Catherine of Siena, Teacher of the Faith, 1380
This past week we remembered Catherine of Siena, Dr of the Church (RC), mystic, teacher, political activist. Born in Siena in Italy in 1347, Catherine was a twin and the 23rd child of 25 children - at least half of her siblings died, including her twin. But Catherine was known for her joyfulness as a child - and was given the pet name "Euphrosyne" - joy in Greek. From at least age 6 or 7 she desired to devote her life to God, and as she grew up resisted being given away in marriage, through passive resistance: fasting and cutting her hair. She joined the Dominican order at age 16 as a Tertiary (lay volunteer) and lived in solitude in her own house for 3 years, until she felt Christ tell her to go out and serve the poor.
Her self-isloation in order to draw closer to God, speaks to us today, as we too experience isolation. Imagine a 16 year old girl choosing to isolate in her room and only have contact with her Confessor? We are less then 3 months in, she 3 years! Yet, look at the fruits such isolation bore - she became a sought after spiritual guide and teacher, preacher of the faith (despite her gender), peace keeper and advisor to Popes. At one time she speaks to Jesus saying 'How can I be of any use in the work of saving souls, for I am a woman, and it is not seemly for my sex to teach men, or even speak with them. Besides they take no notice of what we say'. The Jesus of her vision responded:
All things are possible for God who has created everything from nothing, I know that you say this from humility, Catherine, but you must know that in these days pride has grown monstrously among men, and chiefly among those who are learned and think they understand everything. It was for this reason that at another pierod I sent out simple men who had no human learning but were filled by me with divine wisdom and let them preach. Today, I have chosen unschooled women, fearful and weak by nature, but trained by me in the knowledge of the divine so that they may put vanity and pride to shame. If men will humbly receive the teachings I send them through the weaker sex I will show them great mercy, but if they depsise these women they shall fall into even worse confusion and even greater agony.
The image, above, is one from three panels belonging to a series from the base (predella) of a large altarpiece and constituted the first extensive narrative cycle of Catherine of Siena. They were commissioned after her canonization in 1461 and are based on the biography written by her confessor, Raymond of Capua. What I find most significant about this image is the way in which Catherine's image mirrors the priest's - while he serves at the altar, representing Christ, she is fed directly by Christ himself. Whilst it would be anachronistic to offer a contemporary feminist reading of this, the painting certainly reveals the way in which Catherine's personal relationship with Jesus was celebrated and viewed as an essential element in her spirituality and sainthood. She was empowered and commissioned by Christ himself, and as per the quote above, no man should stand in her way!
Catherine grew up in the time of the plague and her family was no stranger to death and suffering. When plague broke out in Siena again when she was 27 years of age she encouraged her 'group' to tend to the sick and dying, at great personal risk to themselves. Through her asceticism (which was extreme), her devotion to Christ, her love and care of the poor, and her active political role in bringing peace and reconcilation between secular and religious authority, she showed herself to be a woman of enormous spiritual and religious resources. She relentlessly pursued truth, at great personal cost and travelled widely in her desire to speak truth to power and bring peace. She dictated hundreds of letters to scribes (she only learned to write at 30) of which just under 400 survive, and they show her wide influence: she corresponded with Popes, Kings and Queens as well as many women and people of lowly status.
Catherine had a profound sense early on of her complete dependence on God. In an oft quoted passage she hears this from God:
This understanding is one that places the created being within its proper relationship of dependence on the Creator - who wills all things into being, and which contintue to exist only because the Creator continues to will it. For Catherine, this is not a source of sadness, but profound joy. Through Jesus we are invited to be united again with the One Who exists and Who Is. This means that all things that are not of God, will not persist, will fall away, meaning the only absolute and eternal reality is God. That is profoundly comforting and brings the peace that the world cannot bring. If God is the only thing that Is, than evil will pass away, all that is not of God, will pass away.
I like the fact that Catherine of Siena was a lay woman, like Margery Kempe who I dicussed in a recent post 'Why are you weeping'. Both women relied on an intense, close, emotional bond with Jesus as 'brides of Christ' and that relationship was the source of their deep faith, spiritual commitment and activism in their communities and societies. Neither of them had access to the learning which men in their society enjoyed, and yet Jesus became a conduit for wisdom and love that taught them all they needed to know. Whilst Catherine of Siena was quickly adopted as a Saint and then Dr of the Church, Margery faired less well. However, both women are examples to us in their single-minded devotion to God in Jesus: He is the Good Shepherd and we must learn to recognise and listen deeply to that voice.
