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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/7403-8.txt b/7403-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ab1ba66 --- /dev/null +++ b/7403-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10252 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Letters of Catherine Benincasa +by Catherine Benincasa + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Letters of Catherine Benincasa + +Author: Catherine Benincasa + +Release Date: February, 2005 [EBook #7403] +[This file was first posted on April 24, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO Latin-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA *** + + + + +Anne Soulard, Charles Franks, Robert Shimmin, and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team + + + +LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA + + + + +[Illustration: _The Ecstasy of St. Catherine +Detail from Bazzis Fresco_] + + + + +SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA +AS SEEN IN HER LETTERS + +TRANSLATED & EDITED WITH INTRODUCTION BY +VIDA D. SCUDDER + + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS + + +Table of Persons Addressed +St. Catherine of Siena as seen in her letters +Chief Events in the life of St. Catherine +Brief Outline of Contemporary Public Events +To Monna Alessa dei Saracini +To Benincasa her brother, when he was in Florence +To the Venerable Religious, Brother Antonio of Nizza +To Monna Agnese, who was the wife of Messer Orso Malavolti +To Sister Eugenia, her niece at the Convent of St. Agnes of Montepulciano +To Nanna, daughter of Benincasa, a little maid, her niece +Letters on the Consecrated Life + To Brother William of England + To Daniella of Orvieto, clothed with the Habit of St. Dominic + To Monna Agnese, wife of Francesco, a tailor of Florence +Letters in response to certain criticisms + To Monna Orsa, wife of Bartolo Usimbardi, and to Monna Agnese + To a Religious man in Florence, who was shocked at her Ascetic + Practices +To Brother Bartolomeo Dominici +To Brother Matteo di Francesco Tolomei +To a Mantellata of Saint Dominic, called Catarina di Scetto +To Neri di Landoccio dei Pagliaresi +To Monna Giovanna and her other daughters in Siena +To Messer John, the Soldier of Fortune +To Monna Colomba in Lucca +To Brother Raimondo of Capua, of the Order of the Preachers +To Gregory XI +To Gregory XI +To Gregory XI +To Brother Raimondo of Capua, at Avignon +To Catarina of the Hospital, and Giovanna di Capo +To Sister Daniella of Orvieto +To Brother Raimondo of Capua, and to Master John III +To Sister Bartolomea della Seta +To Gregory XI +To the King of France +Letters to Florence + To the Eight of War chosen by the Commune of Florence + To Buonaccorso di Lapo: written when the Saint was at Avignon +To Gregory XI +To Monna Lapa, her mother, before she returned from Avignon +To Monna Giovanna di Corrado Maconi +To Messer Ristoro Canigiani +To the Anziani and Consuls and Gonfalonieri of Bologna +To Nicholas of Osimo +To Misser Lorenzo del Pino of Bologna, Doctor in Decretals +Letters written from Rocca D'Orcia + To Monna Lapa, her mother, and to Monna Cecca + To Monna Catarina of the Hospital, and to Giovanna di Capo + To Monna Alessa, clothed with the Habit of Saint Dominic +To Gregory XI +To Raimondo of Capua +To Urban VI +To her spiritual children in Siena + To Brother William and to Messer Matteo of the Misericordia + To Sano di Maco, and to all her other sons in Siena +To Brother Raimondo of Capua +To Urban VI +To Don Giovanni of the Cells of Vallombrosa +Letters announcing peace + To Monna Alessa, when the Saint was at Florence + To Sano di Maco, and to the other sons in Christ +To three Italian Cardinals +To Giovanna, Queen of Naples +To Sister Daniella of Orvieto +To Stefano Maconi +To certain holy hermits who had been invited to Rome by the Pope + To Brother William of England, and to Brother Antonio of Nizza + To Brother Andrea of Lucca, Brother Baldo, and Brother Lando + To Brother Antonio of Nizza +To Queen Giovanna of Naples +To Brother Raimondo of the Preaching Order, when he was in Genoa +To Urban VI +Letters describing the experience preceding death + To Master Raimondo of Capua + To Master Raimondo of Capua, of the Order of the Preachers + + + + +TABLE OF PERSONS ADDRESSED + + +Agnese, Monna, di Francesco +Andrea, Brother, of Lucca +Antonio, Brother, of Nizza + +Baldo, Brother +Bartolomea, Sister, della Seta +Bartolomeo, Brother, Dominici +Benincasa, Benincasa +Benincasa, Eugenia +Benincasa, Monna Lapa +Benincasa, Nanna +Bologna, Anziani of + +Capo, Giovanna di +Canigiani, Ristoro +Cardinals, Three Italian +Catarina, of the Hospital +Cecca, Monna +Colomba, Monna, of Lucca + +Daniella, Sister, of Orvieto + +France, the King of +Florence, Letters to + +Giovanna, Queen of Naples +Giovanni, Don, of the Cells of Vallombrosa +Gregory XI. + +John, Messer, Soldier of Fortune +John III., Master + +Lando, Brother +Lapo, Buonaccorso di + +Maco, Sano di +Maconi, Monna Giovanna di Corrado +Maconi, Stefano +Malavolti, Monna Agnese +Matteo, Messer, of the Misericordia + +Osimo, Nicholas of + +Pagliaresi, Neri di Landoccio dei +Pino, Lorenzo del + +Raimondo, Brother, of Capua +Religious, A, in Florence + +Saracini, Monna Alessa dei +Scetto, Catarina di + +Tolomei, Brother Matteo di + +Urban VI., Pope +Usimbardi, Monna Orsa + +War, the Eight of +William, Brother, of England + + + + +LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA + + + + +ST. CATHERINE OF SIENA AS SEEN IN HER LETTERS + + +I + +The letters of Catherine Benincasa, commonly known as St. Catherine of +Siena, have become an Italian classic; yet perhaps the first thing in them +to strike a reader is their unliterary character. He only will value them +who cares to overhear the impetuous outpourings of the heart and mind of +an unlettered daughter of the people, who was also, as it happened, a +genius and a saint. Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, the other great writers of +the Trecento, are all in one way or another intent on choice expression; +Catherine is intent solely on driving home what she has to say. Her +letters were talked rather than written. She learned to write only three +years before her death, and even after this time was in the habit of +dictating her correspondence, sometimes two or three letters at a time, to +the noble youths who served her as secretaries. + +The modern listener to this eager talk may perhaps at first feel wearied. +Suffocated by words, repelled by frequent crudity and confusion of +metaphor, he may even be inclined to call the thought childish and the +tone overwrought. But let him persevere. Let him read these letters as +chapters in an autobiography, noting purpose and circumstance, and reading +between the lines, as he may easily do, the experience of the writer. +Before long the very accents of a living woman will reach his ears. He +will hear her voice, now eagerly pleading with friend or wrong-doer, now +brooding tender as a mother-bird over some fledgling soul, now broken with +sobs as she mourns over the sins of Church and world, and again chanting +high prophecy of restoration and renewal, or telling in awestruck +undertone sacred mysteries of the interior life. Dante's Angel of Purity +welcomes wayfarers upon the Pilgrim Mount "in voce assai pił che la +nostra, viva." The saintly voice, like the angelic, is more living than +our own. These letters are charged with a vitality so intense that across +the centuries it draws us into the author's presence. + +Imagination is inclined to see the canonized saints as a row of solemn +figures, standing in dull monotony of worshipful gesture, like Virgins and +Confessors in an early mosaic. Yet, as a matter of fact, people who have +been canonized were to their contemporaries the most striking +personalities among men and women striving for righteousness. They were +all, to be sure, very good; but goodness, despite a curious prejudice to +the contrary, admits more variety in type than wickedness, and produces +more interesting characters. Catherine Benincasa was probably the most +remarkable woman of the fourteenth century, and her letters are the +precious personal record of her inner as of her outer life. With all their +transparent simplicity and mediaeval quaintness, with all the occasional +plebeian crudity of their phrasing, they reveal a nature at once so many- +sided and so exalted that the sensitive reader can but echo the judgment +of her countrymen, who see in the dyer's daughter of Siena one of the most +significant authors of a great age. + + +II + +As is the case with many great letter-writers, though not with all, +Catherine reveals herself largely through her relations with others. Some +of her letters, indeed, are elaborate religious or political treatises, +and seem at first sight to have little personal colouring; yet even these +yield their full content of spiritual beauty and wisdom only when one +knows the