St. Catherine of Genoa
September 15
Life. (1447 - 1510)
The Fieschi family was one of the most noble and powerful families of medieval Genoa. They gave two popes to the Church. In 1447 a daughter, “Catarinetta,” was born into the clan. As she grew up, Catharine showed a desire to become a nun, as her sister was. But when she was 16, her family ruled that she must marry a young man named Julian Adorno. It was one of those marriages of convenience so often contracted by noble families. Julian had an aristocratic name but an empty purse. Catharine had an aristocratic name and a full purse. An ideal match. Since the marriage was founded more in finances than on love, it took long to get off the ground. For the first five years Julian was away from home most of the time. By his own admission, he was unfaithful to his wife. Catharine moped for five years. The next five years she sought solace in parties and entertainments. However, she finally began to pray to God earnestly for light. In 1473, the prayer was answered. God changed her heart and she changed her way of life. She became intensive in her prayer life and even received Holy Communion daily – a rarity in those times. She also dedicated herself to works of piety and charity. Julian, too, turned over a new leaf. His wife’s prayers and his own bankruptcy brought him to his knees. Since their funds were reduced, the couple moved into a small house. Pledged to live henceforth as brother and sister, they began to devote themselves to the needs of the sick in the hospital of Pammatone. Eventually Catharine became the director of the hospital, and a capable one, too. In 1497 Julian died. Catharine took the responsibility of raising his daughter born out of wedlock. From 1473 Catharine Adorno led an intensely spiritual life along with a life of constant activity on behalf of the poor and sick. She also wrote two profound mystical books, one on Purgatory and a Dialogue of the Soul and the Body. Thus, she provided another proof that a person can be both a profound mystic and an able administrator. (She kept her financial accounts at the hospital exactly down to the last penny.) St. Catharine, it must also be remembered, was not a woman religious but a lay woman. Her husband, on his conversion, joined the third Order of St. Francis. She did not even do that. So businesswomen today could well take Catharine of Genoa as a model to follow and a patron to invoke. There was one curious trait in the makeup of St. Catharine. She was an intense person, we are told, and was “without humor or wit.” There are people of that makeup. Probably we are more readily attracted to saints who had a lively sense of humor, like Thomas More, Robert Bellarmine, Teresa of Avila and Elizabeth Seton. But even a saint can’t have everything. The lack of wit is a personal flaw comparable, perhaps, to tone-deafness, color-blindness or bowlegs. Flaws like these may be regrettable, but they certainly don’t keep one out of heaven. Anyhow, after the resurrection, we are assured our personal imperfections will all be rectified. Indeed, as soon as they get to heaven, souls who are good but humorless will quickly learn to smile. Did not the Book of Proverbs say of the valiant woman, “She shall laugh in the latter day?” (31:25) And Our Lord promised, “Blessed are you who weep: you shall laugh.” (Luke 6:21) As Sir Thomas Browne put it, we can look forward to “that unextinguishable laugh in heaven.” --Father Robert F. McNamara
Scripture. (Zephaniah 1:14–18)
The great day of the Lord is near,
near and hastening fast;
the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter,
the warrior cries aloud there.
That day will be a day of wrath,
a day of distress and anguish,
a day of ruin and devastation,
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness,
a day of trumpet blast and battle cry
against the fortified cities
and against the lofty battlements.
I will bring such distress upon people
that they shall walk like the blind;
because they have sinned against the Lord,
their blood shall be poured out like dust,
and their flesh like dung.
Neither their silver nor their gold
will be able to save them
on the day of the Lord’s wrath;
in the fire of his passion
the whole earth shall be consumed;
for a full, a terrible end
he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.
Writings
(Year C). God once more infused into the Soul another ray of love, and by its superabundance the body also was refreshed, and there was nothing but love and rejoicing of heart, for the Soul believed herself in paradise. In this state the Soul continued until every love except that of God was entirely consumed, and with his love alone she remained until she was wholly absorbed in him. He bestowed upon her many graces and sent her many sweet consolations, upon which she fed as do all those who share the divine love. He spoke to her also in those loving words which, like flame, penetrate the hearts of those who hear them. The body, moreover, was so inflamed, that it seemed as if the Soul must quit it in order to unite herself with her Love. This was to her a season of great peace and consolation, for all her nourishment was the food of eternal life. In this state she feared neither martyrdom nor hell nor any opposition or adversity that might befall her, for it seemed to her that with this love she could endure all things. O loving and rejoicing heart! O happy soul that has tasted this love! Thou canst no longer enjoy or behold aught beside, for thou hast attained thy rest for which thou wert created! O sweet and secret love: whoever tastes thee can no longer exist without thee! Thou, O man! who wert created for this love, how canst thou be satisfied and at peace without it? How canst thou live? In it is comprised all that can be desired, and it yields a satisfaction so entire that man can neither obtain it for himself nor even conceive it until he has experienced it. O love! in which are united all bliss and all delight, and which satisfies all desire! Whoever could express the emotions of a heart enamored of God, would break every other heart with longing, although it were harder than the diamond and perverser than the devil. O flame of love! thou dost consume all rust, and so completely removest every shadow of defect that the least imperfection disappears before thee. So perfectly dost thou thy work in the Soul, that she is cleansed even from those defects that are seen by thine eye alone, to which even that which seems to us perfection is full of faults. O Love! thou dost wholly cleanse and purify us; thou dost enlighten and strengthen our understanding, and dost even perform for us our necessary works, and this through thy pure love alone which meets with no return from us. O love, what a sweet companion and faithful guide art thou! Neither speech nor thought can do justice to thy excellence. Blessed is the heart possessed and occupied by thee. Love makes men just, simple, pure, rich, wise, and contented, and with its sweetness lessens every grief. O love, all that is done through thee is done with ease, with gladness and goodwill; and though the toil be great, thy sweetness tempers every trial. Oh, the torment of working without love! It is beyond belief. Love gives a sweet flavor to every viand. if it is bad it makes it good, and if good it makes it better. According to the grade and the capacity of the subject, God infuses love into the heart of man. Oh, how sweet a thing it would be to speak of this love, if fitting words were found to express the delight with which it fills the heart. But because the Soul is immortal, and capable of greater love than it can feel in this life, on account of the weakness of the body, which does not allow the Soul to support all that it desires, it remains ever craving, and in this life can never be fully satisfied. O love, thou fillest the heart, but thou art so great that it cannot contain thee; it remains filled but not satisfied: by the road of his heart thou takest possession of the entire man and permittest none but thyself to find entrance; with a strong bond thou bindest all the facilities of soul and body. O sweet servitude of love, which gives man freedom and contentment in this life, and eternal blessedness in the other! O love, thy bonds are so sweet and so strong that they bind angels and saints together, and so firm and close that they are never broken; men who are bound by this chain are so united that they have but one will and one aim, and all things among them are in common, both temporal and spiritual. In this union there is no difference between rich, and poor, between nation and nation; all contradiction is excluded, for by this love crooked things are made straight and difficulties reconciled. (Spiritual Dialogue)
Musical Selection
Pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem. Pie Jesu Domine, dona eis sempiternam requiem. (from Dies irae, Missa pro defunctis)
Blessed Jesu, Lord I pray, in thy mercy grant them rest. Lord our God, we pray thee, grant them everlasting rest.
Collect