Since this week we are talking about female saints,
I chose Saint Catherine of Siena 1347 – 1380. According to the online source,
“Catherine resisted the accepted course of marriage and motherhood, or a nun's
veil, on the other. She chose to live an active and prayerful life outside a
convent’s walls following the model of the Dominicans. Eventually her father
gave up and permitted her to live as she pleased.” In some ways Catherine is
similar to our beloved Christina of Markyate, because they both resisted
marriage and persuaded a marriage with Jesus. In about 1368, aged twenty-one,
Catherine experienced what she described in her letters as a "Mystical
Marriage" with Jesus.
Saint Catherine of Siena Exchanging Her Heart with Christ
What’s more interesting about her is that she claims
Jesus told her to leave her withdrawn life and enter the public life. She did
this by rejoining her family and began to help with ill and the poor. She was
also really involved with the authorities and the Pope. According to the online source, “while in Avignon, Catherine also tried to convince Pope Gregory XI to
return to Rome. Gregory did indeed return his administration to Rome
in January 1377; to what extent this was due to Catherine’s influence is a
topic of much modern debate”. Unfortunately, she died at a young age of 33, and
her body was later in corrupt in 1430.
Source: http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=9
No comments:
Post a Comment