circumstances that called them forth and the persons to whom +they were addressed. A mere glance at the index to her correspondence +shows how widely she was in touch with her time. She was a woman of +personal charm and of sympathies passionately wide, and she gathered +around her friends and disciples from every social group in Italy, not to +speak of many connections formed with people in other lands. She wrote to +prisoners and outcasts; to great nobles and plain business men; to +physicians, lawyers, soldiers of fortune; to kings and queens and +cardinals and popes; to recluses pursuing the Beatific Vision, and to men +and women of the world plunged in the lusts of the flesh and governed by +the pride of life. The society of the fourteenth century passes in review +as we turn the pages. + +Catherine wrote to all these people in the same simple spirit. With one +and all she was at home, for all were to her, by no merely formal phrase, +"dearest brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus." One knows not whether to +be more struck by the outspoken fearlessness of the woman or by her great +adaptability. She could handle with plain directness the crudest sins of +her age; she could also treat with subtle insight the most elusive phases +of spiritual experience. No greater distance can be imagined than that +which separates the young Dominican with her eyes full of visions from a +man like Sir John Hawkwood, reckless free-lance, selling his sword with +light-hearted zeal to the highest bidder, and battening on the disorder of +the times. Catherine writes to him with gentlest assumption of fellowship, +seizes on his natural passions and tastes, and seeks to sanctify the +military life of his affections. With her sister nuns the method changes. +She gives free play to her delicate fancy, drawing her metaphors from the +beauty of nature, from tender, homely things, from the gentle arts and +instincts of womanhood. Does she speak to Pope Gregory, the timid? Her +words are a trumpet-call. To the harsh Urban, his successor? With finest +tact she urges self-restraint and a policy of moderation. Temperaments of +every type are to be met in her pages--a sensitive poet, troubled by +"confusion of thought" deepening into melancholia; a harum-scarum boy, in +whose sunny joyousness she discerns the germ of supernatural grace; +vehement sinners, fearful saints, religious recluses deceived by self- +righteousness, and men of affairs devoutly faithful to sober duty. +Catherine enters into every consciousness. As a rule we associate with +very pure and spiritual women, even if not cloistered, a certain deficient +sense of reality. We cherish them, and shield them from harsh contact with +the world, lest the fine flower of their delicacy be withered. But no one +seems to have felt in this way about Catherine. Her "love for souls" was +no cold electric illumination such as we sometimes feel the phrase to +imply, but a warm understanding tenderness for actual men and women. It +would be hard to exaggerate her knowledge of the world and of human +hearts. + +Yet sometimes Catherine appears to us austere and exacting; unsparing in +condemnation, and unrelenting in her demands on those she loves. Many of +her letters are in a strain of exhortation that rises into rebuke. The +impression at first is unpleasant. We are tempted to feel this unfailing +candour captious; to resent the note of authority, equally clear whether +she write to Pope or Cardinal; to suspect Catherine, in a word, of +assuming that very judicial attitude which she constantly deprecates as +unbecoming to us poor mortals. And perhaps the very frequency of her plea +for tolerance and forbearance suggests a conscious weakness. Like most +brilliant and ardent people, she was probably by nature of a critical and +impatient disposition; she was, moreover, a plebeian. At times, when she +is quite sure that men are on the side of the devil, she allows her +instinctive frankness full scope; it must be allowed that the result is +astounding. Yet even as we catch our breath we realise that her remarks +were probably justified. It is hard for us moderns to remember how crudely +hideous were the sins which she faced. In these days, when we are all +reduced to one apparent level of moral respectability, and great +saintliness and dramatic guilt are alike seldom conspicuous, we forget the +violent contrasts of the middle ages. Pure "Religious," striving after the +exalted perfection enjoined by the Counsels, moved habitually among moral +atrocities, and bold vigour of speech was a practical duty. Catherine +handled without evasion the grossest evils of her time, and the spell +which she exercised by simple force of direct dealing was nothing less +than extraordinary. + +It is easy to see why Catherine's plain speaking was not resented. She +rarely begins with rebuke. The note of humility is first struck; she is +always "servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ." Thence she +frequently passes into fervent meditation on some special theme: the +exceeding wonder of the Divine Love, the duty of prayer, the nature of +obedience. We are lifted above the world into a region of heavenly light +and sweetness, when suddenly--a blow from the shoulder!--a startling sense +of return to earth. From the contemplation of the beauty of holiness, +Catherine has swiftly turned us to face the opposing sin. "Thou art the +man!" A few trenchant sentences, charged with pain, and the soul which has +been raised to celestial places awakes to see in itself the contradiction +of all that is so lovely. Into the region of darkness Catherine goes with +it. It is not "thou" but "we" who have sinned. She holds that sinful heart +so near her own that the beatings are confounded; her words now and again +express a shuddering personal remorse for sins of which she could have had +no personal knowledge. Her sense of unity with her fellow-men lies deeper +than any theory of brotherhood; she feels herself in sober truth guilty of +the sins of her brothers: her experience illustrates the profound truth +that only purity can know perfect penitence. + +Catherine is then saved from any touch of Pharisaism by her remarkable +identification of herself with the person to whom she writes. But to +understand her attitude we must go further. For she never pauses in +reprobation of evil. Full of conviction that the soul needs only to +recognise its sin to hate and escape it for ever, she passes swiftly on to +impassioned appeal. Her words breathe a confidence in men that never fails +even when she is writing to the most hardened. She succeeded to a rare +degree in the difficult conciliation of uncompromising hatred toward sin +with unstrained fellowship with the sinner, and invincible trust in his +responsiveness to the appeal of virtue. When we consider the times in +which she lived, this large and touching trustfulness becomes to our eyes +a victory of faith. That it was no mere instinct, but an attitude +resolutely adopted and maintained, is evident from her frequent +discussions of charity and tolerance, some of which will be found in these +selections. She constantly urges her disciples to put the highest possible +construction on their neighbours' actions; nor is any phase of her +teaching more constantly repeated than the beautiful application of the +text: "In My Father's House are many mansions," to enjoin recognition of +the varieties in temperament and character and practice which may coexist +in the House of God. + +Catherine had learned a hard lesson. She saw in human beings not their +achievements, but their possibilities. Therefore she quickened repentance +by a positive method, not by morbid analysis of evil, not by lurid +pictures of the consequences of sin, but by filling the soul with glowing +visions of that holiness which to see is to long for. She never despaired +of quickening in even the most degraded that flame of "holy desire" which +is the earnest of true holiness to be. We find her impatient of mint and +cummin, of over-anxious self-scrutiny. "Strive that your holy desires +increase," she writes to a correspondent; "and let all these other things +alone." "I, Catherine--write to you--with desire": so open all her +letters. Holy Desire! It is not only the watchword of her teaching: it is +also the true key to her personality. + + +III + +We have dwelt on Catherine, the friend and guide of souls; but it is +Catherine the mystic, Catherine the friend of God, before whom the ages +bend in reverence. The final value of her letters lies in their +revelation, not of her dealings with other souls, but of God's dealings +with her own. + +But in presence of the record of these deep experiences, silence is better +than words: is, indeed, for most of us the only possible attitude. The +letters that follow must speak for themselves. The clarity of mind which +Catherine always preserved, even in moments of highest exaltation, and her +loving