On April 29, Catholics celebrate the feast of St. Catherine of Siena, a Dominican, Church reformer, mystic, and one of the four female doctors of the Church.
During the 14th century, the Catholic Church was in a weakened state as it faced internal crises and the devastating impact of the Black Death. St. Catherine lived during the troubled period but ultimately played a key role in inspiring reforms that guided the Church to greater unity and stability.
“Even in the most difficult times, the Lord does not cease to bless his people, bringing forth saints who give a jolt to minds and hearts, provoking conversion and renewal,” Pope Benedict XVI said at his general audience on Nov. 24, 2010.
“Catherine is one of these and still today speaks to us and impels us to walk courageously toward holiness to be ever more fully disciples of the Lord,” he said.
Her incredible spiritual graces led her to sainthood, and her influential writings earned her the title “doctor of the Church.”
Born in 1347 in Siena, Catherine was the 25th child of a large household. Her given name was Catherine Benincasa, but those around her often called her “Joy” due to her bright and cheerful nature.
When she was just 6 years old, she had her first vision of Christ, whom she saw bless her. From then on she chose a life of prayer, consecrating her virginity to Christ and dedicating herself to penance and works of charity.
As she grew older her parents wished for her to marry, but she fought it. In return, they made her life a complete service to the family, burdening her with many household duties. She accepted the work, but not their plan.
Catherine remained steadfast in her faith and developed a great love for the Dominicans. She would seek conversation with Dominican priests and visit Dominican sites. At the age of 16, after a vision of St. Dominic, Catherine joined the Third Order Dominicans.
At first the order was reluctant to accept her due to her young age, but her conviction and deep spiritually swayed them. She lived a life as a hermit in her home, spending three years in prayer and contemplation.
Life as a mystic
The accounts of St. Catherine’s spirituality and mystical experiences detailed in her biography by Blessed Raymond of Capua are nothing short of extraordinary.
After her seclusion, Catherine underwent a mystical marriage. In a vision, Our Lady presented her to Jesus, who gave her a ring and said: “I, your Creator and Savior, espouse you in the faith, that you will keep ever pure until you celebrate your eternal nuptials with me in heaven,” Raymond of Capua wrote.
St. Catherine understood this to be a profound bond of love with Christ and a gift from him. It was more than a mystical experience; it was a chance to receive his heart. This was further shown to her in another mystical exchange.
The Lord appeared to her “holding in his holy hands a human heart, bright red and shining.” He opened her side and put the heart within her and said: “Dearest daughter, as I took your heart away from you the other day, now, you see, I am giving you mine, so that you can go on living with it forever.”
When talk of her holiness spread, she became a spiritual figure offering guidance for people from every walk of life including nobles, politicians, and religious men and women — many even calling her “mother.”
She had a profound love for the Eucharist, even choosing to live solely off the body of Christ for a long period of her life as she went through intense fasts.
She would sit in ecstasy for hours after receiving the body of Christ, which many believed was a spectacle and tried to restrict her from receiving the Eucharist. But when they did, she would receive miraculous interventions.
In one of her spiritual states, she received the stigmata. The wounds were invisible to others during her lifetime and only appeared after her death.
Her fruitful work led to opposition in the Church, even from some Dominicans. The order wanted to verify her authenticity and appointed Raymond of Capua, a canon lawyer, who became her close confidant and biographer. He discovered that her wisdom went far beyond her years and her actions were genuine.
Ending the Avignon papacy
As the respect for the papacy waned throughout the Church and had reached a critical low point, Catherine began to be known as a respected peacemaker and trusted advocate for reform.
The popes had lived in France for more than 60 years when Catherine decided to visit Pope Gregory XI in Avignon to urge him to return to the Eternal City. She shocked him by telling him about private promises he had made before God, which ultimately convinced him.
She later received reports that the French cardinals were causing him to have second thoughts. She then began incessantly sending letters to him and others to aid the cause.
Most of her life she dictated letters, since she did not know how to read or write. She dictated them to scribes and secretaries who would send them to popes, kings, and even pirates, encouraging them to help strengthen the Church.
Eventually through prayer, she learned how to read and write herself. She sent thousands of letters, a little more than 300 of which remain today.
Soon Pope Gregory XI defied his court and went back to Rome.
‘The Dialogue’
Catherine then took to writing “The Dialogue of Divine Providence” in Tuscany and Siena between approximately 1377 and 1378. The 400 pages of writing are a conversation between her and Christ.
She often manifested her teachings in the work through images, including one known as the “Christ bridge.” She said the Father helped her understand that he has provided a bridge between heaven and man when he came to humanity through the Son.
Later, Catherine’s help was needed again in Rome. Following the return of the papacy from Avignon, the election of Pope Urban VI in 1378 was challenged by French cardinals who elected a rival pope.
The situation led to the start of the Great Western Schism, dividing the Church for the next 40 years. Catherine staunchly supported Pope Urban VI and understood that despite failings of the pope he was still “Christ on earth,” as she wrote.
Her work began to take immense tolls, leading her to suffer a fatal stroke at age 33 in 1380.
Becoming a doctor of the Church
Catherine was canonized a saint in 1461 by Pope Pius II. For her travels to help the reform of the Church, Pope John Paul II declared her co-patroness of Europe.
She was later declared the second female doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI on Oct. 4, 1970 — just days after declaring St. Teresa of Ávila as the first. There are now four female doctors of the Church (the other two are St. Thérèse of Lisieux and St. Hildegard of Bingen).
The title “doctor of the Church” recognizes canonized men and women who possessed profound knowledge, were superb teachers, and contributed significantly to the Church’s theology.
Traditionally, the title has been granted on the basis that he or she is a saint who left behind a body of teachings that made significant contributions to the life of the Church, and there is formal declaration by the Church — usually by a pope.
In his homily declaring her a doctor, Pope Paul VI said that St. Catherine addressed “cardinals and many bishops and priests, she … did not spare strong reproaches, but always in all humility and respect for their dignity as ministers of the blood of Christ.”
He then posed the question: “How then can we not remember the intense work carried out by the saint for the reform of the Church?”