Catherine of Siena

25 March 1347 – 29 April 1380

Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) was an Italian mystic, activist, and author associated with the Dominican Third Order who became one of the most influential religious figures of the fourteenth century. She played a role in persuading Pope Gregory XI to return the papacy from Avignon to Rome and dictated a major mystical work, The Dialogue. She was canonized in 1461 and later declared a Doctor of the Church.

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Life events

Born in Siena
25 March 1347

Catherine was born in Siena as one of the many children of the wool dyer Giacomo di Benincasa and his wife Lapa Piagenti.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Birth ✓
Reported her first vision of Christ as a child
c. 1353

According to her hagiographers, Catherine experienced her first vision of Christ at about the age of five or six, after which she vowed her life to God.

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Joined the Dominican Third Order in Siena
c. 1366

Catherine received the habit of the Mantellate, the Dominican tertiary women of Siena, and lived in prayer and seclusion at her family home.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Began public ministry serving the sick and poor of Siena
c. 1368

Catherine ended her seclusion and devoted herself to nursing the ill, aiding the poor, and gathering a circle of followers and correspondents.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Traveled to Avignon to urge Pope Gregory XI to return to Rome
June 1376

Catherine journeyed to the papal court at Avignon as an ambassador of Florence and pressed Gregory XI to move the papacy back to Rome, which he did in January 1377.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Dictated The Dialogue of Divine Providence
1377 – 1378

Catherine dictated her major mystical work, a dialogue between a soul and God, to members of her circle of scribes.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Moved to Rome to support Pope Urban VI during the Western Schism
November 1378

At Urban VI's request Catherine settled in Rome, where she worked and wrote letters on behalf of the pope's cause during the schism.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Died in Rome
29 April 1380

Weakened by extreme fasting and following a stroke, Catherine died in Rome at the age of thirty-three.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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