eagerness to share her most sacred experiences with those dear to +her, have given her a power of expression that has produced pages of +unsurpassed interest and value, alike for the psychologist and for the +believer. Moreover--and this we well may note--her letters enable us to +apprehend with singularly happy intimacy, the natural character and +disposition of her whom these high things befell. In the very cadence of +their impetuous phrasing, in their swift dramatic changes, in their +marvellous blending of sweetness and virility, they show us the woman. +Some of them, especially those to her family and friends, are of almost +childlike simplicity and homely charm; others, among the most famous of +their kind, deal with mystical, or if we choose so to put it, with +supernatural experience: in all alike, we feel a heart akin to our own, +though larger and more tender. + +The central fact in Catherine's nature was her rapt and absolute +perception of the Love of God, as the supreme reality in the universe. +This Love, as manifested in creation, in redemption, and in the sacrament +of the Altar, is the theme of her constant meditations. One little phrase, +charged with a lyric poignancy, sings itself again and again, enlightening +her more sober prose: "For nails would not have held God-and-Man fast to +the Cross, had love not held Him there." Her conceptions are positive, not +negative, and joyous adoration is the substance of her faith. + +But the letters show us that this faith was not won nor kept without sharp +struggle. We have in them no presentation of a calm spirit, established on +tranquil heights of unchanging vision, above our "mortal moral strife." +Catherine is, as we can see, a woman of many moods--very sensitive, very +loving. She shows a touching dependence on those she loves, and an +inveterate habit of idealising them, which leads to frequent disillusion. +She is extremely eager and intense about little things as well as great; +hers is a truly feminine seriousness over the detail of living. She is +keenly and humanly interested in life on this earth, differing in this +respect from some canonized persons who seem always to be enduring it +_faute de mieux_. And, as happens to all sensitive people who refuse to +seclude themselves in dreams, life went hard with her. Hers was a frail +and suffering body, and a tossed and troubled spirit; wounded in the house +of her friends, beset by problem, shaken with doubt and fear by the +spectacle presented to her by the world and the Church of Christ. The +letters tell us how these, her sorrows and temptations, were not separated +from the life of faith, but a true portion of it: how she carried them +into the Divine Presence, and what high reassurance awaited her there. +Ordinary mortals are inclined to think that supernatural experience +removes the saints to a perplexing distance. In Catherine's case, however, +we become aware as we study the record that it brings her nearer us. For +these experiences, far from being independent of her outer life, are in +closest relation with it; even the highest and most mysterious, even those +in which the symbolism seems most remote from the modern mind, can be +translated by the psychologist without difficulty into modern terms. They +spring from the problems of her active life; they bring her renewed +strength and wisdom for her practical duties. An age, which like our own +places peculiar emphasis and value on the type of sanctity which promptly +expresses itself through the deed, should feel for Catherine Benincasa an +especial honour. She is one of the purest of Contemplatives; she knows, +what we to-day too often forget, that the task is impossible without the +vision. But it follows directly upon the vision, and this great mediaeval +mystic is one of the most efficient characters of her age. + + +IV + +Catherine's soaring imagination lifted her above the circle of purely +personal interests, and made her a force of which history is cognisant in +the public affairs of her day. She is one of a very small number of women +who have exerted the influence of a statesman by virtue, not of feminine +attractions, but of conviction and intellectual power. It is impossible to +understand her letters without some recognition of the public drama of the +time. + +Two great ideals of unity--one Roman, one Christian in origin--had +possessed the middle ages. In the strength of them the wandering barbaric +hordes had been reduced to order, and Western Europe had been trained into +some perception of human fellowship. Of these two unifying forces, the +imperialistic ideal was moribund in Catherine's time: not even a Dante, +born fifty years after his true date, could have held to it. Remained the +ideal of the Church universal, and to this last hope of a peaceful +commonwealth that should include all humanity, the idealists clung in +desperation. + +But alas for the faith of idealists when fact gives theory the lie! What +at this time was the unity of mankind in the Church but a formal +hypothesis? The keystone of her all-embracing arch was the Papacy. But the +Pope no longer sat heir of the Caesars in the seat of the Apostles; for +seventy years he had been a practical dependant of the French king, living +in pleasant Provence. Neither the scorn of Dante, nor the eloquence of +Petrarch, nor the warnings of holy men, had prevailed on the popes to +return to Italy, and make an end of the crying scandal which was the +evident contradiction of the Christian dream. Meantime, the city of the +Caesars lay waste and wild; the clergy was corrupt almost past belief; the +dreaded Turk was gathering his forces, a menace to Christendom itself. The +times were indeed evil, and the "servants of God," of whom then, as now, +there were no inconsiderable number, withdrew for the most part into +spiritual or literal seclusion, and in the quietude of cloister or forest +cell busied themselves with the concerns of their own souls. + +Not so Catherine Benincasa. She had known that temptation and conquered +it. After her reception as a Dominican Tertiary, she had possessed the +extraordinary resolution to live for three years the recluse life, not in +the guarded peace of a convent, but in her own room at home, in the noisy +and overcrowded house where a goodly number of her twenty-four brothers +and sisters were apparently still living. And these had been years of +inestimable preciousness; but they came to an end at the command of God, +speaking through the constraining impulse of her love for men. From the +mystical retirement in which she had long lived alone with her Beloved, +she emerged into the world. And the remarkable fact is that in no respect +did she blench from the situation as she found it. She "faced life +steadily and faced it whole." A Europe ravaged by dissensions lay before +her; a Church which gave the lie to its lofty theories, no less by the +hateful worldliness of its prelates than by its indifferent abandonment of +the Seat of Peter. Above this sorry spectacle the mind of Catherine soared +straight into an upper region, where only the greatest minds of the day +were her comrades. Her fellow-citizens were unable to entertain the idea +even of civic peace within the limits of their own town; but patriotic +devotion to all Italy fired her great heart. More than this--her instinct +for solidarity forced her to dwell in the thought of a world-embracing +brotherhood. Her hopes were centred, not like Dante's in the Emperor the +heir of the Caesars, but in the Pope the heir of Christ. Despite the +corruption from which she recoiled with horror, despite the Babylonian +captivity at Avignon, she saw in the Catholic Church that image of a pure +universal fellowship which the noblest Catholics of all ages have +cherished. To the service of the Church, therefore, her life was +dedicated; it was to her the Holy House of Reconciliation, wherein all +nations should dwell in unity; and only by submission to its authority +could the woes of Italy be healed. + +Catherine's letters on public affairs--historical documents of recognised +importance--give us her practical programme. It was formed in the light of +that faith which she always describes as "the eye of the mind." She was +called during her brief years of political activity to meet three chief +issues: the absence of the Pope from Italy; the rebellion of the Tuscan +cities, headed by Florence, against his authority; and at a later time the +great Schism, which broke forth under Urban VI. During her last five years +she was absorbed in ecclesiastical affairs. In certain of her immediate +aims she succeeded, in others she failed. It would be hard to say whether +her success or her failure involved the greater tragedy. For behind all +these aims was a larger ideal that was not to be realised--the dream, +entertained as passionately by Catherine Benincasa as by Savonarola or by +Luther, of thorough Church-reform. Catherine at Avignon, pleading this +great