Our Patron Saint
St. Catherine of Siena was the 24th child of a prosperous Sienese
wool dyer. From childhood she felt called to a life dedicated completely
to spiritual pursuits. She became habited Dominican tertiary when
she was 16 years old, and after three years of solitary prayer,
took up a life of apostolic work.
She worked at first as a nurse among the sick of Siena, Italy. Miracles of all sorts accompanied her prayers. She became renowned as a peace maker and mediated between squabbling individuals, families, political factions and even city states.
In 1377 and 1378 she dedicated her Dialogue, a compendium of everything she had learned about the spiritual life.
The last years of her life were devoted to trying to re-establish peace in the Roman church. Several weeks before her death, as she was praying before a mosaic in the original St. Peter’s Basilica, she saw Peter’s fishing boat leave the mosaic and land on her shoulder. It crushed her to the ground and she had to be carried home. She was virtually paralyzed until her death on April 29, 1380.
She is a patron for all those who feel crushed by religious institutions, as well as a great teacher for those drawn to a life of mystical prayer.