Tag Archives: Catherine of Siena

Catherine of Siena – part 2

catherine_of_sienaCatherine of Siena (1347-1380), fourteenth century Christian mystic and writer, lived during a time of decline in the world. There were plagues, economic disasters, and political corruption. The Church was in turmoil. There were two popes in Catherine’s time, one in Avignon and one in Rome. Catherine was called by God to mediate conflicts in the Church and Society. Catherine became an advisor to political leaders and popes.

Catherine was named a Doctor of the Church in 1970 by Pope Paul VI. She was the first woman to be published in the Italian dialect. Her writings are still published and read by many in many languages. How did this come about?

Catherine was born in 1347 in Siena, the twenty-fourth child of Giacomo and Lapa Benincasa. Giacomo was a prosperous dyer and they had a very large home. At age six, Catherine had a remarkable experience. On the way home from visiting a sister she had a vision of heaven. At age seven she took a vow to devote her life to Christ. She refused all of her mother’s marriage plans for her and devoted her life to solitude and prayer. At age sixteen she joined the third order of the Dominican laywomen called the Mantellate. These women went throughout the streets in their familiar black and white robes serving the poor. They also maintained a highly contemplative life.

About this time the dreaded Black Plague had been killing thousands of people. Catherine fearlessly nursed the sickest people. While administering to the needs of her patients she also gave them spiritual advice. Her personal charm and down home wisdom won many friends for her.

Her piety convinced many that she was truly a woman of God to follow. Of course, this made enemies for her too. Some thought of her as just a fanatic. Later, when she had some influence among the church leaders she would be accused of just being a political manipulator. And many did not understand her mysticism.

But Catherine had the ability to discern the state of a soul and she witnessed to manycatherine-of-siena-body lost people and won many to Christ. People began to flock to her for advice. Word of her wisdom got to Avignon and the cardinals invited her to come and speak to them. Actually they were hoping to use her as an envoy to Rome to convince the people there to renounce the pope in Rome and to follow the pope in Avignon. But Catherine believed that the papacy belonged in Rome and worked to that end for the rest of her short life. She literally wore herself out and died at age 33 in Rome. (There are more details about this in my first post on Catherine of Siena, November 20, 2012.)

In this post let us look at another aspect of her life – her mysticism and her writing. Catherine led a very active life – full of travels, counseling, and writing. She kept several scribes busy writing letters and several longer works. One work is the “Dialogue”. This was a theological work written in 1377-1378 as a conversation between the “Eternal Father” (God the Father) and a “human soul” (Catherine). Using this method of dialogue, Catherine gives us her theology. The “Eternal Father” exhorts the soul to prayer, works of charity, virtue, and obedience. In the following passage Catherine explains our need for an atoning Savior:

Wherefore I have told you that I have made a Bridge of My Word, of My only-begotten Son, and this is the truth. I wish that you, My children, should know that the road was broken by the sin and disobedience of Adam, in such a way, that no one could arrive at Eternal Life. Wherefore men did not render Me glory in the way in which they ought to have, as they did not participate in that Good for which I had created them, and My truth was not fulfilled. This truth is that I have created man to My own image and similitude, in order that he might have Eternal Life, and might partake of Me, and taste My supreme and eternal sweetness and goodness. But, after sin had closed Heaven and bolted the doors of mercy, the soul of man produced thorns and prickly brambles, and My creature found in himself rebellion against himself.

And the flesh immediately began to war against the Spirit, and, losing the state of inno- cence, became a foul animal, and all created things rebelled against man, whereas they would have been obedient to him, had he remained in the state in which I had placed him. He, not remaining therein, transgressed My obedience, and merited eternal death in soul and body. And, as soon as he had sinned, a tempestuous flood arose, which ever buffets him with its waves, bringing him weariness and trouble from himself, the devil, and the world. Every one was drowned in the flood, because no one, with his own justice alone, could arrive at Eternal Life. And so, wishing to remedy your great evils, I have given you the Bridge of My Son, in order that, passing across the flood, you may not be drowned, which flood is the tempestuous sea of this dark life. See, therefore, under what obligations the creature is to Me, and how ignorant he is, not to take the remedy which I have offered, but to be willing to drown.

The “I” in the dialogue is God the Father explaining why man cannot reach Him without His provision. The provision is a “bridge” – the Lord Jesus Christ. The soul can only come back to God through Christ. It is interesting that Catherine also shows how sinful, ignorant men choose to go their own way and refuse God’s merciful provision. Only the humble soul will turn to God and accept God’s way for salvation.

There are many other theological themes covered – the Trinity, Humanity, Self-Knowledge, and Humility to name a few. Catherine’s use of imagery, metaphor, and everyday scenes from life make her works easy to read. We can appreciate her writing all the more when we realize that she suffered slander, ridicule, and violence throughout her life. She was often weak from fasting, yet she persevered. She did not teach her followers anything that she was not ready to live up to herself.