cause in the frivolous culture and dainty pomp of the place; +Catherine at Rome, defending to her last breath the legal rights of a Pope +whom she could hardly have honoured, and whose claims she saw defended by +extremely doubtful means--is a figure as pathetic as heroic. Few sorrows +are keener than to work with all one's energies to attain a visible end +for the sake of a spiritual result, and, attaining that end, to find the +result as far as ever. This sorrow was Catherine's. The external successes +which she won--considerable enough to secure her a place in history-- +availed nothing to forward the greater aim for which she worked. Gregory +XI., under her magnetic inspiration, gathered strength, indeed, to make a +personal sacrifice and to return to Rome, but he was of no calibre to +attempt radical reform, and his residence in Italy did nothing to right +the crying abuses that were breaking Christian hearts. His successor, on +the other hand, did really initiate the reform of the clergy, but so +drastic and unwise were his methods that the result was terrible and +disconcerting--the development of a situation of which only the Catholic +idealist could discern the full irony; no less than Schism, the rending of +the Seamless Robe of Christ. + +With failing hopes and increasing experience of the complexity of human +struggle, Catherine clung to her aim until the end. There was no touch of +pusillanimity in her heroic spirit. As with deep respect we follow the +Letters of the last two years, and note their unflagging alertness and +vigour, their steady tone of devotion and self-control, we realise that to +tragedy her spirit was dedicate. Her energy of mind was constantly on the +increase. Still, it is true, she wrote to disciples near and far long, +tender letters of spiritual counsel--analyses of the religious life +tranquilly penetrating as those of an earlier time. But her political +correspondence grew in bulk. It is tense, nervous, virile. It breathes a +vibrating passion, a solemn force, that are the index of a breaking heart. +Not for one moment did Catherine relax her energies. From 1376, when she +went to Avignon, she led, with one or two brief intermissions only, the +life of a busy woman of affairs. But within this outer life of strenuous +and, as a rule, thwarted activities, another life went on--a life in which +failure could not be, since through failure is wrought redemption. + +From the days of her stigmatization, which occurred in 1375 at Pisa, +Catherine had been convinced that in some special sense she was to share +in the Passion of Christ, and offer herself a sacrifice for the sins of +Holy Church. Now this conception deepened till it became all-absorbing. In +full consciousness of failing vital powers, in expectation of her +approaching death, she offered her sufferings of mind and body as an +expiation for the sins around her. By word of mouth and by letters of +heartbroken intensity she summoned all dear to her to join in this holy +offering. Catherine's faith is alien to these latter days. Yet the +psychical unity of the race is becoming matter not only of emotional +intuition, but established scientific fact: and no modern sociologist, no +psychologist who realizes how unknown in origin and how intimate in +interpenetration are the forces that control our destiny, can afford to +scoff at her. She had longed inexpressibly for outward martyrdom. This was +not for her, yet none the less really did she lay down her life on the +Altar of Sacrifice. The evils of the time, and above all of the Church, +had generated a sense of unbearable sin in her pure spirit; her constant +instinct to identify herself with the guilt of others found in this final +offering an august climax and fulfilment. + +During the last months of her life--months of excruciating physical +sufferings, vividly described for us by her contemporaries--the woman's +rectitude and wisdom, her swift tender sympathies, were still, as ever, at +the disposal of all who sought them. With unswerving energy she still +laboured for the cause of truth. When we consider the conditions, +spiritual and physical, of those last months, we read with amazement the +able, clearly conceived, practical letters which she was despatching to +the many European potentates whom she was endeavouring to hold true to the +cause of Urban. But her spirit in the meantime dwelt in the region of the +Eternal, where the dolorous struggle of the times appeared, indeed, but +appeared in its essential significance as seen by angelic intelligences. +The awe-struck letters to Fra Raimondo, her Confessor, with which this +selection closes, are an accurate transcript of her inner experience. They +constitute, surely, a precious heritage of the Church for which her life +was given. Catherine Benincasa died heartbroken; yet in the depths of her +consciousness was joy, for God had revealed to her that His Bride the +Church, "which brings life to men," "holds in herself such life that no +man can kill her." "Sweetest My daughter, thou seest how she has soiled +her face with impurity and self-love, and grown puffed up by the pride and +avarice of those who feed at her bosom. But take thy tears and sweats, +drawing them from the fountain of My divine charity, and cleanse her face. +For I promise thee that her beauty shall not be restored to her by the +sword, nor by cruelty nor war, but by peace, and by humble continual +prayer, tears, and sweats poured forth from the grieving desires of My +servants. So thy desire shall be fulfilled in long abiding, and My +Providence shall in no wise fail." + + +V + +Psychologically, as in point of time, St. Catherine stands between St. +Francis and St. Teresa. Her writings are of the middle ages, not of the +renascence, but they express the twilight of the mediaeval day. They +reveal the struggles and the spiritual achievement of a woman who lived in +the last age of an undivided Christendom, and whose whole life was +absorbed in the special problems of her time. These problems, however, are +in the deepest sense perpetual, and her attitude toward them is suggestive +still. + +It has been claimed that Catherine, a century and a half later, would have +been a Protestant. Such hypotheses are always futile to discuss; but the +view hardly commends itself to the careful student of her writings. It is +suggested, naturally enough, by her denunciations of the corruptions of +the Church, denunciations as sweeping and penetrating as were ever uttered +by Luther; by her amazingly sharp and outspoken criticism of the popes; +and by her constant plea for reform. The pungency of all these elements in +her writings is felt by the most casual reader. But it must never be +forgotten that honest and vigorous criticism of the Church Visible is, in +the mind of the Catholic philosopher, entirely consistent with loyalty to +the sacerdotal theory. There is a noble idealism that breaks in fine +impatience with tradition, and audaciously seeks new symbols wherein to +suggest for a season the eternal and imageless truth. But perhaps yet +nobler in the sight of God--surely more conformed to His methods in nature +and history--is that other idealism which patiently bows to the yoke of +the actual, and endures the agony of keeping true at once to the heavenly +vision and to the imperfect earthly form. Iconoclastic zeal against +outworn or corrupt institutions fires our facile enthusiasm. Let us +recognize also the spiritual passion that suffers unflinchingly the +disparity between the sign and the thing signified, and devotes its +energies, not to discarding, but to restoring and purifying that sign. +Such passion was Catherine's. The most distinctive trait in the woman's +character was her power to cling to an ideal verity with unfaltering +faithfulness, even when the whole aspect of life and society around her +seemed to give that verity the lie. To imagine her without faith in the +visible Church and the God-given authority of the Vicar of Christ is to +imagine another woman. Catherine of Siena's place in the history of minds +is with Savonarola, not with Luther. + +Catherine confronted a humanity at enmity with itself, a Church conformed +to the image of this world. Her external policy proved helpless to right +these evils. The return of the Popes from Avignon resulted neither in the +pacification of Christendom nor in the reform of the Church. The Great +Schism, of which she saw the beginning, undermined the idea of Christian +unity till the thought of the Saint of Siena was in natural sequence +followed by the thought of Luther. Outwardly her life was spent in +labouring for a hopeless cause, discredited by the subsequent movement of +history. But the material tragedy was a spiritual triumph, not only +through the victory of faith in her own soul, but through the value of the +witness which she bore. Neither of the great conceptions of unity which +possessed the middle ages was identical with the modern democratic +conception; yet both, and in particular that of the Church, pointed in +this direction. That ideal of world-embracing brotherhood to which men +have been slowly awakening throughout the Christian centuries was the +dominant ideal of Catherine's mind. She hoped for the attainment of such a +brotherhood through the instrument of an organized Christendom, reduced to +peace and unity under one God-appointed Head. History, as some of us +think, has rejected the noble dream. We seem to see that the undying hope +of the human spirit--a society shaped by justice and love--is never likely +to be gained along the lines of the centralization of ecclesiastical +power. But if our idea of the means has changed, the same end still shines +before us. The vision of human fellowship in the Name of Christ, for which +Catherine lived and died, remains the one hope for the healing of the +nations. + + + + +CHIEF EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF SAINT CATHERINE + +[Processor's note: this timeline and the one that follows appeared in the +opposite order in the 1905 edition on which this etext is based. Their +order has been reversed to correctly reflect the order in which they +appear in the table of contents.] + + +1347. On March 25th, Catherine, and a twin-sister who dies at once, are +born in the Strada dell' Oca, near the fountain of Fontebranda, Siena. She +is the youngest of the twenty-five children of Jacopo Benincasa, a dyer, +and Lapa, his wife. + +1353-4. As a child, Catherine is peculiarly joyous and charming. When six +years old she beholds the vision of Christ, arrayed in priestly robes, +above the Church of St. Dominic. She is inspired by a longing to imitate +the life of the Fathers of the desert, and begins to practise many +penances. At the age of seven she makes the vow of virginity. She is drawn +to the Order of St. Dominic by the zeal of its founder for the salvation +of souls. + +1359-1363. Her ascetic practices meet with sharp opposition at home. She +is urged to array herself beautifully and to marry, is denied a private +chamber, and forced to perform the menial work of the household, etc. In +time, however, her perseverance wins the consent of her father and family +to her desires. + +1363-1364. She is vested with the black and white habit of Saint Dominic, +becoming one of the Mantellate, or Dominican tertiaries, devout women who +lived under religious rule in their own homes. + +1364-1367. She leads in her own room at home the life of a religious +recluse, speaking only to her Confessor. She is absorbed in mystical +experiences and religious meditation. During this time she learns to read. +The period closes with her espousals to Christ, on the last day of +Carnival, 1367. + +1367-1370. In obedience to the commands of God, and impelled by her love +of men, she returns gradually to family and social life. From this time +dates her special devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. She joyfully devotes +herself to household labours, and to a life of ministration to the sick +and needy. In 1368 her father dies, and the Revolution puts an end to the +prosperity of the Benincasa family, which is now broken up. Catherine +seems to have retained to the end the care of Monna Lapa. In 1370 she dies +mystically and returns to life, having received the command to go abroad +into the world to save souls. + +1370-1374. Her reputation and influence increase. A group of disciples +gathers around her. Her correspondence gradually becomes extensive, and +she becomes known as a peacemaker. At the same time, her ecstasies and +unusual mode of life excite criticism and suspicion. In May, 1374, she +visits Florence, perhaps summoned thither to answer charges made against +her by certain in the Order. She returns to Siena to minister to the +plague-stricken. She meets at this time Fra Raimondo of Capua, her +Confessor and biographer. Her gradual induction into public affairs is +accompanied by growing sorrow over the corruptions of the Church. + +1375. At the invitation of Pietro Gambacorta, Catherine visits Pisa. Her +object is to prevent Pisa and Lucca from joining the League of Tuscan +cities against the Pope. She meets the Ambassador from the Queen of +Cyprus, and zealously undertakes to further the cause of a Crusade. On +April 1st she receives the Stigmata in the Church of Santa Cristina; but +the marks, at her request, remain invisible. She prophesies the Great +Schism. A brief visit to Lucca. + +1376. Catherine receives Stefano Maconi as a disciple, and at his instance +reconciles the feud between the Maconi and the Tolomei. She attempts by +correspondence to reconcile Pope Gregory XI. and the Florentines. On April +1st the Divine Commission to bear the olive to both disputants is given +her in a vision. In May, at the request of the Florentines, she goes to +Florence. Sent as their representative to Avignon, she reaches that city +on June 18th. Gregory entrusts her with the negotiations for peace. The +Florentine ambassadors, however, delay their coming, and when they come +refuse to ratify her powers. Thwarted in this direction, she devotes all +her efforts to persuading the Pope to return to Rome, and triumphing over +all obstacles, succeeds. She leaves for home on September 13th, but is +retained for a month in Genoa, at the house of Madonna Orietta Scotta. +After a short visit at Pisa, she reaches Siena in December or January. + +1377. Catherine converts the castle of Belcaro, conveyed to her by its +owner, into a monastery. She visits the Salimbeni in their feudal castle +at Rocca D'Orcia, for the purpose of healing their family feuds. While +here she learns miraculously to write. She also visits Sant' Antimo and +Montepulciano. + +1378. Gregory, in failing health, perhaps regretting his return, becomes +alienated from Catherine. He sends her, however, to Florence, where she +stays in a house built for her by Niccolņ Soderini, at the foot of the +hill of St. George. She succeeds in causing the Interdict to be respected, +but almost loses her life in a popular tumult, and keenly regrets not +having won the crown of martyrdom. After the death of Gregory, and the +establishment of the longed-for peace by Pope Urban, Catherine returns to +Siena, where she devotes herself to composing her "Dialogue." After the +outbreak of the Schism, Urban, whom she had known at Avignon, summons her +to Rome. She reluctantly obeys, and takes up her abode in that city on +November 28th, accompanied by a large group of disciples, her "Famiglia," +who live together, subsisting on alms. From this time Catherine devotes +her whole powers to the cause of Urban. She is his trusted adviser, and +seeks earnestly to curb his impatient temper on the one hand, and to keep +the sovereigns of Europe faithful to him on the other. She writes on his +behalf to the Kings of France and Hungary, to Queen Giovanna of Naples, to +the magistrates of Italian cities, to the Italian cardinals who have +joined the Schism, and to others. Fra Raimondo, despatched to France, to +her grief and exaltation, evades his mission through timidity, to her +bitter disappointment, but does not return to Rome till after her death. +Catherine's health, always fragile, gives way under her unremitting +labours and her great sorrows. + +1380. Catherine succeeds in quieting the revolt of the Romans against +Urban. She dedicates herself as a sacrificial victim, in expiation of the +sins of the Church and of the Roman people. In vision at St. Peter's, on +Sexagesima Sunday, the burden of the Ship of the Church descends upon her +shoulders. Her physical sufferings increase, and on April 30th she dies, +in the presence of her disciples. + + + + +BRIEF TABLE OF CONTEMPORARY PUBLIC EVENTS + + +1368-1369. Political Revolution in Siena. The compromise government of the +Riformatori is established. The Emperor Charles V. is summoned to the city +by the party worsted in the Revolution, joined by certain nobles. He +arrives in January, '69, but is forced to withdraw by a popular rising. +The nobles are excluded from the chief power and ravaged by feuds among +themselves. + +1372. Gregory XI. declares war against Bernabo Visconti of Milan, and +takes into his pay the English free-lance, Sir John Hawkwood. Peter +d'Estaing, appointed Legate of Bologna, makes truce with Bernabo. The +latter, however, continues secretly to incite Tuscany to rebel against the +Pope, inflaming the indignation of the Tuscans at the arbitrary policy of +the Papal Legates, and in particular of the Nuncio, Gerard du Puy, who is +supporting the claims of those turbulent nobles, the Salimbeni in Siena. +Catherine is in correspondence with both d'Estaing and Du Puy. On April +22nd, Gregory, in full consistory, announces his intention of returning to +Rome. + +1373. Italy is devastated by petty strife: "It seems as if a planet +reigned at this time which produced in the world the following effects: +That the Brothers of St. Austin killed their Provincial at Sant' Antonio +with a knife; and in Siena was much fighting. At Assisi the Brothers Minor +fought, and killed fourteen with a knife. And those of the Rose fought, +and drove six away. Also, those of Certosa had great dissensions, and +their General came and changed them all about. So all Religious everywhere +seemed to have strife and dissension among themselves. And every Religious +of whatever rule was oppressed and insulted by the world. So with brothers +according to the flesh--cousins, wives, relatives, and neighbours. It +seems that there were divisions all over the whole world. In Siena, +loyalty was neither proposed nor observed, gentlemen did not show it among +themselves nor outside, nor did the Nine among themselves or with outside +persons, nor did the Twelve. The people did not agree with their own +leader, nor exactly with any one else. Thus all the world was a place of +shadows."