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Life as St. Catherine of Siena (A first person account written and performed by Nancy
J. Mignault, our Pastoral Associate.)
My name is Catherine Benincasa, I was born in Siena Italy, on March 23, 1347. I was one of twin girls and the
24th child of Lapa and Giacomo Benincasa. My twin sister died soon after birth. I was a very stubborn child and I talked a lot. I knew as a young girl that God was special in my life. I listened to
my mother and father tell stories of great Christian men and women. When I was six years old I began seeing angels as clearly as the people they protected. I wanted to devote my life to prayer and
make a lifelong commitment to God. At age 16 I would go to hospitals and care for sick people whom no one else cared about, particularly caring for those who had leprosy and advanced cases of cancer.
My mother and father kept trying to marry me off and make wedding plans for me. I kept 1elling them I didn't want to marry and that I wanted to dedicate my life to God. They didn't listen to
me, so one day I decided to cut off my hair so I was unattractive and no man would want to marry me. My parents were horrified. They were very angry with me and decided to make me the family maid. I
wouldn't stop pestering my parents and my father finally realized that God was truly calling me to a different life and gradually I won my father over. By the time I was 18 years old I became a
Mantellate. The Mantellates were the name of a Dominican order of widows (women who's husbands had died) who lived in their own homes and devoted themselves to prayer and service to the poor and
sick. It took some time for me to persuade them to agree to accept me because I was a young woman and unmarried. But my stubbornness paid off and they allowed me to join their group. Just like them I
dressed in a Dominican habit. I said "yes" to God's call, not always understanding God's plan for me. I began attracting people who sought advice and wanted to spend time with me. I
had visionary gifts and saw visions of Mary, Christ and many saints. There were people who said my visions were fake and made me go before the general chapter of Dominicans in Florence. They soon
dismissed the accusations. It was not an easy time to be a woman. Many men were outraged who thought woman belonged in the home and shouldn't' t be talking about God or anything religious out
in public. I would hear many people say, "Why is that Catherine gadding about so much? She is a woman, why doesn't she stay in her room if it's God she wants to serve! Taunts like these
and people making fun of me really hurt me a lot. Being a woman put many obstacles in my way. It was forbidden for women to mix freely with men. I was very persistent and continued on. I tried to be
a peacemaker. There was great unrest in the Italian cities and political anger on the part of Florence and Milan whose leaders had joined forces against the Pope. The church was very involved in
politics. Kings and princes tried to influence Pope GregoryXI. Eventually the French rulers had the pope move from Rome, Italy to Avignon France. I went to the Pope and begged him to move back to
Rome for the good of the whole church. At first everyone laughed at me. Pope Gregory began to respect my wisdom and courage. Pope Gregory died less than a year later and a new pope who was Italian
was elected. The French leaders did not want an Italian pope, so the French then elected a French pope, who moved to France. Now there were two popes and much confusion throughout the Church. I was
very upset that such a thing was happening to the Church and began writing letters to many Kings and rulers, pleading with them to resolve the situation. I prayed and fasted. Eventually my efforts
helped reunite the Church. I wrote a book called The DialOQue. it was about my experiences with God and myself. I went back to Rome on November of 1398 with 24 of my followers. We rented a house to
provide hospitality for pilgrims. We existed only on charity and sometimes there were 40 people'at our table. I would often beg for bread when there was no food. Each morning I would walk to St.
Peter's to hear Mass but I was soon exhausted. I couldn't eat. For the past ten years eating was making me sick. I tried to live out what I preached in my lifetime. Remember we cannot love
God if we do not love others! At 33 years old I suffered a stroke and died on April 29 at 9am in the arms of my closest friend Alessa. My hope is that you continue to build God's church by
helping those less fortunate in the world.
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