St. Catherine of Siena: Go Forth and ‘Set the World on Fire’
“Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.” —St. Catherine of Siena
Today in the original, Latin Mass calendar is the feast of one of the Church’s greatest saints, Catherine of Siena (1347-1380). She is one of those rare individuals who single-handedly changed the course of world history—and, unlike so many of such history-makers, she changed the world very much for the better.
“[CatholicSaints.info] Youngest of 24 children; her father was a wool-dyer. At the age of seven she had a vision in which Jesus appeared with Peter, Paul, and John; Jesus blessed her, and she consecrated herself to Him. Her parents began making arranged marriages for her when she turned 12, but she refused to co-operate [which led to abuse initially], became a Dominican tertiary at age 15, and spent her time working with the poor and sick, attracting others to work with her. Received a vision in which she was in a mystical marriage with Christ, and the Infant Christ presented her with a wedding ring. Some of her visions drove her to become more involved in public life. Counselor to and correspondent with Pope Gregory XI and Pope Urban VI. Stigmatist in 1375[; that is, she received the wounds of Christ’s Passion]. Lived in Avignon, France in 1376, and then in Rome, Italy from 1378 until her death [after she had convinced the pope to return to his seat of Rome from a long period of papal residency in France]. Friend of Blessed Raymond of Capua who was also her confessor. Proclaimed Doctor of the Church on 4 October 1970. [She died after offering her life to God in exchange for Church unity and the end to a conflict of warring anti-popes].
St. Catherine said, among other great quotes, “Everything comes from love, all is ordained for the salvation of man, God does nothing without this goal in mind.” Probably her most famous quote is, “Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.” These two quotes provide a beautiful and inspiring guide to us now.
It is very hard to love other people as God loves them, to love our enemies as Jesus told us we must do (Matt. 5:44). And yet that is what St. Catherine did, which is how she transformed the lives of so many people. She once converted a convicted criminal while he was about to go to his execution, she inspired people from the poor to the most powerful nobles in Italy, and she did what so many others tried and failed to do—she brought the papacy back to Rome (it seems particularly fitting therefore that today is also the feast of a holy pope, Pius V, renowned for his charity and enacting the reforms of the Council of Trent).
St. Catherine’s love was not the sappy, emotional type which many seem to believe in today. She told hard truths to those who didn’t want to hear them, and she spoke truth to power, in a way that few men, let alone women, have dared to do. She never lied to make someone feel better, or refrained from a warning about serious sin to avoid offense. But her motives were always from love, from a desire to bring people to our God Who is Truth. Her love for God and her confidence in the right were so powerful that it could not but affect others. She was born a dyer’s daughter, not poor but certainly not of the ruling class, illiterate for much of her life until God miraculously gave her the ability to read and write, yet she had no fear when she spoke to the powerful leaders of her day.
When a priest asked her why she thought that she, of all people, should go to tell the pope to return to Rome, especially when so many more famous and powerful people had tried and failed, she explained that she didn’t do it because she thought she was eminently qualified or special. She told the priest that she had spent years praying that someone would go speak to the pope, only to realize at last that she had to answer the call and allow God to work through her. She could no longer wait for somebody else to do what she knew needed to be done.
When I read that story, it had a profound effect on me. Now, most of us are not like St. Catherine of Siena, but each of us is called to greatness and holiness. Jesus says in the Gospel (Matt. 5:48), “Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect.” Without God, we are nothing. With God, we can even work miracles. We have only to surrender to God’s will and let Him guide us, and be willing to take on evil that seems too strong for us. As our world is increasingly controlled by very powerful but very evil men, we would do well to have the confidence, love, and trust in God of St. Catherine of Siena. Then we, too, might set the world on fire.1
This article is adapted from one I published last year.