--_Chronicle of Neri di Donato_. + +A Crusade publicly proclaimed by the Pope. + +1374. Plague and famine lay Tuscany waste. William of Noellet, the Papal +Legate, refuses to allow corn to be imported into Tuscany from the Papal +States. Hawkwood, probably at his instigation, ravages the country, and +even threatens the city of Florence. Florence, enraged, rebels against the +Pope, and appoints from the ranks of the Ghibellines a new body of +Magistrates, known as the Eight of War. Meantime, Cione de' Salimbeni is +raiding the country around Siena. The roads through the Maremma are +insecure for peaceable folk, and the peasants are driven to take refuge in +the plague-stricken town. + +1375. Eighty Italian cities join a League, headed by Florence, against the +Pope, with the watchword, "Fling off the foreign yoke." + +1376. Gregory despatches ambassadors to the Eight of War, who scorn his +proposals. Florence incites Bologna to revolt, and the Legate flees. The +Papal Nuncio is flayed alive in the streets of Florence. The city is +placed under an Interdict. Envoys are despatched to Avignon, who set forth +eloquently, but to no avail, the grievances of the city. War is declared +against Florence by the Pope, and Count Robert of Geneva, with an army of +free-lances, is sent into Italy. Count Robert, laying waste the territory +of Bologna, summons Hawkwood to his aid, and perpetrates the hideous +massacre of Cesena. Catherine, sent to Avignon, fails to procure peace. +Gregory, swayed by her representations, returns to Italy, and reaches +Rome, after a difficult journey, on January 17th, 1377. + +1378. Gregory, exhausted and disappointed by the continued discords in +Italy, dies in March. The Archbishop of Bari, known as Urban VI., is +appointed his successor. In July, peace is made with Florence, and the +Interdict upon the city is raised. The harsh measures of Urban in dealing +with the clergy arouse violent antagonism. In June, the Cardinals begin to +circulate rumours challenging the validity of the election, and on +September 20th they formally announce that the election was invalid, +having been forced on them by fear, and appoint as Pope the Cardinal +Robert of Geneva, who takes the name of Clement VII. + +1379-1380. The Great Schism divides Europe. England remains faithful to +Urban: France and Naples, after wavering, declare for Clement. War rages +between the two Popes. The schismatic forces gain possession of the Castle +of Saint Angelo at Rome, but are driven out by the forces of Urban, who in +gratitude marches barefoot in solemn procession from Santa Maria in +Trastevere, to St. Peter's. The city, however, later revolts against +Urban, but is reconciled to him, partly through the efforts of Catherine. +Queen Giovanna of Naples, having conspired against Urban's life, is +excommunicated. + + + + +LETTERS + + + + +TO MONNA ALESSA DEI SARACINI + + +The young widow of noble family to whom this letter was written was the +most cherished among Catherine's women friends. She seems, as often +happens with the chosen companion of a fervent and powerful nature, to +have been a person simple, lovable, and quietly wise. Having after her +husband's death assumed the habit of St. Dominic, she distributed her +possessions to the poor by Catherine's advice, but she evidently retained +her home in Siena. This became a constant refuge for the saint from the +overcrowded Benincasa household, and the scene of more than one charming +episode in her life as told by the legend. For the Mantellate, or +tertiaries of St. Dominic, were not cloistered, nor did they take the +monastic vows; they simply lived in their own homes a life of special +devotion. + +To Alessa, Catherine left on her deathbed the care of her spiritual +family. This intimate little letter dates from an early period in their +friendship. In its homely, practical wisdom, as in the gentle loftiness of +its tone, it shows the watchful and loving care with which Catherine +entered into the details of the daily life of those whom she sought to +lead with her in the way of salvation. The tests she proposes are as +penetrating to-day as they were then. + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest daughter in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, thy poor unworthy +mother, want thee to attain that perfection for which God has chosen thee. +It seems to me that one wishing so to attain should walk with and not +without moderation. And yet every work of ours ought to be done both +without and with moderation: it befits us to love God without moderation, +putting to that love neither limit nor measure nor rule, but loving Him +immeasurably. And if thou wish to reach the perfection of love, it befits +thee to set thy life in order. Let thy first rule be to flee the +conversation of every human being, in so far as it is simply conversation, +except as deeds of charity may demand; but to love people very much, and +talk with few of them. And know how to talk in moderation even with those +whom thou lovest with spiritual love; reflect that if thou didst not do +this, thou wouldst place a limit before perceiving it to that limitless +love which thou oughtest to bear to God, by placing the finite creature +between you: for the love which thou shouldst place in God thou wouldst +place in the creature, loving it without moderation; and this would hinder +thy perfection. Therefore thou shouldst love it spiritually, in a +disciplined way. + +Be a vase, which thou fillest at the source and at the source dost drink +from. Although thou hadst drawn thy love from God, who is the Source of +living water, didst thou not drink it continually in Him thy vase would +remain empty. And this shall be the sign to thee that thou dost not drink +wholly in God: when thou sufferest from that which thou lovest, either by +some talk thou didst hold, or because thou wast deprived of some +consolation thou wast used to receiving, or for some other accidental +cause. If thou sufferest, then, from this or anything else except wrong +against God, it is a clear sign to thee that this love is still imperfect, +and drawn far from the Source. What way is there, then, to make the +imperfect perfect? This way: to correct and chastise the movements of thy +heart with true self-knowledge, and with hatred and distaste for thy +imperfection, that thou art such a peasant as to give to the creature that +love which ought to be given wholly to God, loving the creature without +moderation, and God moderately. For love toward God should be without +measure, and that for the creature should be measured by that for God, and +not by the measure of one's own consolations, either spiritual or +temporal. So do, then, that thou lovest everything in God, and correct +every inordinate affection. + +Make two homes for thyself, my daughter. One actual home in thy cell, that +thou go not running about into many places, unless for necessity, or for +obedience to the prioress, or for charity's sake; and another spiritual +home, which thou art to carry with thee always--the cell of true self- +knowledge, where thou shalt find within thyself knowledge of the goodness +of God. These are two cells in one, and when abiding in the one it behoves +thee to abide in the other, for otherwise the soul would fall into either +confusion or presumption. For didst thou rest in knowledge of thyself, +confusion of mind would fall on thee; and didst thou abide in the +knowledge of God alone, thou wouldst fall into presumption. The two, then, +must be built together and made one same thing; if thou dost this, thou +wilt attain perfection. For from self-knowledge thou wilt gain hatred of +thine own fleshliness, and through hate thou wilt become a judge, and sit +upon the seat of thy conscience, and pass judgment; and thou wilt not let +a fault go without giving sentence on it. + +From such knowledge flows the stream of humility; which never seizes on +mere report, nor takes offence at anything, but bears every insult, every +loss of consolation, and every sorrow, from whatever direction