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St Catherine of Siena
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St Catherine of Siena
was born on March 25, 1347, the 24th child of Jacopo Benincasa, a dyer, and Lapa of Duccio de' Piacenti. Her path to beatification began early, with a vision aged six of Christ as pope, followed a year later by a vow of perpetual virginity. Her family tried to drill some sense into her by forcing her to work at household chores, but when her father discovered her at prayer one day with a dove fluttering above her head, he realized her holy destiny. Catherine took the Dominican habit aged sixteen, experienced a mystical "Night Obscure", and then began charitable works in post-plague Siena before turning her hand to politics. She prevented Siena and Pisa from joining Florence in rising against Pope Urban V (then absent in Avignon), and then, in 1376, travelled herself to Avignon to persuade Pope Gregory XI to return to Rome. It was a fulfilment of the ultimate Dominican ideal - a union of the practical and mystical life. Catherine returned to Siena to a life of contemplation, retaining a political role in her attempts to reconcile the 1378 schism between the Popes and Anti-Popes. She died in Rome in 1380, and was the first woman ever to be
canonized
- by Pius II in 1461. Pius IX made her
co-patron of Rome
in 1866; Pius XII raised her to be
co-patron of Italy
(alongside St Francis) in 1939; and then John Paul II declared her
co-patron of Europe
in 1999. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Italy,
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