Posted By Mary Freeland on March 30, 2010

There are so many beautiful places to visit in Tuscany, Italy. Siena,Tuscany is the home of Santo Caterina (Italian for Saint Catherine). Statues and frescoes all depict this incredible woman. Altars are built in her honor. In Siena, she is the most beloved woman of the Middle Ages.

Catherine was born in 1347, in an area called Contada dell’ Oca, Neighborhood of the Goose. Her home has been turned into a shrine, Santuario e Casa di Santa Caterina. It doesn’t look like it did when she lived there. It has Renaissance paintings that depict her amazing life. Through the kitchen and up the stairs you will find her bedroom. She was so committed to following the vision she had at seven showing her she was to follow Christ, she began sleeping on a stone pillow. That pillow is still in her room.

All saints have amazing histories. Catherine was so committed to following her vision that when her mother tried to dissuade her from her mission by trying to have her marry at twelve, she cut off her hair and resisted. Exhausted by her resistance, her parents finally permitted her to join a group of Dominican nuns in the capacity of a tertiary (a lay person associated with clergy).

Catherine was committed to caring for the sick and infirm. Saint Catherine was so focused in her devotion she would only eat communion wafers. She was born a twin but her sibling didn’t survive. Modern psychologist might interpret this anorexic behavior as survivor’s guilt.
Catherine was illiterate but that didn’t prevent her from embarking on a letter writing campaign to Pope Gregory XI to ask him to return to Italy. She would dictate letters to one of her followers. Despite the pleading letters, he was not going to return. In a bold measure, she road on horseback to Avignon and met with the Pope personally. He was moved and returned. Shortly after his return, the Pope passed away. She joined the new Pope in Rome and continued her campaign to reunite the church.

She was treasured by the Romans and they have enshrined her body in a church, Santa Maria Sopra Minerva. Legend has it that thieves from Siene stole her head. When the thieves were stopped by Roman guards, the bag that held her head was opened. Instead of her head, they saw a bag full of rose petals. When the thieves arrived back in Seine, Tuscany and opened the bag, her head was there again.
Many believers make the journey to the church Catherine attended while growing up. It is now known as the San Domenico Basilica. This is where you will find the Santa Caterina Chapel. It is beautifully decorated with frescos by Leonardo da Vinci’s student, Sodoma. The focal point of this chapel is Catherine’s head, which is very well preserved. Her thumb is nearby under bell glass.

You must also visit Dussio’s Maestra (Majesty) in the Museo dell’Opera Metropolitana. Here you will see the Virgin Mary seated with the baby Jesus in her arms. She is surrounded by twenty angels and nineteen saints. When it was first displayed in 1311, it was viewed with awe and wonder by the townspeople.
Next time we will visit Cortona, Tuscany-the Town of Saint Margaret.

Categories: Travel, Uncategorized, history
Tags: history, Italian, Italy, Tuscany