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Free the Life of St. Catherine of Siena Pdf FREE THE LIFE OF ST. CATHERINE OF SIENA PDF Blessed Raymond of Capua,George Lamb | 353 pages | 01 Jan 2009 | Tan Books | 9780895557612 | English | Charlotte, North Carolina, United States 8 Things to Know and Share About St. Catherine of Siena| National Catholic Register The value Catherine makes central in her short life The Life of St. Catherine of Siena which sounds clearly and consistently through her experience is complete surrender to Christ. What is most impressive about her is that she learns to view her surrender to her Lord as a goal to be reached through time. She was the 23rd child of Jacopo and Lapa Benincasa and grew up as an intelligent, cheerful, and intensely religious person. Catherine disappointed her mother by cutting off her hair as a protest against being overly encouraged to improve her The Life of St. Catherine of Siena in order to attract a husband. Her father ordered her to be left in peace, and she was given a room of her own for prayer and meditation. She entered the Dominican Third Order at 18 and spent the next three years in seclusion, prayer, and austerity. Gradually, a group of followers gathered around her—men and women, priests and religious. An active public apostolate grew out of her contemplative life. Her letters, mostly for spiritual instruction and encouragement of her followers, began to take more and more note of public affairs. Opposition and The Life of St. Catherine of Siena resulted from her mixing fearlessly with the world and speaking with the candor and authority of one completely committed to Christ. She was cleared of all charges at the Dominican General Chapter The Life of St. Catherine of Siena Her public influence reached great heights because of her evident holiness, her membership in the Dominican Third Order, and the deep impression she made on the pope. She worked tirelessly for the crusade against the Turks and for peace between Florence and the pope. Inthe Great Schism began, splitting the allegiance of Christendom between two, then three, popes and putting even saints on opposing sides. Catherine spent the last two years of her life in Rome, in prayer and pleading on behalf of the cause of Pope Urban VI and the unity of the Church. She offered herself as a victim for the Church in its agony. Catherine ranks high among the mystics and spiritual writers of the Church. Though she lived her life in a faith experience and spirituality far different from that of our own time, Catherine of Siena stands as a companion with us on the Christian journey in her undivided effort to invite the Lord to take flesh in her own life. Events which might make us wince or chuckle or even yawn fill her biographies: a mystical experience at six, childhood betrothal to Christ, stories of harsh asceticism, her frequent ecstatic visions. Still, Catherine lived in an age which did not know the rapid change of 21st-century mobile America. The value of her life for us today lies in her recognition of holiness as a goal to be sought over the course of a lifetime. Subscribe to Saint of the Day. Saint of the Day. Franciscan Media. St. Catherine of Siena | Biography & Patron Saint of Italy | Britannica Please help support the mission of New Advent and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. She was the youngest but one of a very large family. Her father, Giacomo di Benincasa, was a dyer; her mother, Lapa, the daughter of a local poet. They belonged to the lower middle-class faction of tradesmen and petty notariesknown as "the Party of the Twelve", which between one revolution and another ruled the Republic of Siena from to From her earliest childhood Catherine began to see visions and to practise extreme austerities. At the age of seven she consecrated her virginity to Christ ; in her sixteenth year she took the habit of the Dominican Tertiariesand renewed the life of the anchorites of the desert in a little room in her father's house. After three years of celestial visitations and familiar conversation with Christshe underwent the mystical experience known as the "spiritual espousals"probably during the carnival of She now rejoined her familybegan to tend The Life of St. Catherine of Siena sick, especially those afflicted with the most The Life of St. Catherine of Siena diseases, to serve the poorand to labour for the conversion of sinners. Though always suffering terrible physical pain, living for long intervals on practically no food save the Blessed Sacramentshe was ever radiantly happy and full of practical wisdom no less than the highest spiritual insight. All her contemporaries bear witness to her extraordinary personal charm, which prevailed over the continual persecution to which she was subjected even by the friars