they may +come, patiently, with joy. Shames appear glory, and great persecutions +refreshment; and it rejoices in all, seeing itself punished for that +perverse law of self-will in its members which for ever rebels against +God; and it sees itself conformed with Christ Jesus crucified, the way and +the doctrine of truth. + +In the knowledge of God thou shalt find the fire of divine charity. Where +shalt thou rejoice? Upon the Cross, with the Spotless Lamb, seeking His +honour and the salvation of souls, through continual, humble prayer. Now +herein is all our perfection. There are many other things also, but this +is the chief, from which we receive so much light that we cannot err in +the lesser works that follow. + +Rejoice, my daughter, to conform thee to the shame of Christ. And watch +over the impulse of the tongue, that the tongue may not always respond to +the impulse of the heart; but digest what is in thy heart, with hatred and +distaste for thyself. Do thou be the least of the least, subject in +humility and patience to every creature through God; not making excuses, +but saying: the fault is mine. Thus are vices conquered in thy soul and in +the soul of him to whom thou shouldest so speak: through the virtue of +humility. + +Order thy time: the night to vigil, when thou hast paid the debt of sleep +to thy body; and the morning in church with sweet prayer; do not spend it +in chatting until the appointed hour. Let nothing except necessity, or +obedience, or charity, as I said, draw thee away from this or anything +else. After the hour of eating, recollect thyself a little, and then do +something with thy hands, as thou mayest need. At the hour of vespers, do +thou go and keep quiet; and as much as the Holy Spirit enjoins on thee, +that do. Then go back and take care of thy old mother without negligence, +and provide what she needs; be thine this burden. More when I return. So +do that thou mayest fulfil my desire. I say no more. Remain in the holy +and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +TO BENINCASA HER BROTHER +WHEN HE WAS IN FLORENCE + + +One questions whether Catherine's brother would have relished the +admonitions of his saintly sister, had he known what we learn through her +biographer: that, feeling the temporal prosperity of her family to be a +snare to them, she had earnestly prayed that they might fall into poverty. +The petition was promptly granted: worldly losses, and the departure of +two of the brothers for Florence, followed upon the Sienese Revolution of +1368. Apparently, family misunderstandings accompanied these +readjustments. In the first of the present letters Catherine takes her +elder brother to task for neglect of his mother, Monna Lapa. We do not +know the effect of her remarks, but we do know that in the large family of +twenty-four, no one except Catherine herself--first recluse, and later +busy woman of affairs as she was--seems to have carried the +responsibility for the mother's welfare. The mother lived for the most +part with her great daughter, except when public interests took Catherine +away from home--occasions to which poor Monna Lapa was never reconciled. + +In the second of these notes, Catherine comforts her brother very sweetly, +probably for the loss of his wealth. But if we may judge from the nature +of the reflections addressed to him, the spiritual instruction by which +Benincasa was capable of profiting was extremely elementary in character. + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest brother in Christ Jesus: I Catherine, a useless servant, comfort +and bless thee and invite thee to a sweet and most holy patience, for +without patience we could not please God. So I beg you, in order that you +may receive the fruit of your tribulations, that you assume the armour of +patience. And should it seem very hard to you to endure your many +troubles, bear in memory three things, that you may endure more patiently. +First, I want you to think of the shortness of your time, for on one day +you are not certain of the morrow. We may truly say that we do not feel +past trouble, nor that which is to come, but only the moment of time at +which we are. Surely, then, we ought to endure patiently, since the time +is so short. The second thing is, for you to consider the fruit which +follows our troubles. For St. Paul says there is no comparison between our +troubles and the fruit and reward of supernal glory. The third is, for you +to consider the loss which results to those who endure in wrath and +impatience; for loss follows this here, and eternal punishment to the +soul. + +Therefore I beg you, dearest brother, to endure in all patience. And I +would not have it escape your mind that you should correct you of your +ingratitude, and your ignoring of the duty you owe your mother, to which +you are held by the commandment of God. I have seen your ingratitude +multiply so that you have not even paid her the due of help that you owe: +to be sure, I have an excuse for you in this, because you could not; but +if you had been able, I do not know that you would have done it, since you +have left her in scarcity even of words. Oh, ingratitude! Have you not +considered the sorrow of her labour, nor the milk that she drew from her +breast, nor the many troubles that she has had, over you and all the +others? And should you say to me that she has had no compassion on us, I +say that it is not so; for she has had so much on you and the other that +it costs her dear. But suppose it were true--you are under obligation to +her, not she to you. She did not take her flesh from you, but gave you +hers. I beg you to correct this fault and others, and to pardon my +ignorance. For did I not love your soul, I would not say to you what I do. +Remember your confession, you and all your family. I say no more to you. +Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest and most beloved brother in Christ Jesus: I Catherine, servant and +slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, comfort you in the Precious Blood +of the Son of God: with desire to see you wholly in accord with the Will +of God, and transformed thereby; knowing that this is a sweet and holy +yoke which makes all bitterness turn into sweetness. Every great burden +becomes light beneath this most holy yoke of the sweet will of God, +without which thou couldst not please God, but wouldst know a foretaste of +Hell. Comfort you, comfort you, dearest brother, and do not faint beneath +this chastisement of God; but trust that when human help fails, divine +help is near. God will provide for you. Reflect that Job lost his +possessions and his sons and his health: his wife remained to him for a +perpetual scourge; and then, when God had tested his patience, He restored +everything to him double, and at the end eternal life. Patient Job never +was perturbed, but would say, always exercising the virtue of holy +patience, "God gave them to me, God has taken them from me; the Name of +God be blessed." So I want you to do, dearest brother: be a lover of +virtue, with holy patience, often using confession, which will as often +help you to endure your afflictions. And I tell you, God will show His +benignity and mercy, and will reward you for every affliction which you +shall have borne for His love. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. +Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +TO THE VENERABLE RELIGIOUS, BROTHER ANTONIO OF NIZZA, +OF THE ORDER OF THE HERMIT BROTHERS OF SAINT AUGUSTINE +AT THE WOOD OF THE LAKE + + +It is in her letters to persons leading the dedicated life that one can +most clearly study Catherine's own inner experience. When warning and +consoling them, she is speaking to herself. This obscure girl had a way of +writing to the great of this earth--and indeed to the very Fathers of +Christendom--with the straightforward simplicity of a teacher instructing +childish minds in the evident rudiments of virtue. Often the sanctified +common sense of her letters to dignitaries is the most noticeable thing +about them. But when she turns to a holy hermit, the tone changes. The +commonplaces of the moral life are assumed or left behind; she speaks to a +soul that has presumably already brought its will into accord with the +divine will in regard to all outward happenings, and she takes calmly for +granted that this is a light and little thing. We proceed to the analysis +of temptations more subtle and more alluring. Catherine has few superiors +among religious thinkers in the power to trace self-will to its remotest +lairs, in the deeper reaches of personality. In letters to such +correspondents as Frate Antonio she often gives us, as here, precious +records of her intercourse with her Lord. + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +To you, most beloved and dearest father and brother in Christ Jesus: I +Catherine, servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write and +commend me in the Precious Blood