Excerpt:
Catherine Benincasa, born in 1347, was the youngest
(one of my sources says the 23rd) of twenty-five children of a wealthy
dyer of Sienna (or Siena). At the age of six, she had a vision of Christ
in glory, surrounded by His saints. From that time on, she spent most of
her time in prayer and meditation, over the opposition of her parents,
who wanted her to be more like the average girl of her social class.
Eventually they gave in, and at the age of sixteen she joined the Third
Order of St. Dominic
(First Order = friars, Second Order = nuns, Third Order = laypersons),
where she became a nurse, caring for patients with leprosy and advanced
cancer whom other nurses disliked to treat.
She began to acquire a reputation as a person of
insight and sound judgment, and many persons from all walks of life
sought her spiritual advice, both in person and by letter. (We have a
book containing about four hundred letters from her to bishops, kings,
scholars, merchants, and obscure peasants.) She persuaded many priests
who were living in luxury to give away their goods and to live simply...