of her own order and by her sisters in religion. She began to gather disciples round her, both men and womenwho formed a wonderful spiritual fellowship, united to her by the bonds of mystical love. During the summer of she received a series of special manifestations of Divine mysterieswhich culminated in a prolonged trance, a kind of mystical death, in which she had a vision of HellPurgatoryand Heavenand heard a Divine command to leave The Life of St. Catherine of Siena cell and enter the public life of the world. She began to dispatch letters to men and women in every condition of life, entered into correspondence with the princes and republics of Italywas consulted by the papal legates about the affairs of the Churchand set herself to heal the wounds of her native The Life of St. Catherine of Siena by staying the fury of civil The Life of St. Catherine of Siena and the ravages of faction. She implored the popeGregory XIto leave Avignonto reform the clergy and the administration of the Papal Statesand ardently threw herself into his design for a crusadein the hopes of uniting the powers of Christendom against the infidelsand restoring peace to Italy by delivering her from the wandering companies of mercenary soldiers. While at Pisaon the fourth Sunday The Life of St. Catherine of Siena Lent, she received the Stigmataalthough, at her special prayerthe marks did not appear outwardly in her body while she lived. Mainly through the misgovernment of the papal officialswar broke out between Florence and the Holy Seeand almost the whole of the Papal States rose in insurrection. Catherine had already been sent on a mission from the pope to secure the neutrality of Pisa and Lucca. In June,she went to Avignon as ambassador of the Florentinesto make their peace; but, either through the bad faith of the republic or through a misunderstanding caused by the frequent changes in its government, she was unsuccessful. Nevertheless she made such a profound impression upon the mind of the popethat, in spite of the opposition of the French king and almost the whole of the Sacred Collegehe returned to Rome 17 January, Catherine spent the greater part of in effecting a wonderful spiritual revival in the country districts subject to the Republic of Sienaand it was at this time that she miraculously learned to write, though she still seems to have chiefly relied upon her secretaries for her correspondence. Early in she was sent by Pope Gregory to Florenceto make a fresh effort for peace. Unfortunately, through the factious conduct of her Florentine associates, she became involved in the internal politics of the city, and during a popular tumult 22 June an attempt was made upon her life. She was bitterly disappointed at her escape, declaring that her sins had deprived her of the red rose of martyrdom. Nevertheless, during the disastrous revolution known as "the tumult of the Ciompi", she still remained at Florence or in its territory until, at the beginning of August, news reached the city that peace had been signed between the republic and the new pope. Catherine then instantly returned to Sienawhere she passed a few months of comparative quiet, dictating her "Dialogue", The Life of St. Catherine of Siena book of her meditations and revelations. In the meanwhile the Great Schism had broken out in the Church. In the The Life of St. Catherine of Siena City she spent what remained of her life, working strenuously for the reformation of the Churchserving the destitute and afflicted, and dispatching eloquent letters in behalf of Urban to high and low in all directions. Her strength was rapidly being consumed; she besought her Divine Bridegroom to let her bear the punishment for all the sins of the world, and to receive the sacrifice of her body for the unity and renovation of the Church ; at last it seemed to her that the Bark of Peter was laid upon her shoulders, and that it was crushing her to death with its weight. After a prolonged and mysterious agony of three months, endured by her with supreme exultation and delightfrom Sexagesima Sunday until the Sunday before the Ascensionshe died. Her last political work, accomplished practically from her death-bed, was the reconciliation of Pope Urban VI with the Roman Republic Raimondo's book, the "Legend", was finished in A second life of her, the "Supplement", was written a few years later by another of her associates, Fra Tomaso Caffarini d. Between and the depositions of the surviving witnesses of her life and work were collected at Veniceto form the famous "Process". Catherine was canonized by Pius II in The emblems by which she is known in Christian art are the lily and book, the crown of thornsor sometimes a heart--referring to the legend of her having changed hearts with Christ.
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