Lambertini (later
Pope Benedict XIV Pope Benedict XIV (; ; 31 March 1675 – 3 May 1758), born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 17 August 1740 to his death in May 1758. Pope Benedict X (1058–1059) is now con ...
) in his treatise , 1734–1738, cites theologians who believed that Catherine's directors or editors had falsified her words; he also cites Father Lancicius, who believed that Catherine had made a mistake as a result of preconceived ideas.


Veneration

Catherine was initially buried in the (Roman) cemetery of
Santa Maria sopra Minerva Santa Maria sopra Minerva is one of the major Church (building), churches of the Order of Preachers (also known as the Dominicans) in Rome, Italy. The church's name derives from the fact that the first Christian church structure on the site was b ...
which lies near the Pantheon. After miracles were reported to take place at her grave, Raymond moved her inside Santa Maria sopra Minerva, where she lies to this day. Her head, however, was parted from her body and inserted in a gilt bust of
bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...
. This bust was later taken to Siena, and carried through that city in a procession to the Dominican church. Behind the bust walked Lapa, Catherine's mother, who lived until she was 89 years old. By then she had seen the end of the wealth and the happiness of her family, and followed most of her children and several of her grandchildren to the grave. She helped Raymond of Capua write his biography of her daughter, and said, "I think God has laid my soul athwart in my body, so that it can't get out." The incorrupt head and thumb were entombed in the Basilica of San Domenico at Siena, where they remain.
Pope Pius II Pope Pius II (, ), born Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini (; 18 October 1405 – 14 August 1464), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 August 1458 to his death in 1464. Aeneas Silvius was an author, diplomat, ...
himself
canonized Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of sa ...
Catherine on 29 June 1461. On 4 October 1970,
Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...
named Catherine a
Doctor of the Church Doctor of the Church (Latin: ''doctor'' "teacher"), also referred to as Doctor of the Universal Church (Latin: ''Doctor Ecclesiae Universalis''), is a title given by the Catholic Church to saints recognized as having made a significant contribut ...
; this title was almost simultaneously given to
Teresa of Ávila Teresa of Ávila (born Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda Dávila y Ahumada; 28March 15154or 15October 1582), also called Saint Teresa of Jesus, was a Carmelite nun and prominent Spanish mystic and religious reformer. Active during the Counter-Re ...
(27 September 1970), making them the first women to receive this honour. However, Catherine's
feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...
was not initially included in the
General Roman Calendar The General Roman Calendar (GRC) is the liturgy, liturgical calendar that indicates the dates of celebrations of saints and Sacred mysteries, mysteries of the Lord (Jesus Christ) in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, wherever this liturgic ...
. When it was added in 1597, it was put on the day of her death, 29 April; however, because this conflicted with the feast of Saint Peter of Verona, which also fell on 29 April, Catherine's feast day was moved in 1628 to the new date of 30 April. In the 1969 revision of the calendar, it was decided to leave the celebration of the feast of St Peter of Verona to local calendars, because he was not as well known worldwide, and Catherine's feast was restored to 29 April. Catherine is remembered in the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
and in the Episcopal Church on 29 April. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) also commemorates Catherine of Siena on 29 April.


Legacy

Catherine ranks high among the mystics and spiritual writers of the Catholic Church. She remains a greatly respected figure for her spiritual writings, and political boldness to "speak truth to power", with it being out of the ordinary for a woman in her time period to have had such influence in politics and on world history.


Patronage

In his decree of 13 April 1866,
Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...
declared Catherine of Siena to be a co-patroness of Rome. On 18 June 1939
Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...
named her a joint
patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...
of
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
along with
Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone ( 1181 – 3 October 1226), known as Francis of Assisi, was an Italians, Italian Mysticism, mystic, poet and Friar, Catholic friar who founded the religious order of the Franciscans. Inspired to lead a Chris ...
. On 1 October 1999,
Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...
made her one of Europe's
patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...
s, along with Teresa Benedicta of the Cross and
Bridget of Sweden Bridget of Sweden, Bridgettines, OSsS ( – 23 July 1374), also known as Birgitta Birgersdotter and Birgitta of Vadstena (), was a Swedish Catholic Mysticism, mystic and the founder of the Bridgettines. Outside Sweden, she was also known as the ...
. She is also the patroness of the historically Catholic American woman's fraternity, Theta Phi Alpha.