Catherine’s theology is still relevant today. She identified with Christ and this gave her the courage to persevere in her calling. Her theology is grounded in her denial of her self and total willingness to give God the glory for everything. We admire her for her courage, strong-willed determination, and obedience to God no matter what. Catherine calls us to lives of humility, grace, holiness, love and discipleship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Women Christian Mystics

third heavenBoasting is necessary, though it is not profitable; but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago – whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows – such a man was caught up to the third heaven. And I know how such a man – whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows – was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man in not permitted to speak. (2 Corinthians 12:1-4)

This passage of Scripture is a key verse for Christians mystics. Christian mystics seek a closer experience of union with God. For mystics this is a very real, non-abstract experience just as the “man in Christ” experienced.

Scholars agree that both the definition and the description of mysticism are difficult to explain. It is not magic or paranormal experience. It does not consist of a preoccupation with special revelations or visions. Religious mystics simply want to be closer to Christ and to experience Him in more than just an intellectual way.

There are still mystics today but mysticism was especially popular in the Middle Ages. Why did so many late Medieval women turn to mysticism? It was mostly because of changes that occurred in the Church right after the turn of the new Millennium. (1000 AD) Monasteries for men and women had been popular in the early Middle Ages. Women were able to study the Scriptures and participate in the intellectual environment the same as men. In their cloisters they preached to other women and even served communion at their services.

But in the twelfth century as the Roman Catholic Church began to change, women were denied these opportunities. The organization of the church became very hierarchical and took on a superstructure of male-only leadership. Also important is the fact that a clergy/laity split occurred. Only ordained male priests could do communion. Only they could change the bread and wine into the actual body and blood of Christ. (Doctrine of Transubstantiation)

The Roman Catholics put a lot of emphasis on the sacraments. Penance became a necessary sacrament; without it believers could not take communion. Again, only male priests could offer forgiveness in the confessional and give the people their “penance” for their sins. Penance was seen as a way to pay for your sins. Later, Martin Luther and the Protestants would object and stress that Christ’s atoning sacrifice paid for all sins. But during the Middle Ages (and even to today) the sacrament of Penance is required for Roman Catholics.

Since the clergy would not include women, women were no longer allowed to attend universities. Any intellectual studies for women would have to be done on their own. Women turned to other ways to express their piety since they could not participate in leadership positions or dispense the necessary sacraments of Communion and Penance. They developed new ways to express their spirituality. Mysticism became popular and although there were male mystics, many female mystics took on prominence.

It was during this time that the mendicant (begging) religious orders came intoMysticism - Catherine of Siena being. This was the time of Francis of Assisi and the Poor Clares (Founded by Clare Scefi, a follower of Francis of Assisi). The cult of the Virgin Mary began. There was trouble with the papacy. In the late fourteenth century there were two popes – one in Rome and one in Avignon. One mystic in particular, Catherine of Siena, had a part to play in the politics of the papacy.

There was a new emphasis on the humanity of Christ. The religious who wanted to be closer to Christ attempted to participate in His sufferings. With an emphasis on Penance as a way to pay for your sins, extreme fasting and self-flagellation became popular. We should not be surprised then to find that some women mystics expressed their piety in these forms.

The lives of these women will look very strange and sometimes repulsive to twenty-first century Christians. In the Middle Ages especially, self-sacrificing to the point of harming one’s own health was popular. It would be easy for us to judge these women and say that so much self-induced suffering brought on for the purpose of pleasing God was wrong. But we would be forgetting the times they lived in.

We must also take a good look at why we would criticize them. Our society is very indulgent. If these women could have foreseen our century they would be criticizing us! We would look very worldly to them. We should not castigate them without trying to understand the times in which they lived.

Though it is hard to pin down a good definition of mysticism, we can say that it was the attempt to combine thoughts and feelings with the goal of a closer union with God. Many of the thoughts were visions or dreams or contemplations that were often very hard to describe. Feelings were intense – some of sorrow or penitence – but mostly of joyful communion of oneness with God. This was what it was about for mystics; they were looking for religious experience. They wanted to go beyond dogma and actually “experience” God. This may seem strange to us today. We tend to emphasize intellectual knowledge over feelings.

386px-Julian_of_NorwichWhile many mystics certainly swung the pendulum to the opposite extreme of feelings over theology or dogma, most mystics wanted a balanced combination of the two. And above all, we should remember that they loved Jesus Christ, were grateful for their salvation, and wanted to show their gratitude in works of mercy.

It should also be remembered that a very important part of the mystical way was community living. Medieval mystics were not usually living entirely on their own following an individual path. Most were in some type of cloister sharing social obligations and relationships. Most were involved in charitable activities such as feeding the poor or caring for the sick.

In the late fourteenth through early fifteenth centuries many mystics were caring for the dying during the Black Plague. They saw suffering and death all around them as more than 40% of the population succumbed to the black death. Mystics dealt with the harder questions in life – Where is God in all of this? They did not lose their faith, but sought even harder to grow closer to the God Who is sovereign in life and death.

This seems very different to us today, but we can learn much from the women mystics. Some were poor; some were wealthy. Some were cloistered; some were lay persons. They came from many countries in Europe. It is true that some mystics went their own way and did things that even their contemporaries found objectionable. It is unfortunate that when the subject of mysticism comes up we mostly think of the extreme examples.

In the following weeks we will look at the experiences and writings of some Christian mystic women from the twelfth through the eighteenth centuries. In examining their lives and teachings we will try to learn what they can teach us that is relevant for today.