CATHERINE OF SIENA

Summary

Catherine of Siena influenced the church through her dedication to the mystical lifestyle. From a young age, she committed herself to theological and biblical studies. She took on important roles in helping the church through transition and was especially interested to know more about the love of God. Through the development of theological virtues in her life, she grew in closer union with God and shared her experiences through her writings which offer benefit for us today.

Key Words: Catherine of Siena, Mysticism, Virtue, Charity.

In her writings, Catherine of Siena asserts that to know and love God is the means by which one attains union with Him. As seen also in her contemporary, the poet Dante in The Divine Comedy, moral and theological virtues are very important for attaining spiritual perfection which comes ultimately through the highest spiritual virtue of charity. Through reading Catherine's Dialogue, we see that charity truly was the highest virtue which brought a person to union with God. By examining Catherine's background and her understanding of the role of charity and suffering in spiritual perfection in accordance with the Beatific Vision, we will see why this woman has been influential and important for the church in the Middle Ages and today.

Catherine was born the twenty-fourth of twenty-five children in Siena, Italy in 1347. She experienced a strong Dominican influence on her life as her family lived near a center of Dominican study, and she spent much time there. At the age of seven, she vowed her virginity to God, and at fifteen, she joined the Dominican lay sisters. Around the age of twenty-one, she felt called to spend herself in service to the poor following a few years focused on solitude and silence. She served in the community and her family's home, yet still her followers "looked for her most of all at home in her room, where in hours of conversation she both learned and taught-learned the subtleties of theological argument and biblical interpretation, and taught what she knew from experience of the way of God." Over the coming years, she would experience mystical union with God and also be involved with affairs of the church.

She sent many letters to leaders in the church and government in the hopes of restoring peace to the church. She took several trips to Florence on behalf of this cause, but returned back to Siena in the midst of uprisings. Pope Urban VI sent for her through written summons, and Catherine moved to Rome to minister there. She was involved through writing letters, meeting with church leaders, and training disciples, yet her time in Rome was short. She was both a mystic and an activist, as her times in contemplation motivated her actions. She died at the age of thirty-three, spending the last few months of her life totally in prayer for the church and offering herself to God.

In The Dialogue, it is made clear that love is the evidence of a true follower of Christ who has moved beyond the things of the world. To discuss this further, Catherine offered the illustration of a bridge as the way taken by those who follow Christ. People cannot seek Christ fully from hearts that are afraid of punishment or love virtue, but they must seek Christ and imitate Him because of their love for God. When followers strengthen "their virtue perseveringly, they will come to filial love...with whatever love I am loved, with that love I respond. If you love me the way a servant loves a master, I as your master will give you what you have earned, but I will not show myself to you." Catherine goes on to write of those who will see God through being united with Him as the union between the closest of friends. "Their loving affection makes them two bodies with one soul, because love transforms one into what one loves. And if these souls are made one soul [with me], nothing can be kept hidden from them." It is love that transforms the follower of God and brings them into union with Him.

Neighbors play a vital role in developing virtue within the soul. As a soul grows in charity, it will be compelled to share love with others. We should seek to live such morally redemptive lives that we educate our neighbors in truth and in so doing, prevent them from living sinfully. "Sharing of truth is the richest gift of charity. It is not so easy to practice as giving material help. It requires discernment and such self-denial as springs from genuine love." Catherine points to the united love seen between the Father and the Son as the ultimate example for us to follow as we seek to be united to the Father by our love for Him. If we grow deep in our love for Christ and become so connected to Him that we share in His purpose of revealing love to our neighbors through the virtues, we will overcome the destructive tendencies toward selfishness and grow in charity.

Catherine points to suffering as a means of growing in love. Perhaps her contemplations on the wounds of Christ influenced this. Catherine had a wonder and fascination with the suffering of Christ and often likened the blood of Christ to His people as a mother providing milk for her child. She received numerous visions related to the blood of Christ and always had a holy longing to partake of the Eucharist. "Catherine's explicit rationale for her love of suffering contains two quite distinct arguments... she wishes to suffer on earth to avoid suffering in purgatory...[yet] even if she could come to heaven without suffering, she would not wish to do so, because it would seem disloyal to Christ." We see that Catherine believes suffering will be a means for extracting all the things inside of her that keep her from the highest love. She offers herself to suffer not only for her personal sins, but for her neighbors also and views suffering as instructive for her to grow in the maturity of the faith.

