Hanging above my desk in my office is a print of the home of Saint Catherine of Siena. The picture depicts the way the home looks today. A few years ago, I was in Rome for a meeting and I decided to spend two nights in Siena, one full day, because of my special devotion to Saint Catherine. I took a bus from Rome and returned by bus. I was proud that I could figure out and use busses in Italy.
Catherine lived in the 14th century. She was illiterate, but she wrote mystical treatises and many letters with the help of scribes. She was not a nun, but belonged to the Dominican Third Order. She is most known for her letters to Pope Gregory XI in which she coaxed him to leave Avignon, France and return to Rome. She lived in a time when the Church was particularly corrupt and the popes were mixed up in secular politics. It is amazing that the Pope had so much trust in her and that he received correction from her with humility.
My devotion to Saint Catherine is because of her love for the Church. Despite being disappointed again and again by worldly and sinful church officials, priests and bishops, she continued to believe that the Church was the presence of Christ in the world. She teaches us to love the Church and to always work for its reform and holiness. For me, she is a special patron of the Church.
Her feast day is Monday, April 29.
