St. Catherine of Siena – virgin, mystic, prophetess and reformer, was a spiritual guide and exorcist, as well as an adviser to Popes and a promoter of the Crusade.
Newsroom (Gaudium Press) St. Catherine of Siena was born in 1347, the year in which the terrible Black Death broke out and reduced the European population almost by half, and she died in 1380, two years after the beginning of the Great Schism of the West, which lasted for forty years. This long and dark period was characterised by the confrontation of popes and antipopes, which sowed confusion among the faithful.
The short and intense life of St. Catherine therefore took place at a time of dramatic disintegration of Christendom. A laywoman of the Dominican Order, she was known under the titles of virgin, mystic, prophetess, reformer, spiritual guide, exorcist, adviser to Popes and promoter of the Crusade.
This admirable panoply of supernatural gifts and human qualities made her a favourite daughter of the Virgin Mary, as Catherine was configured in her very likeness. One can well affirm that it was the Mother of God herself who acted in St. Catherine, guiding her in every step of her life.
Although illiterate, she influenced the direction of the Church and favoured the return of Pope Gregory XI to Rome, who was exiled in Avignon. Possessing sincere and enthusiastic devotion to the Papacy, she never hesitated however, to point out to the Pontiffs, with filial reverence, the most bitter truths.
She promoted the reform of the Dominican Order by means of her mystical writings, dictated by God the Father, in which she sadly censures the horrible sins of the clergy and religious.
She formed around herself the “bella brigata”, a group of Dominican friars, consecrated virgins and other faithful who followed her as a teacher and venerated her as their spiritual mother.
With fine prophetic intuition, Catherine of Siena announced an era of peace for the Mystical Body of Christ and for the world in a distant future. In her words one recognizes the first foreshadowing of Mary’s Kingdom:
“After all these tribulations and distresses, in a way that escapes human understanding, God will purify Holy Church and awaken the spirit of the elect. There will then be such a reformation in the Church of God and such a renewal of the holy pastors that my spirit exults in the Lord just thinking about it. Attracted by the good odour of Christ, the infidels will return to the Catholic fold and be converted to the true Shepherd”.
In St. Catherine, Our Lady’s shrewdness, prudence and wisdom, applied to the governance of history, shone forth with renewed brilliance. Indeed, the Marian spirit that animated her gave her the ability to transcend human contingencies, to the point of becoming the focus of light from which the Church in her time lived.
“I am strong to assist and defend you”
“You are incapable of assessing human weakness, how much man lacks judgment and discernment, trusting only in himself, in his own ideas.
O foolish man! Do you not see that your ability to know comes from Me? Do you not see that it is I who have given you knowledge and taken care of your needs? Consider your experience: you pretend to do things you cannot and do not know; when you can, you do not know, and when you know, you cannot; sometimes you want to, but you do not have time; other times you have time and you do not want to!
It happens that all this, for your good, depends on Me. You must recognize that you are nothing; you must humble yourself and leave your pride behind. Since things do not depend on you, you will find only instability and privation; only My grace is stable and firm. It alone will never be taken from you or changed. Against your will, you will never lose it because of sin. […]
O kind and dear daughter, mankind has not been loyal and faithful to Me. It has disobeyed My command and found death. For My part I have maintained fidelity, I have preserved the purpose for which I created it, with the intention of giving man happiness. I united the divine nature, so perfect, to the miserable human nature, I rescued humanity, I restored its grace through the death of My Son.
Men know all this, but they do not believe that I am powerful to help them, strong to aid and defend them from their enemies, wise to illuminate their intelligences, clement to provide them with what is necessary for their salvation, rich to enrich them, beautiful to improve them, possessor of goods to nourish them and clothes to clothe them. Their way of living says that they do not trust in Me; otherwise their actions would be holy and honest.”
Msgr. João Scognamiglio Clá Dias, EP
Text taken from the book Mary Most Holy! God’s Paradise revealed to men, vol. III.
Compiled by Sandra Chisholm
