Biography
Caterina di Giacomo di Benincasa was born in Siena as the 23rd of 25 children. From childhood she had visions and at age 7 consecrated her virginity to Christ. She joined the Dominican tertiary order and lived a life of austere penance and prayer. At age 21, she experienced a 'mystical marriage' with Christ. She began active ministry: caring for the sick and poor, converting sinners, and corresponding with powerful figures including popes. She bore the invisible stigmata. Most remarkably, this illiterate laywoman persuaded Pope Gregory XI to return the papacy from Avignon to Rome in 1377, ending the Avignon captivity. Her Dialogue is a mystical masterpiece. She died at 33, worn out by her penances and spiritual labors. Named Doctor of the Church in 1970 by Paul VI.
Miracles & Signs
- ✦Mystical marriage with Christ witnessed by her confessor Bl. Raymond of Capua
- ✦Stigmata (invisible during her lifetime)
- ✦Ability to exist on no food except the Eucharist for extended periods
- ✦Miraculous healings of plague victims
Wisdom & Quotes
“Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.”
“Proclaim the truth and do not be silent through fear.”
“Nothing great is ever achieved without much enduring.”
“The soul that is united to God and to one another in charity is with God now and will be with Him in heaven.”
“If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world ablaze.”