St. Catherine of Bologna
Feast day: March 9
St. Catherine of Bologna was a Poor Clare nun and talented mystical writer and artist who was born in 1413 to an aristocratic Italian family. Her father was a diplomat and professor of jurisprudence who sent her to the court of Niccolo III d’Este in Ferrara at age 11. Here St. Catherine received a good education, including Latin, music, painting and calligraphy. She would later use these skills to copy and illuminate prayer books and other manuscripts.
After her education was complete, St. Catherine could easily have chosen to marry into the nobility, but she instead consecrated her life to God in the religious life. Probably disgusted with the dissolute lifestyle she witnessed at court, she first joined a group of devout young women who were living in community and following the rule of the Third Order of St. Augustine.
Later, at St. Catherine’s insistence, the community adopted the strict version of the Rule of St. Clare of Assisi and became Poor Clare nuns. Despite her aristocratic background, St. Catherine willingly performed menial labor in the convent as laundress, baker and caretaker to the animals. As the community grew, they established additional foundations with strict enclosures elsewhere in Italy. St. Catherine was chosen as superior for a convent in Bologna, despite her misgivings that she was unqualified.
St. Catherine struggled for years with persistent and grievous doubts and despair, during which she questioned the truths of faith and the future of her community. She was also tormented by visions of the devil. But not giving up, and through years of prayer, St. Catherine later experienced abundant spiritual consolation and was blessed with a gift of contemplation in which she received beautiful visions and revelations. In one vision, the Virgin Mary offered her the infant Jesus to caress.
St. Catherine drew from her experiences to provide counsel and instruction on the spiritual life in a manual for novices titled “Treatise on the Seven Spiritual Weapons,” which gives an account of her own struggles in growing in holiness. In this book, she encourages us to trust in God, and “for love of him, never to fear in the battle against evil, either in the world or within ourselves.”
As a nun, St. Catherine spent time copying breviaries, which she adorned with small images and other decorations. This activity was a form of mystical meditation for her. Her illuminated manuscripts were considered to be simple models of St. Clare’s lifestyle as they called to mind the humility of the Poor Clares’ vows. St. Catherine also pursued other artistic interests, playing the viola and painting religious pictures.
She frequently visited the sick, and at age 49, St. Catherine became gravely ill herself; she died several months later. In her farewell address to her community, she emphasized love, noting, “It is impossible to please God without it. Bear each other’s burdens, forgive any wrongs committed, enduring with inexhaustible patience whatever results from differences of temperament.”
The body of St. Catherine was found to be incorrupt and can be seen today at the Church of Corpus Domini in Bologna. Beatified in 1524 and canonized in 1721, St. Catherine is a patron of artists and is often invoked against temptations and doubts.
Pope Benedict XVI said of St. Catherine of Bologna, “From the distance of so many centuries she is still very modern and speaks to our lives. She, like us, suffered temptations, she suffered the temptations of disbelief, of sensuality, of a difficult spiritual struggle. She felt forsaken by God, she found herself in the darkness of faith. Yet in all these situations she was always holding the Lord’s hand, she did not leave him, she did not abandon him. And walking hand in hand with the Lord, she walked on the right path and found the way of light.”
Reflection
Dear Jesus, when all seems lost, may I never forget that you are at my side. May I use my talents in a way to glorify you and your Church. I pray to choose your path of life and love and leave worldly interests behind.
Prayer
Lord God, who gave the holy Virgin St. Catherine of Bologna gift upon gift from heaven,
grant, we pray,
that, imitating her virtues on earth,
we may delight with her in the joys of eternity.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
