From a Pilgrim’s Notebook: Saint Catherine of Siena

Faith is at once a communal act and something intensely personal. While we pray together as one Church, our experiences, needs and concerns provide each of us with a very individual lens through which our faith life is filtered.

So it was today, as our tour visited Siena, the home of my patron saint. While there are a number of saints named Catherine in the calendar, my parents were adamant that I was named after Catherine of Siena, the great Doctor of the Church. To back that up, some years ago they brought me a reproduction of the famous icon of Catherine found in the Basilica of St. Dominic in Siena.

I was much younger and more cynical when I received that gift. These days, my Catherine of Siena rests in my office for inspiration. I am profoundly grateful for the gift of faith my parents shared with me. And today, as I gazed upon the original in person and took part in a celebration of Mass in Catherine’s actual home, I reflected upon the power of faith and family to pull us closer to God, and I said a silent prayer in thanks for the gift of a patron saint—and of my parents’ early introduction to her.

-Catherine Mulroney, Editor of Living with Christ