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April 28, 2024When I met St. Catherine of Siena and heard her story, it was the first time that I felt truly understood by a saint. Whether it was the deep desire she had to know and love the Lord, her characteristic zeal which prompted her to engage in sometimes difficult conversations, or the love she discovered for the Dominican charism, as a twenty-year-old college student I felt like I had found a new saintly best friend. One of the greatest gifts that St. Catherine was able to give me as I grew in this connection with her was her dialogue with Jesus. As a mystic, St. Catherine had these profound encounters with Christ where she was able to speak to him through ecstatic visions. These are detailed in the compilations of her writings, called The Dialogue. In reading them, it was so striking to me to see that the same woman, whose legacy included moments like helping to reunite the papacy after the scandal of Avignon, possessed a heart of such tenderness, humility, and docility to the will of God. When I look around at the modern world’s ideas of what it means to be a “strong woman”, so often they neglect the gentler side of the feminine genius. St. Catherine, like our Blessed Mother whose month we’re about to celebrate on the heels of this saint’s feast day tomorrow, demonstrates that a rich interior life of prayer and total dependence on the Trinity equips us to embrace the mission we are called to in God’s providence. We are nourished for all the Lord desires for us to do in our lives through a close communion with and constant trust in Him. I first turned to The Dialogue because I wanted to hear Jesus’ voice speaking to a Church Doctor and beloved saint, but what I began to hear was His voice calling out to me and inviting me into my own ongoing conversation of love and the life of discipleship. And isn’t that what any good friend does: lead you to a deeper encounter with the Lord? Befriend St. Catherine yourself through reading this book, and I promise she’ll do the same for you!
