St Catherine of Siena's Dialogue describes the entire spiritual life through a series of conversations between God and the soul, represented by Catherine herself. Readers of The Dialogue of Saint Catherine of Siena, will find her revelations from God as informative - and formative - as those who recognized her sanctity during her life.
The universally applicable yet intimately personal messages she received from God are as much for us as they were for Catherine. We can read God's communications to his beloved daughter with detached awe or we can receive His messages to us through her writings.
Do you long for certainty that Divine Providence exists in the midst of our chaotic world? Does your prayer seem too dry, or too routine? Have you sought guidance for the challenges of your life from unhelpful people or things? Or has pride kept you from humble obedience to the Church? If so, The Dialogue will provide consolation, encouragement, and hope.
St. Catherine of Siena was born to Giacomo and Lapa Benincasa at Siena, Italy, in 1347, the second youngest of a very large family. She began to experience God mystically before she turned seven. Frequent visions of Christ, Mary, angels and saints inspired her holy, austere lifestyle and prompted her to take the habit of the Dominican Tertiaries at age 16, despite her parents' wish for her to marry and the untimely death of two of her sisters.
Enabled by a miracle to read and write, the formerly illiterate St. Catherine authored The Dialogue of St. Catherine of Sienna and hundreds of letters asking for peace with the Papal States and the return of the Pope from Avignon to Rome. Her passionate yet humble pleas persuaded the Pope to return to Rome, where she herself died at the age of 33. She was canonized by Pope Pius II in 1461, and her feast is celebrated on April 29.