As can be seen, Catherine believes there is no progress towards charity without pain. As the soul goes through the pain of recognizing its own sinfulness and the depravity of the surrounding world, it will be changed by the practice of virtues and will eventually reach the stage of union with Christ as suffering draws one closer to Christ. This love grows to its fullest in loving one's neighbors. "When a soul has grown so high in holy desire, it simply cannot wish for anything except God's will. Love makes it weep in sorrow for offences to God and damage to people." For Catherine, love is the driving force of a person, encompassing not only how they see the world but also how they respond to it.

Through these explanations of Catherine's understanding of love, it makes sense that she uses two terms to describe the heart: affeto and mente. Affeto is often translated "affection" and corresponds to actions of the will and seeking to do what the mind understands as good. Mente is often translated "mind" and refers to the whole of the human spirit. We see through the combination of these two terms that Catherine understands that "the heart is where truth and love meet and become one. This is why charity, which can only be true love springing from God, is the sole source of life for the human heart...So the story of Catherine's spirituality is ultimately the story of charity, a story of the heart." Catherine believes our emotions, which are reflected in our tears, will help us to know if our love is self-centered or God-centered. Our emotions echo the process of attaining true love through the soul's movement from self-centered pity and fear of sin's punishment to tears of hope because of God's goodness.

Clearly, Catherine believes the transformation of a person to conform their will to Christ's is a very active process that involves personal suffering and intense personal endeavor. The soul who moves further in this process of growing in love will become "more acutely aware of the infinite difference between union with God on earth and union with Him in heaven...Nothing further remains for the soul but to have its yearning for God satisfied." Furthermore, "Catherine never forgot that on the heights of perfection charity assumes its full dimensions, that we cannot possess God without desiring His glory, and that perfect love necessarily means perfect desire to see Him loved." Catherine highlights for the reader a right understanding of charity that moves from concern for self to becoming wholly consumed with concern for God and His glory. It is in this knowledge and charity that the soul will reach its highest goal of union with God and strikes a right balance between action and contemplation.

Although Catherine of Siena lived a relatively short life, she was an exemplary mystic of the Middle Ages. As the church dealt with its own issues of corruption, mystics faithfully pursued God somewhat independently of the established church. The Reformation drew influence from the mystics as people noticed their desire to encourage and renew the church in truth. Many recognized the deep spirituality of the mystics as a stark contrast to corruption in the church and grew to believe that a rich spiritual life was possible "without the aid of a corrupt hierarchy. From this, it was only a step further to decide—as many Rhineland Christians did in the sixteenth century—that in order to be faithful to the gospel it was necessary to break with the corrupt practices and false doctrines of the established church." In addition, mystics also encouraged the deterioration of scholasticism. Mysticism made the tiny details of doctrine that caused large church debates appear petty. While reason was beneficial for the life of faith, mystics encouraged the practice of faith through the moral and theological virtues in the purpose of achieving union with God.

In conclusion, the life and writings of Catherine of Siena have application for the church today as well. Catherine challenges us to both right thinking and right action through her understanding of charity. She acknowledges the critical importance of the connection between truth and love. Catherine of Siena has shaped the church both then and now. Her understanding of the role of charity in growing towards spiritual perfection and union with God greatly influenced the church of her time. Her emphasis on living worshipfully and contemplating Christ and His sufferings manifesting itself outwardly in service to others provides inspiration for Christians today.

Bibliography

Catherine of Siena. The Dialogue. Translated by Suzanne Noffke. New York: Paulist Press, 1980.

Cavallini, Guiliana. Catherine of Siena. London: Geoffrey Chapmen, 1998.

Gonzalez, Justo L. A History of Christian Thought: Volume 2: From Augustine to the Eve of the Reformation. Revised Edition. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1987.

Noffke, Suzanne. Catherine of Siena: Vision Through a Distant Eye. Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1996.

Perrin, J.M. Catherine of Siena. Translated by Paul Barrett. Westminster: The Newman Press, 1965.

Watkins, Renee Neu. "Two Women Visionaries and Death: Catherine of Siena and Julian of Norwich." Numen 30, (1983): 174-198.

Laura Thomas

Netherlands

KATARINA SIJENSKA

Rezime

Misticizam Katarine Sijenske izvršio je snažan uticaj na Crkvu. Od najranije mladosti posvetila se biblijskom i teološkom proučavanju. Odigrala je značajnu ulogu pomažući Crkvu u procesu tranzicije, a naročito je bila zainteresovana da sazna više o Božijoj ljubavi. U svom teološkom razvoju rasla je u mističkom zajedništvu sa Bogom o čemu je ostavila pisani trag, nama danas od neizmernog značaja.

Ključne reči: Katarina Sijenska, misticizam, vrlina, milosrđe.