Feast Day of St. Catherine of Siena
Doctor of the Church (1347-1380)
The 25th child of a wool dyer in northern Italy, St. Catherine started
having mystical experiences when she was only 6, seeing guardian angels
as clearly as the people they protected.
She became a Dominican tertiary when she was 16, and continued to have
visions of Christ, Mary, and the saints. St. Catherine was one of the
most brilliant theological minds of her day, although she never had any
formal education. She persuaded the Pope to go back to Rome from
Avignon, in 1377, and when she died she was endeavoring to heal the
Great Western Schism. In 1375 Our Lord give her the Stigmata, which was
visible only after her death. Her spiritual director was Blessed Raymond
of Capua. St, Catherine's letters, and a treatise called "a dialogue"
are considered among the most brilliant writings in the history of the
Catholic Church. She died when she was only 33, and her body was found
incorrupt in 1430.
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