St Peter’s Anglican Church

St Catherine of Siena - April 29

Teacher of the Faith

The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries in Europe witnessed a rich development of the mystical tradition in spirituality, especially amongst lay people. There were a number of women among these mystics, and Catherine of Siena is one of the most important.

Catherine was born in Siena in 1347, the youngest daughter of the very large family of a local dyer. Despite considerable opposition from her parents, who wished her to marry, she joined the Dominican Third Order at the age of 16. The development of third orders of the religious orders offered committed lay people a way of associating closely with an order and living by a rule, but without becoming a fully-professed member of the order.

Having devoted herself to prayer and fasting from an early age, Catherine began to undertake a more active ministry. She began nursing the sick, especially lepers and people with cancer, and then gathered around her groups of people who found her personal holiness immensely attractive, and her spiritual writings and reflections helpful. Read more...