Today is the feast of St. Catherine of Siena, who is said to have frequently lived only on water and the consecrated hosts she received in Communion.
The story is told that when Catherine received Communion, she would go into an ecstasy that could last for hours. One time, she and her companions were pressed for time, so when they attended Mass, they tried to persuade Catherine not to receive Communion because they knew what would happen. She agreed but prayed to God that somehow there might be a way she could still receive the Eucharist. An angel is said to have appeared to give her Communion. (The story is captured in the painting, "The Miraculous Communion of St. Catherine of Siena," by Domenico Beccafumi.)
Catherine is famous for her Dialogues (written accounts of her revelations from God) and her Letters which initially gave spiritual instruction and encouragement, but gradually began to deal with public matters. Many of her letters were directed to popes, kings and other public leaders.
These were the days of the Avignon papacy, when the pope and his staff had moved from Rome to southern France. Catherine not only wrote to Pope Gregory XI, respectfully chiding him for leaving Rome, but in 1376 (she was 29 years old) visited him in Avignon and did the same.
Catherine died on this date in 1380 at the age of 33. In 1970, Pope Paul VI declared her a doctor of the Church.
- Little White Book, Diocese of Saginaw