Severed head

The people of Siena wished to have Catherine's body. A story is told of a miracle whereby they were partially successful: knowing that they could not smuggle her whole body out of Rome, they decided to take only her head which they placed in a bag. When stopped by the Roman guards, they prayed to Catherine to help them, confident that she would rather have her body (or at least part thereof) in Siena. When they opened the bag to show the guards, it appeared no longer to hold her head but to be full of rose petals.


Biographical sources

There is some internal evidence of Catherine's personality, teaching and work in her nearly four hundred letters, her ''Dialogue'', and her prayers. Details about her life have also been drawn from the various sources written shortly after her death to promote her cult and canonization. Though much of the material is heavily
hagiographic A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an wiktionary:adulatory, adulatory and idealized biography of a preacher, priest, founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religi ...
, written to promote her sanctity, it is an important early source for historians seeking to reconstruct Catherine's life. Various sources are particularly important, especially the works of Raymond of Capua, who was Catherine's spiritual director and close friend from 1374 to her death and himself became Master General of the Order in 1380. Raymond wrote what is known as the , his ''Life'' of Catherine which was completed in 1395, fifteen years after Catherine's death. It was soon translated into other European languages, including German and English. Another important work written after Catherine's death was (''Little Supplement Book''), written between 1412 and 1418 by Tommaso d'Antonio Nacci da Siena (commonly called Thomas of Siena, or Tommaso Caffarini); the work is an expansion of Raymond's making heavy use of the notes of Catherine's first confessor, Tommaso della Fonte, that do not survive anywhere else. Caffarini later published a more compact account of Catherine's life, the . From 1411 onward, Caffarini also coordinated the compiling of the of Venice, the set of documents submitted as part of the process of
canonisation Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of sai ...
of Catherine, which provides testimony from nearly all of Catherine's disciples. There is also an anonymous piece, (''Miracle of Blessed Catherine''), written by an anonymous Florentine. A few other relevant pieces survive.


Main sanctuaries

The main churches in honor of Catherine of Siena are: *
Santa Maria sopra Minerva Santa Maria sopra Minerva is one of the major Church (building), churches of the Order of Preachers (also known as the Dominicans) in Rome, Italy. The church's name derives from the fact that the first Christian church structure on the site was b ...
in Rome, where her body is preserved. * Basilica of San Domenico in Siena, where her incorrupt head is preserved. * in Siena, a complex of religious buildings built around her birthplace.


Gallery

File:St Catherine of Siena.jpg, A statue of St. Catherine of Siena at the Parish of St. Catherine of Siena Church in Trumbull, Connecticut File:CatherineCommunionBeccafumi.jpg, Domenico Beccafumi, ''The Miraculous Communion of St. Catherine of Siena'', c. 1513–1515, Getty Center, Los Angeles, California File:CSienaStigmataBeccafumi.jpg, Domenico Beccafumi, ''St. Catherine of Siena Receiving the Stigmata'', c. 1513–1515, Getty Center, Los Angeles, California File:RosaryStaAgata.jpg, ''The Virgin Mary Giving the Rosary to St. Dominic and St. Catherine of Siena'', Church of Santa Agata in Trastevere, Rome (Bottom of painting: the souls in Purgatory await the prayers of the faithful) File:Franceschini, Baldassare - St Catherine of Siena - Google Art Project.jpg,
Baldassare Franceschini Baldassare Franceschini, called Il Volterrano after his birth place Volterra and, to distinguish him from Daniele da Volterra, Ricciarelli, Il Volterrano Giuniore (16116 January 1689) was an Italian late Baroque painter and draughtsman active p ...
, ''Saint Catherine of Siena'', 17th century,
Dulwich Picture Gallery Dulwich Picture Gallery is an art gallery in Dulwich, south London. It opened to the public in 1817 and was designed by the Regency architect Sir John Soane. His design was recognized for its innovative and influential method of illumination f ...
File:Giovanni di paolo, St Catherine of Siena.jpg, Giovanni di Paolo, ''St. Catherine of Siena'', c. 1475, tempera and gold on panel. Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, England. File:Lesser Poland St. Catherine of Siena.jpg, ''St Catherine and the Demons'' by an unknown artist, c. 1500, tempera on panel.
National Museum, Warsaw The National Museum in Warsaw (, MNW) is a national museum in Warsaw, one of the largest museums in Poland and the largest in the capital. It comprises a rich collection of ancient art (Art of ancient Egypt, Egyptian, Art in ancient Greece, Greek, ...
. File:Revelación del Santísimo Rosario a Santo Domingo de Guzmán.jpg, This painting depicts the Virgin giving the rosary to St. Dominic; in the scene also appear Fray Pedro de Santa María Ulloa, Saint Catherine of Siena and
Servant of God Servant of God () is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression ''Servant of God'' appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in ...
,
Mary of Jesus de León y Delgado Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Bless ...
. The fresco is located in the Church of Santo Domingo in
San Cristóbal de La Laguna San Cristóbal de La Laguna (commonly known as La Laguna, ) is a city and municipality in the northern part of the island of Tenerife in the Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, on the Canary Islands, Spain. The former capital of the Canary Islan ...
,
Tenerife Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...
,
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
. File:San Domenico74.jpg, ''St Catherine's mystic communion'' by Francesco Brizzi


