Saint Catherine of Siena

SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA Catherine lived From 1337 to 1380 She was The youngest of 20 children And from an early age Was devoted to a life Of penance and prayer-despite parental opposition She refused To consider marriage And became a Dominican tertiary She began to mix with other people And began to nurse the sick-in hospitals Along with her disciples Which included both men and women She taught many to reform Through a TOTAL love of God She never learned to write But wrote 383 letters Expressing her philosophy Through dictation Her holiness Was centered on Christ’s crucifixion And she saw this As the SUPREME love of God-for man She received much criticism Especially during the last 5 years Of her life When she became involved In the politics Of both state and church She suffered a stroke On April 21st 1380 And died 8 days later Her life story Was written by Raymond Caputa Her friend-and later Master General of the Dominican order This led To her canonization in 1461 With the quality of her writings And her membership In the Dominican order Bringing her much support She became a figure Of international importance and influence Became Siena ‘s principal Saint ( along with Bernard of Siena ) And was believed to be responsible For bringing the papacy Back to Rome Her common emblem Is the lily And she was declared A Doctor of the church-in 1970 Her feast day is April the 29th Robert P. Wallman 5-3-12