Seraphic Virgin, Passionate Lover of the Crucified Christ - Scolder of Popes?

Today is the Memorial of the Seraphic Virgin - St Catherine of Siena. 

St Catherine is one of those eccentric, passionate and unusual saints that we may struggle to understand or relate to. She experienced visions of Jesus and Mary, fell into ecstasies for long periods of time, received an invisible stigmata and in one of her visions she was mystically married to Jesus Himself. During her ecstasies she dictated to others her dialogue between God and herself, this book is her most well known. She apparently lived only on the Eucharist at some points in her life, and intensely fasted to the point that some modern authors have considered her to have been anorexic! 

Many of us often think she was a nun due to her wearing a habit in pictures. However she was technically a laywoman! She was a Third Order Dominican, which meant she had the privilege of wearing a modified version of the habit, but lived in her own home and not in a convent. These women were sometimes known as the Mantellate - due to them wearing veils associated with nuns. 

St Catherine had some excellent insights on the spiritual life as part of her doctrine, and this has been verified by the Church when she was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1979 by Pope St Paul VI. From the little I know of her teachings, the following have stood out for me - the inner cell of self knowledge, Christ as the bridge, her obsession with the Blood of Christ, and her dedication to Church reform. 

St Catherine taught that all of us have the ability to create an inner sanctuary, room or cell (referring to the bedrooms of monasteries) where we can continuously dwell alone with God within us. In this cell within, we must learn about ourself and our true intentions, through rooting out sin and vice - and growing in virtue and holiness, the more we know who we really are, then the closer we come to God. This is very similar in many ways to the Carmelite mystical tradition of the Divine Indwelling and St Teresa of Avila’s insistence on self knowledge to progress in the spiritual life. They were both proclaimed the first ever female Doctors of the Church within 4 days of eachother. 

Her image of Christ the Bridge that unites heaven and earth is one that I have found helpful in my own spiritual life. It is the sacred humanity of Christ that becomes the bridge and sure way that we can safely pass over to heaven and to God. This is also linked to what can be termed as her obsession the Blood of Christ. In her letters she often refers to being washed, bathed, immersed, covered, drowned and even inebriated/drunk on the Blood of Christ - because it is what saved us, purifies is, protects us and also inflames us with divine charity. It is truly powerful stuff. 

Last but not least was her dedication to Church reform and her devotion to the Papacy. During her time there was a schism with two different Popes - one residing in Rome and the other in Avignon. This was because previously the Popes had moved to Avignon in France due political issues. She encouraged the Pope to move back to Rome, basically telling him to “man up” and do the right thing! Later on there was an issue with two rival popes - and she supported the correct one that history has shown was the legitimate pope. 

Can you imagine the turmoil of the time in which she lived? The Bishops of Rome, the Popes, had been living in Avignon France for about 70 years, there was spiritual and moral decay, political infighting in the Church among the Cardinals and bishops…. See things never really change that much!! And this was 600 years ago! 😂

But she steadfastly strove for her own holiness first, and then worked to encourage others around her. She had a group of followers around her who affectionately called her “mama” and who would distribute her letters or write them down. These letters were often for Cardinals and even the Pope himself! She would encourage them, plead with them and urge them to be good shepherds to look after the People of God. She became very influential and later on, she herself was requested by the Pope to be his messenger and to mediate some disputes. All through this, she fasted for the Pope and the Church. 

She was someone who had moral authority, people would listen to her, she had her own disciples and was known as someone who was a mystic who had supernatural knowledge and visions. She could have easily gotten so frustrated with the Church and tried to create her own church. I am sure many would have followed her and she could have easily been the leader of this new church. However she did not. She believed that the Pope was the “sweet Christ on earth” and that no matter how weak or sinful or cowardly or corrupt he may be - he deserves our respect, because he represented Christ on earth as His Vicar. What faith and humility she must have had! 

Now many of you might say, hang on a minute, how can you say she was humble when she wrote letters to the Pope himself and told him to man up and do his job! That doesn’t sound like humility to me. Didn’t you say she was a laywoman who wore a veil? 

And I answer a resounding YES! to all of this and more. 

It is precisely because she knew her place in the plan of salvation, that we can say she was humble. Humility is not about acting all sweet and passive on the outside - it is about knowing who we really are, accepting it honestly, and then working within those boundaries. 

She was a laywoman who had visions of Jesus, was mystically married to Jesus, went into ecstasies and then had messages from these written down and passed around, she had the invisible stigmata - and yet she did not start her own church, or denounce all the hierarchy as heretics. She remained within the Church, fasting and praying for reform, supporting priests within the Dominican Order to be passionate preachers, and held the Pope personally accountable. But all this was done with respect and humility  - dare say, even with love. Not a false pious charity, but a true love for the Church and God that enflamed her entire being for the Truth of Jesus and His Gospel. 

She did not fall into bitterness or despair or complaining. She prayed, fasted, grew in holiness, supported the clergy, encouraged others and cared for the sick. All of us can also do the same here and now. We can all become saints and inspiration for reform in the Church when we truly live our faith in humility and charity. When we hold the authority in the Church accountable, while praying for them, respecting them and not trying to illegitimately usurp their authority. 

As she famously said, “Be brave, be bold, in Christ Crucified you can do all things… be who you truly are and you can set the world on fire!” 

St Catherine of Siena, Seraphic Virgin and lover of the Crucified Christ, passionately obsessed with His blood - pray for us and the Church to be faithful to Christ.