The Saints: St. Catherine of Siena

1347-1380

Feast – April 29

Catherine Benincasa had visions as a child in Siena and at 17 joined the Third Order of St. Dominic. Others, drawn to her holiness, formed a group around her. She negotiated peace between Pope Gregory XI and the Florentines, persuading the pope to return to Rome from Avignon, France. After the 1378 election of a pope and an antipope initiated the Western Schism, Catherine again worked to restore unity. Known for her spiritual writings, she was declared a doctor of the church in 1970.