Sources:
A Passion for Life - Joan Chittister with Icons by Robert Lenz
Catherine of Siena The Dialogue, Classics of Western Spirituality
Saints on Earth, A biographical companion to Common Worship
Mysticism and Prophecy, Richard Woods OP
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| The Miraculous Communion of Saint Catherine of SienaGiovanni di Paolo (Giovanni di Paolo di Grazia) (Italian, Siena 1398–1482 Siena) In the Public Domainhttps://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436511 |
This past week we remembered Catherine of Siena, Dr of the Church (RC), mystic, teacher, political activist. Born in Siena in Italy in 1347, Catherine was a twin and the 23rd child of 25 children - at least half of her siblings died, including her twin. But Catherine was known for her joyfulness as a child - and was given the pet name "Euphrosyne" - joy in Greek. From at least age 6 or 7 she desired to devote her life to God, and as she grew up resisted being given away in marriage, through passive resistance: fasting and cutting her hair. She joined the Dominican order at age 16 as a Tertiary (lay volunteer) and lived in solitude in her own house for 3 years, until she felt Christ tell her to go out and serve the poor.
Her self-isloation in order to draw closer to God, speaks to us today, as we too experience isolation. Imagine a 16 year old girl choosing to isolate in her room and only have contact with her Confessor? We are less then 3 months in, she 3 years! Yet, look at the fruits such isolation bore - she became a sought after spiritual guide and teacher, preacher of the faith (despite her gender), peace keeper and advisor to Popes. At one time she speaks to Jesus saying 'How can I be of any use in the work of saving souls, for I am a woman, and it is not seemly for my sex to teach men, or even speak with them. Besides they take no notice of what we say'. The Jesus of her vision responded:
All things are possible for God who has created everything from nothing, I know that you say this from humility, Catherine, but you must know that in these days pride has grown monstrously among men, and chiefly among those who are learned and think they understand everything. It was for this reason that at another pierod I sent out simple men who had no human learning but were filled by me with divine wisdom and let them preach. Today, I have chosen unschooled women, fearful and weak by nature, but trained by me in the knowledge of the divine so that they may put vanity and pride to shame. If men will humbly receive the teachings I send them through the weaker sex I will show them great mercy, but if they depsise these women they shall fall into even worse confusion and even greater agony.
Quoted in A Passion for Christ, Fragments of the Face of God, Joan Chittister, p.123
The image, above, is one from three panels belonging to a series from the base (predella) of a large altarpiece and constituted the first extensive narrative cycle of Catherine of Siena. They were commissioned after her canonization in 1461 and are based on the biography written by her confessor, Raymond of Capua. What I find most significant about this image is the way in which Catherine's image mirrors the priest's - while he serves at the altar, representing Christ, she is fed directly by Christ himself. Whilst it would be anachronistic to offer a contemporary feminist reading of this, the painting certainly reveals the way in which Catherine's personal relationship with Jesus was celebrated and viewed as an essential element in her spirituality and sainthood. She was empowered and commissioned by Christ himself, and as per the quote above, no man should stand in her way!
Catherine grew up in the time of the plague and her family was no stranger to death and suffering. When plague broke out in Siena again when she was 27 years of age she encouraged her 'group' to tend to the sick and dying, at great personal risk to themselves. Through her asceticism (which was extreme), her devotion to Christ, her love and care of the poor, and her active political role in bringing peace and reconcilation between secular and religious authority, she showed herself to be a woman of enormous spiritual and religious resources. She relentlessly pursued truth, at great personal cost and travelled widely in her desire to speak truth to power and bring peace. She dictated hundreds of letters to scribes (she only learned to write at 30) of which just under 400 survive, and they show her wide influence: she corresponded with Popes, Kings and Queens as well as many women and people of lowly status.
Catherine had a profound sense early on of her complete dependence on God. In an oft quoted passage she hears this from God:
Do you know, daughter, who you are and who I am? If you know these two things you have beatitude in your grasp. You are she who is not, and I am the One Who Is.
Quoted in Mysticism and Prophecy, The Dominican Tradition, p. 100
This understanding is one that places the created being within its proper relationship of dependence on the Creator - who wills all things into being, and which contintue to exist only because the Creator continues to will it. For Catherine, this is not a source of sadness, but profound joy. Through Jesus we are invited to be united again with the One Who exists and Who Is. This means that all things that are not of God, will not persist, will fall away, meaning the only absolute and eternal reality is God. That is profoundly comforting and brings the peace that the world cannot bring. If God is the only thing that Is, than evil will pass away, all that is not of God, will pass away.
I like the fact that Catherine of Siena was a lay woman, like Margery Kempe who I dicussed in a recent post 'Why are you weeping'. Both women relied on an intense, close, emotional bond with Jesus as 'brides of Christ' and that relationship was the source of their deep faith, spiritual commitment and activism in their communities and societies. Neither of them had access to the learning which men in their society enjoyed, and yet Jesus became a conduit for wisdom and love that taught them all they needed to know. Whilst Catherine of Siena was quickly adopted as a Saint and then Dr of the Church, Margery faired less well. However, both women are examples to us in their single-minded devotion to God in Jesus: He is the Good Shepherd and we must learn to recognise and listen deeply to that voice.
'Proclaim the truth and do not be silent through fear'
'Nothing great is ever achieved without much enduring'
Sources:
A Passion for Life - Joan Chittister with Icons by Robert Lenz
Catherine of Siena The Dialogue, Classics of Western Spirituality
Saints on Earth, A biographical companion to Common Worship
Mysticism and Prophecy, Richard Woods OP
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