Saint Catherine of Siena
March 25, 1347 – April 29, 1380
Saint Catherine of Siena spent her life advocating for fidelity to the Roman Pontiff during the Western Schism. She is also honored as a Doctor of the Church for her important theological writings.
Principal Feast Day: April 29th
House emblem: A book representing Saint Catherine's Dialogue
House colors: Black and silver (white)
The Life of Saint Catherine
Catherine was born in 1347 in the Italian city of Siena. She was the 23rd of 25 children! From an early age, she experienced mystical visions of Christ. She decided while young to devote herself to God. She rejected the idea of marriage and motherhood but also did not want to become a nun cloistered away from the world. She joined an association of devout women who performed good works in the community.
At the age of 21, after an extended vision of Christ, she started to engage more with the wider world. Her reputation for good works spread throughout the city and across northern and central Italy. She and her followers began to travel the region, urging the reform of the clergy and for people to dedicate their lives to God.
By 1375, she was in communication via letter with many important figures of the time, including the Pope, Gregory XI, whom she urged to return to Rome from Avignon (where the popes had been living for several decades). Unusually for the time, she was appointed as an ambassador from Florence to Avignon. While there, she personally urged the Pope to move the papacy back to Rome, which he did the following year.
She continued to serve the pope as an ambassador. After Greory XI died in 1378, she was summoned to serve his successor, Urban VI. Even with all of her traveling and pious works, she found time to write. Her major work is The Dialogue of Divine Providence (1377 – 1378), numerous prayers (26 have survived), and hundreds of letters; 382 of them have been preserved.
Catherine died April 29, 1380, at the age of 33 (the same age at which Jesus died). She was canonized only 81 years after her death. Catherine of Siena was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1970, one of the first two women to receive this honor. She is the co-patron saint of Italy, along with St. Francis of Assisi.
Saint Catherine, pray for us.
House Motto
"E chi piú cognosce, piú ama."
"One who knows more, loves more."
Prayer for Saint Catherine's Day
O GOD, who set Saint Catherine of Siena on fire with divine love in her contemplation of the Lord's Passion and her service or your Church, grant, through her intercession, that your people, participating in the mystery of Christ, may ever exult in the revelation of his glory. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
