De sancta Catherina de Senis sacri
A Life of Radical Devotion
Catherine's early commitment to virginity, her entry into the Dominican order, and her life of extreme asceticism and charity.
The glorious virgin and most beloved bride of our Lord Jesus Christ, blessed Catherine of Siena, as Pope Pius II testifies, had parents in the city of Siena—her father, James, and her mother, Lappa—who were proven in virtue and faith. When she was eleven, she made a vow of virginity, guided by the example of the blessed Virgin Mary. Upon making this vow, she prayed earnestly that He would deign to take her as His bride through His Son, our Lord Jesus. But when she reached fifteen, her parents, unaware of her vow, planned to give her in marriage. Hearing this, the virgin cut off her hair and revealed her vow to them; she spent her days and nights in vigils, prayers, fasting, and many good works, so that her reputation began to spread everywhere. When she was fifteen, Saint Dominic, the illustrious leader and father of the Order of Preachers, appeared to her while she was sleeping and urged her to take the habit of his religious order—that is, the penance of the blessed father Dominic—and to live according to the rules of his order. She gladly did so, requested the habit, received it with devotion, and persevered in it until her death with great penance and admirable abstinence and austerity. This way of life was approved by the Pope, and day by day many noble and devout people profess it; for to this virgin, nothing seemed holier or more worthy than to persuade everyone of the precepts of our Lord Jesus Christ and of eternal life. She practiced such frugality and abstinence with food that for many months she was sustained only by the Body of the Savior, and by no other food. She afflicted herself with harsh disciplines even to the shedding of blood, served the sick with the greatest charity, and sometimes gave away her own necessary clothing to the poor; because of this, she merited from the Lord to be clothed in an invisible garment even in this life.
The Fruits of Divine Wisdom
Catherine's active ministry, including her mercy toward the poor, her influence on souls, her theological wisdom, and her holy death.
Once, after she gave her cloak to a poor man and was scolded by those around her for giving away a garment she needed, the virgin kindly replied: "I can do without a garment, but I cannot do without mercy." She even endured and served a sister of her own order who was sick, extremely impatient, and spoke ill of her reputation and moral excellence, which is a wonder to believe. How much she was moved by love for the salvation of souls is clear from many of her works; for when a certain nobleman from Perugia, who was to be executed by the Sienese senate for a capital offense, was overcome by the fear of death, he was brought to Jesus. He had completely turned his heart away from Christ our Lord and could not be called back to repentance by anyone, but through this virgin's exhortation, he was converted to his heart, commended himself to Christ in the manner of Christians, and patiently endured his death. She was endowed with the greatest wisdom, as her beautiful letters, which still exist, testify. Furthermore, she explained the sayings of the saints under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit so clearly that she surpassed even the greatest theologians. When she once had two highly skilled theologians—one a Friar Minor and the other a hermit—eagerly debating against her, she defeated them so publicly that they believed she was divine, not human. They then began their life and departed from this light with that same purpose. She pleaded most eloquently before the supreme pontiffs Gregory XI and Urban VI, and among the other marks of her virginity, she also received the spirit of prophecy. She was greatly privileged by God with signs and miracles; for instance, she called her own impenitent mother back to life from the dead through her prayers, drove evil spirits out of possessed bodies, and the Lord worked many other things through her, his bride. Finally, when she was called by the Lord in Rome and knew that the day of her death was near, she comforted her disciples and students with a long prayer, inviting them to the Bridegroom, and urged them all to live well and holily. Finally, breaking into that verse, "Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit," she released her most innocent soul in the thirty-third year of her age, in the year of our salvation 1380. Those who approached her body were cured of various infirmities. She was buried honorably in the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva and was enrolled in the catalog of holy virgins by the supreme pontiff Pius II in the year 1461. O Catherine, virgin, may you carry these monuments of praise, which we all joyfully modulate in this way to your sacred self, O bride of God, to Olympus. If these things cannot be recounted with sufficient dignity, we pray you grant us pardon; we admit, O best virgin, that we do not have such talent.
A Hymn of Praise
A poetic reflection and prayer honoring Catherine's virtues and her intercession for the faithful.
What was it? Who could ever sing praises worthy of such a virgin anywhere in the world? Sing songs that will never fade for this unconquered woman. Catherine, you are gifted with precious examples, excelling in character, deeply wise, temperate, strong, just, and prudent; you ascend to the heavens. You, whose virtue and deeds are clear—a holiness unmatched in the world—you yourself express the form of Christ's wounds, having taken pity on them. For you bravely scorned the brief, sorrowful, and miserable life, and you went to the stars, though it was filled with every evil. And so, when the time itself hurried for you to leave your sacred limbs and ashes in the tomb and go to the heavens, you yourself taught those who were weeping. Thus, having venerated the sacred Body of Christ and offering the Host with tears, you spoke the lessons of life to all with your final voice; may Catherine, the virgin who cherishes us with her merits, make us pass to the seats of the heavenly kingdom. Amen.
