Saint Catherine, virgin, mystic, prophetess of the Reign of Mary and reformer, was a spiritual guide and exorcist, counsellor to Popes and promoter of the Crusade! It could well be said that it was the Mother of God herself who acted in St. Catherine, guiding her in every step of her life.
Newsdesk (18/11/2024 21:00, Gaudium Press) St. Catherine of Siena was born in 1347, the year in which the terrible black plague broke out and almost halved Europe’s population. She died in 1380, two years after the start of the Great Western Schism, which lasted for forty years. This long and dark period was characterized by the clash of popes and antipopes, which sowed confusion among the faithful.
St. Catherine’s short and intense life, therefore, took place at a time of dramatic disintegration in Christendom. A lay ‘Mantellata’ of the Dominican Order, she accumulated the titles of virgin, mystic, prophetess, reformer, spiritual guide, exorcist, counsellor 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, configured in her likeness. It could well be said 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 Gregory XI, who was in exile in Avignon, to Rome. With a sincere and enthusiastic devotion to the Papacy, she never hesitated to point out the bitterest truths to the Pontiffs with filial reverence.
She promoted the reform of the Dominican Order through her mystical writings, dictated by God the Father, in which she censured with sorrow 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 their teacher and venerated her as their spiritual mother.
With a fine prophetic intuition, Catherine of Siena announced an era of peace for the Mystical Body of Christ and for the world in the distant future. In her words we can recognize early prophesies about the Reign of Mary:
“After all these tribulations and anguish, in a way that escapes human comprehension, God will purify the Holy Church and awaken the spirit of the elect. Then there will be such a great reform in the Church of God and such a renewal of the holy shepherds that my spirit rejoices in the Lord at the thought of it. […] Attracted by the good odour of Christ, the infidels will return to the Catholic fold and convert to the true Shepherd.“
In St. Catherine, the cleverness, prudence and wisdom of Our Lady, applied to the governance of history, shone with renewed brilliance. In fact, 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 lived in her time. “
from the Dialogue with God the Father:
“You are incapable of evaluating human weakness, how man lacks judgement and discernment, trusting only in himself, in his own ideas.
O foolish man! Don’t you realise that your capacity to know comes from Me? Do you not see that it was I who gave you knowledge and who took care of your needs? Consider your experience: you want 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 do not have the time, and sometimes you have the time and do not want to!
It turns out that all of this, for your sake, depends on me. You must recognize that you are nothing; you must humble yourself and let go of your pride. Since things do not depend on you, you will only find instability and deprivation; only My grace is stable and firm. It alone will never be taken away from you or changed. Against your will, you will never lose it because of sin. […]
O kind and dear daughter, humanity has not been loyal and faithful to Me. It disobeyed My command and found death. For My part, I have remained faithful, 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 grace to it through the death of My Son.
Men know all this, but they do not believe that I am powerful to come to their aid, strong to help them and defend them from their enemies, wise to enlighten their intelligence, merciful to provide them with what is necessary for salvation, rich to provide for them, beautiful to perfect them, possessing goods to nourish them and clothes to clothe them. Their way of living says that they don’t trust in Me; otherwise their actions would be holy and honest.
Monsignor João Scognamiglio Clá Dias, EP
Text extracted from the book Mary Most Holy! The Paradise of God Revealed to Men, vol. III.
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Compiled by Roberta MacEwan
