About the Saint - St. Catherine of Siena
Catherine
was born in Siena, Italy. She was the twenty-third child in the Benincasals
family. At the age of eighteen she entered the Third Order of Saint Dominic.
While living a life of solitude she attracted many followers.
Catherine actively supported and challenged civic and religious authority through her spiritual instruction and encouragement. This was important because Catherine lived during a time when there was political disorder as well as religious dissension within the Church. While Catherine did not enjoy good health, she worked tirelessly for unity within the Church, a unity that she never realized.
The activity that goes from her prayerful solitude reflected her profound belief in the incarnation: The Word of God taking flesh in human lives. She lived as though Jesus was her daily companion in the men, women and children she met. Catherine's mystical experiences [which included her bearing the likeness of the wounds of the crucified Jesus] were another resource for her spiritual writings or testament called The Dialogue. The following is from her writings:
"I have tested and seen the depth of your mystery and the beauty of your creation with the light of my understanding. I have clothed myself with your likeness and have seen what I shall be. Eternal Father, you have given me a share in your power and the wisdom that Christ claims as his own, and your Holy Spirit had given me the desire to love you."
After a stroke, at the age of 33, Catherine died on April 29, 1380. The Church recognized Catherine as a servant of God. She was canonized a Saint in 1461, and declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI in 1970.
The Proclamation of Isaiah, the Mission of Jesus, became the vision that was realized in the young woman of Siena called Catherine:
"The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the lowly, to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, To announce a year of favor from the LORD and a day of vindication by our God, to comfort all who mourn; To place on those who mourn in Zion a diadem instead of ashes, To give them oil of gladness in place of mourning, a glorious mantle instead of a listless spirit." (Isaiah 61:1-3)