September 15th - Saint Catherine of Genoa, Widow, Mystic
Waldtraud
(1447-1510)
Saint Catherine Fieschi, daughter of a Viceroy of Naples, was born in Genoa.
Her family, rich in great men, had given to the Church two popes, nine
cardinals and two archbishops. Catherine, noble in birth, rich, and
exceedingly beautiful, had as a child rejected the solicitations of the
world, and begged her divine Master for some share in His sufferings.
Despite her ardent desire to enter the cloister, at sixteen years of age she
found herself promised in marriage to a young nobleman of dissolute habits.
She was obliged to obey her parents' intentions. Her spouse treated her with
such harshness that after five years, wearied by his cruelty, she somewhat
relaxed the strictness of her state and entered into the worldly society of
Genoa. At length, enlightened by divine grace as to the danger of her state,
she resolutely broke with the world and entered upon a life of rigorous
penance and prayer. Having seen Jesus with His cross, and heard His
reproaches, "O love!" she cried, "I will sin no longer!"
For twenty-three years she could take no nourishment but Holy Communion, and
she drank only a little water mingled with vinegar and salt. Every day she
prayed for six to seven hours on her knees, and never relaxed this practice.
Her heroic fortitude was sustained by the constant thought of the holy souls
of purgatory, whose sufferings were revealed to her, and whose state she has
described in a treatise full of heavenly wisdom.
The charity with which she devoted herself to the service of the hospitals,
undertaking the most disagreeable offices with joy, caused the
administrators of the large hospital of Genoa to confide it entirely to her
government. She served there without any remuneration whatsoever. Her
examples also induced her husband to practice patience and amend his ways;
before he died he joined the Third Order of Saint Francis and faithfully
followed its penitential exercises. A long, grievous and mysterious illness
during the last nine years of her own life served to perfect her union with
God. The most able physicians could not help Saint Catherine, and judged
that her illness was not from natural causes. Her first biographer wrote an
account in detail of her last month on earth, and assures the Church that
she left this mortal life in a state of total purification. She died on the
Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, September 14, 1510.
Reflection: The constant thought of purgatory will help us not only to
escape its dreadful pains, but also to avoid the least imperfection which
hinders our approach to God.
Sources: Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, a compilation based on
Butler's Lives of the Saints and other sources by John Gilmary Shea
(Benziger Brothers: New York, 1894); Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des
Saints, by Msgr. Paul Gu�rin (Bloud et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 11.
Saint Quote:
"There would be no need for sermons, if our lives were shining; there would
be no need for words, if we bore witness with our deeds. There would be no
pagans, if we were true Christians."
-Saint John Chrysostom
Bible Quote:
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Rom. 12:21)
<><><><>
Litany of the Seven Sorrows
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven, Have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit, Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God, Have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, Pray for us.
Holy Mother of God, Pray for us.
Holy Virgin of virgins, etc.
Mother crucified,
Mother sorrowful,
Mother tearful,
Mother afflicted,
Mother forsaken,
Mother desolate,
Mother bereft of thy Child,
Mother transfixed with the sword,
Mother consumed with grief,
Mother filled with anguish,
Mother crucified in heart,
Mother most sad,
Fountain of tears,
Abyss of suffering,
Mirror of patience,
Rock of constancy,
Anchor of confidence,
Refuge of the forsaken,
Shield of the oppressed,
Subduer of the unbelieving,
Comfort of the afflicted,
Medicine of the sick,
Strength of the weak,
Harbor of the wrecked,
Allayer of tempests,
Resource of mourners,
Terror of the treacherous,
Treasure of the faithful,
Eye of the Prophets,
Staff of the Apostles,
Crown of Martyrs,
Light of confessors,
Pearl of virgins,
Consolation of widows,
Joy of all Saints,
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Have mercy on us.
Look down upon us, deliver us, and save us from all trouble,
in the power of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Let Us Pray.
Imprint, O Lady, thy wounds upon my heart, that I may read therein sorrow
and love
--- sorrow to endure every sorrow for thee, love to despise every love for
thee. Amen.
Conclude with the Apostles Creed, Hail Holy Queen, and three Hail Marys,
in honor of the Most Holy Heart of Mary.