Read the original Latin
Gloriosa virgo et sponsa domini nostri Jesu Christi dilectissima beata Catherina de Senis, ut Pius papa secundus testatur, patrem Jacobum, matrem vero nomine Lappam in civitate Senensi virtute fideque probatos habuit. Haec dum aetatis suae undecimum annum ageret, virginitatis volum emisit ducta virginis benedictae beatae Mariae exemplo. Quam, cum votum emitteret, rogabat attentius, ut sibi dignaretur filium suum Jesum dominum nostrum in sponsum adhibere. Cum autem pervenisset ad aetatem XU annorum, parentes ejus nescientes votum constituebant eam nuptui tradere. Quod virgo audiens capillos radicitus incidit et iis votum suum revelavit, Hoc facto vigiliis et orationibus, jejuniis multiplicibusque bonis operibus die noctuque vacabat, adeo ut fama ejus inciperet circumquaque diffundi, Agens autem XV annum, ipsi tantisper obdormienti apparuit beatus Dominicus praedicatorum ordinis dux et pater inclytus eique suasit, ut habitum suae religionis, hoc est de poenitentia ejusdem patris beati Dominici reciperet viveretque secundum ejus ordinis instituta, et ipsa libenter perfecit et habitum requisivit et cum devotione accepit et in eo usque ad mortem cum maxima poenitentia et admirabili abstinentia et austeritate perduravit. Qui modus vivendi fuit approbatus per pontificem maximum et in dies multae personae nobiles et devotae ipsum profitentur, Nihil enim huic virgini sanctius nihilque dignius in rerum natura visum est quam Jesu Christi domini nostri praecepta et vitam aeternam omnibus persuadere. Cibormn Írugalitate cum abstinentia tanta utebatur, nt etiam per plures menses solo corpore salvatoris et nullo alio cibo recrearetur. Disciplinis dnrissimis se affligebat usque ad sanguinis effusionem, infirimantibus maxima cum caritate serviebat, aliquando propriis et necessariis vestimentis se exuebat et ea panperibus erogabat, Propter quod a domino meruit etiam in hac vita invisibili veste tegi.
Cum semel uni pauperi tribuisset chlamydem, cunque objurgaretur a familiaribus, quod vestem necessariam sibi tribuisset alteri, virgo benigne respondit : vestimento carere possum, misericordia nequaquam. Quandam vero sororem sui ordinis infirmam et impatientissimam ejusque famae atque morum praestantiae detrahentem, ita humiliter toleravit et servivit, quod mirabile est credendum. Quanta autem erga animarum salutem caritate movebatur, ex multis ejus operibus liquide apparet, Nam cum quidam nobilis Perusinus, qui capitali sententia a Senensi senatu plectendus erat, dolore mortis affectus a Jesu. Christo domino nostro animum penitus averteret et a nullo posset ad poenitentiam revocari, hujus virginis exhortatione conversus ad cor more christianorum se Christo recommendans patienter mortem sustinuit. Fuit enim maxima sapientia praedita, litteris lepidissimis, quae nunc exstant, testantibus; insuper dicta sanctorum afflante sancto spiritu ita dilacidabat, ut etiam ipsos summos theologos superaret, Nam cum semel duos peritisshmos viros theologos, alternm minorum, altermun vero eremitarum haberet contra se alacriter disputantes, adeo eos publice vicit, ut illi divinum virginem non hmnanam crederent, Quamobrem postmodum innocentissimain. vitam deinceps aggressi sunt eoque in proposito ab hac luce migrarunt. Apud Gregorium XI et apud Urbanum VI pontifices maximos luculentissime peroravit, prophetiae etiam spiritum inter caetera suae virginitatis insignia consecnta est, Signis autem atque miraculis quamplurimum fuit a Deo privilegiata, Nam matrem propriam impoenitentem mortuam ad vitam suis precibus revocavit, spiritus malignos ex corporibus obsessis expulit et multa alia per eam suam sponsam dominus est operatus, Tandem, cum Romae esset a domino evocata, cùm sciret sibi diem mortis imminere, discipulos discipulasque longa oratione ad summ invitata sponsum consolata est atque ad bene sancteque vivendum omnes hortata, denique in illum prorumpens versiculum: in manus tuas, domine, comiendo spiritum meum, innocentissiinam animam emisit anno aetatis sure XXXIII, salutis antem nostrae MCCCLXXX, Ad cujus corpus accedentes a diversis infirmitatibus curabantur, Sepulta est autem in ecclesia sanctae Mariae super Minervam honorifice et à Pio secundo pontifice sumino anno MCCCCLXI sanctarum virginuin catalogo adscripta, Haec, Catherina virgo, monimenta laudis, quae tuis laeti, Dei sponsa, sacris hoc quodam pacto modulamur omnes, perfer Olympo. Si satis digne nequeant referri, adnuas nobis veniam, precamur, non sumus tanti ingenii, fatemur, optima virgo.
Quas fuit. dignas imodulatus numquis virginum laudes, quis in orbe toto? feminae invictae peritura numquam carmina pande. Praedita exemplis Catherina caris moribus praestans, sapiens abunde, temperans, fortis quoque, justa, prudens aethera scandis. Quem latex virtus facinusque clarmn, quo nequit dici sanctins per orbem, vulnerum formam miserata Christi exprimis ipsa. Nam brevis moestae miseraeque vitae et malis cunctis penitus refertae fortiter spernens quaeque sidera adisti. Unde cum tempus properat ipsum, qnos sacros artus cineresque busto linqueres, coelos aditura flentes ipsa docebas. Sic sacrum Christi venerata corpus hostiam libans lacrymis abortus dixeras cunctis documenta vitae voce suprema, Sic ad sedes regni faciat transire superni virgo fovens meritis nos Catherina suis.
Amen,
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