Saint Catherine Of Siena

Introduction Catherine of Siena, a medieval mystic that greatly impacted Christianity through her writings. This paper might seem meaningless to most because not a lot of people know of Saint Catherine of Siena. It wasn’t until recently that she even became known as Saint Catherine. Only a few scholars know of Catherine. I chose to write about her because her story is not average, but it is unique and unusual. At first I didn’t even know anything about Catherine, but after researching and reading I discovered that she was definitely an amazing woman who played a huge role in the history of Christianity. Catherine, was one of the great medieval mystics of the medieval Roman Catholic Church. As a young woman she lived her life as any woman at …show more content…
In these letters she showed a sense of authority and power. These letters were mainly for the Pope. After a near death experience she began urging the Pope to move and reestablish in Rome and to put an end to the Great Schism. Catherine really cared greatly for the church and believed that the church was in need of being revitalized/reformed. Her letters give us input on her growing influence within the families, the church hierarchy, the papacy, as well as the crusade movement. Catherine worked so hard and devoted her life to reform the abuses in the church and to reunite Christianity after the Great Schism. Catherine didn’t just write letters she also wrote prayers. Catherine’s visions were what was driving her to write these. After Catherine died, her followers tried relentlessly to get her writing canonized. They spent a lot of time writing about her/for her. These include her visions, The Dialogue, the legend. Her book the Dialogue was about the way to God. It included steps that one would need to take to prepare for the journey and then about achieving the union with Christ. Some churches actually base their practices for spiritual purification off of what is mentioned in the book. Her works were translated many times in many different languages for many different reasons and people. Collections of her text were used in the Middle English devotionals. The theme of her writings is the love of God manifested in Christ. Catherine devoted her life to Jesus for the love of Jesus. When closes her letters she always ends by saying “Remain in the holy, gentle love of God...” We can learn from Catherine’s efforts to spread the love of God