Bibliography


Modern editions and English translations

* The Italian critical edition of the ''Dialogue'' is Catherine of Siena, , 2nd edition, edited by Giuliana Cavallini (Siena: Cantagalli, 1995; 1st edition, 1968). Cavallini demonstrated that the standard division of the ''Dialogue'' in into four treatises entitled the 'Treatise on Discretion', 'On Prayer', 'On Providence', and 'On Obedience', was in fact a result of a misreading of the text in the 1579 edition of the ''Dialogue''. Modern editors and translators, including , have followed Cavallini in rejecting this fourfold division. * The Italian critical edition of the 26 ''Prayers'' is Catherine of Siena, , edited bt Giuliana Cavallini (Rome: Cateriniane, 1978) * The most recent Italian critical edition of the Letters is , (2002), edited by Antonio Volpato English translations of The ''Dialogue'' include:
''The Dialogue''
trans. Suzanne Noffke, OP Paulist Press ( Classics of Western Spirituality), 1980. * ''The Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena'', TAN Books, 2009. * Phyllis Hodgson and Gabriel M. Liegey, eds., ''The Orcherd of Syon'', (London; New York: Oxford UP, 1966) Middle English translation of the ''Dialogo'' from the early fifteenth century, first printed in 1519 The Letters are translated into English as: * (Republished as ''The letters of Catherine of Siena'', 4 vols, trans Suzanne Noffke, (Tempe, AZ:
Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies The Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies (ACMRS) was established in 1981, by the Arizona Board of Regents as a state-wide, tri-university research unit that bridges the intellectual communities at Arizona State University, Northern ...
, 2000–2008)) The Prayers are translated into English as: * ''The Prayers of Catherine of Siena'', trans. Suzanne Noffke, 2nd edn 1983, (New York, 2001) Raymond of Capua's ''Life'' was translated into English in 1493 and 1609, and in Modern English is translated as: * Letter Excerpts translated into English:
''Letter Excerpts''
translations by Diana L. Villegas, Ph.D. from th
''Volpato critical edition''


See also

* * Saint Catherine of Siena, patron saint archive * Churches dedicated to Catherine of Siena


References


Sources

* * * * *


Further reading

* * * Girolamo Gigli, ed., ''L'opere di Santa Caterina da Siena'', 4 vols, (Siena e Lucca, 1707–1721) * * * * Carolyn Muessig, George Ferzoco, and Beverly Mayne Kienzle, eds.
''A Companion to Catherine of Siena''
(Leiden: Brill, 2012), / .


External links

* *
Letters of Catherine from Gutenberg
*
Saint Catherine of Siena: Text with concordances and frequency list

''Drawn by Love, The Mysticism of Catherine of Siena''


at th
Christian Iconography
web site
''Divae Catharinae Senensis Vita'' 15th-century manuscript
at ''Stanford Digital Repository''

*
Catherine of Siena's Spirituality
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