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.