of the Son of God, with desire to see you +kindled and inflamed in the furnace of divine charity and your own self- +will--the will that robs us of all life--consumed therein. Let us open our +eyes, dearest brother, for we have two wills--one of the senses, which +seeks the things of sense, and the other the self-will of the spirit, +which, under aspect and colour of virtue, holds firm to its own way. And +this is clear when it wants to choose places and seasons and consolations +to suit itself, and says: "Thus I wish in order to possess God more +fully." This is a great cheat, and an illusion of the devil; for not being +able to deceive the servants of God through their first will--since the +servants of God have already mortified it so far as the things of sense +go--the devil catches their second will on the sly with things of the +spirit. So many a time the soul receives consolation, and then later feels +itself deprived thereof by God; and another experience will harrow it, +which will give less consolation and more fruit. Then the soul, which is +inspired by what gives sweetness, suffers when deprived of it, and feels +annoyance. And why annoyance? Because it does not want to be deprived; for +it says, "I seem to love God more in this way than in that. From the one I +feel that I bear some fruit, and from the other I perceive no fruit at +all, except pain and ofttimes many conflicts; and so I seem to wrong God." +Son and brother in Christ Jesus, I say that this soul is deceived by its +self-will. For it would not be deprived of sweetness; with this bait the +devil catches it. Frequently men lose time in longing for time to suit +themselves, for they do not employ what they have otherwise than in +suffering and gloominess. + +Once our sweet Saviour said to a very dear daughter of His, "Dost thou +know how those people act who want to fulfil My will in consolation and in +sweetness and joy? When they are deprived of these things, they wish to +depart from My will, thinking to do well and to avoid offence; but false +sensuality lurks in them, and to escape pains it falls into offence +without perceiving it. But if the soul were wise and had the light of My +will within, it would look to the fruit and not to the sweetness. What is +the fruit of the soul? Hatred of itself and love of Me. This hate and love +are the issue of self-knowledge; then the soul knows its faulty self to be +nothing, and it sees in itself My goodness, which keeps its will good; and +it sees what a person I have made it, in order that it may serve Me in +greater perfection, and judges that I have made it for the best, and for +its own greatest good. Such a man as this, dearest daughter, does not wish +for time to suit himself, because he has learned humility; knowing his +infirmity, he does not trust in his own wish, but is faithful to Me. He +clothes him in My highest and eternal will, because he sees that I neither +give nor take away, save for your sanctification; and he sees that love +alone impels Me to give you sweetness and to take it from you. For this +cause he cannot grieve over any consolation that might be taken from him +within or without, by demon or fellow-creature--because he sees that, were +this not for his good, I should not permit it. Therefore this man rejoices +because he has light within and without, and is so illumined that when the +devil approaches his mind with shadows to confuse him, saying, 'This is +for thy sins,' he replies like a person who shrinks not from suffering, +saying, 'Thanks be to my Creator, who has remembered me in the time of +shadows, punishing me by pain in finite time. Great is this love, which +will not punish me in the infinite future.' Oh, what tranquillity of mind +has this soul, because it has freed itself from the self-will which brings +storm! But not thus does he whose self-will is lively within, seeking +things after his own way! For he seems to think that he knows what he +needs better than I. Many a time he says, 'It seems to me that I am +wronging God in this: free me from wrong, and let what He wills be done.' +This is a sign that you are freed from wrong, when you see in yourself +goodwill not to want to wrong God, and displeasure with sin; thence ought +you to take hope. Although all external activities and inward consolations +should fail, let goodwill to please God ever remain firm. Upon this rock +is founded grace. If thou sayest, I do not seem to have it, I say that +this is false, for if thou hadst it not, thou wouldst not fear to wrong +God. But it is the devil who makes things look so, in order that the soul +may fall into confusion and disordered sadness, and hold firm its self- +will, by wanting consolations, times and seasons in its own way. Do not +believe him, dearest daughter, but let your soul be always ready to endure +sufferings in howsoever God may inflict them. Otherwise you would do like +a man who stands on the threshold with a light in his hand, who reaches +his hand out and casts light outside, and within it is dark. Such is a man +who is already united in outward things with the will of God, despising +the world; but within, his spiritual self-will is living still, veiled in +the colour of virtue." Thus spoke God to that servant of His spoken of +above. + +Therefore I said that I wished and desired that your will should be +absorbed and transformed in Him, while we hold ourselves always ready to +bear pains and toils howsoever God chooses to send them to us. So we shall +be freed from darkness and abide in light. Amen. Praised be Jesus Christ +crucified and sweet Mary. + + + + +TO MONNA AGNESE +WHO WAS THE WIFE OF MESSER ORSO MALAVOLTI + + +Catherine is well aware that the world can be as true a school of holiness +as the forest cell. She writes to the noble lady, Monna Agnese Malavolti, +in much the same strain as to Frate Antonio. The danger of spiritual self- +will forms indeed one of those recurring themes which pervade her letters +like the motifs of Wagnerian music--ever the same, yet woven into ever- +new harmonies. + +But the general subject of this letter is the "Santissima Pazienza," which +is still frequently invoked by the common folk of Siena: and Catherine's +analysis searches deep. Patience could hardly have been one of the virtues +most native to the woman's valiant spirit, and one feels in her keen and +solemn meditations that she had herself known the bitter and corroding +power of the sin "that burns and does not consume," and that "makes the +soul unendurable to itself." It is with convincing fervour and fulness +that she presents impatience as the permanent condition of the lost. The +little discussion of impatience in human relations, and of the "proud +humility" resorted to by a soul ravaged by a sense of neglect, has also a +very personal note. But it is still more clear in the letter that +Catherine's had become the disciplined nature which can "endure a restless +mind with more reverence than a tranquil one," if such be the will of God, +and which has entered deeply into the joy that awaits the meek. + +Monna Agnese must have stood in special need of these touching +exhortations: she was a woman sorrowfully tried. Her son had been beheaded +in 1372, in punishment for heinous sin; and now her only daughter had +died. "For the which thing," writes Catherine, with one of her own +inimitable phrases, "I am deeply content, with a holy compassion." + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest daughter in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and slave of +the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His Precious Blood, with the +desire to see you established in true patience, since I consider that +without patience we cannot please God. For just as impatience gives much +pleasure to the devil and to one's own lower nature, and revels in nothing +but anger when it misses what the lower nature wants, so it is very +displeasing to God. It is because anger and impatience are the very pith +and sap of pride that they please the devil so much. Impatience loses the +fruit of its labour, deprives the soul of God; it begins by knowing a +foretaste of hell, and later it brings men to eternal damnation: for in +hell the evil perverted will burns with anger, hate and impatience. It +burns and does not consume, but is evermore renewed--that is, it never +grows less, and therefore I say, it does not consume. It has indeed +parched and consumed grace in the souls of the lost, but as I said it has +not consumed their being, and so their punishment lasts eternally. The +saints say that the damned ask for death and cannot have it, because the +soul never dies. It dies to be sure to grace, by mortal sin; but it does +not die to existence. There is no sin nor wrong that gives a man such a +foretaste of hell in this life as anger and impatience. It is hated by +God, it holds its neighbour in aversion, and has neither knowledge nor +desire to bear and forbear with its faults. And whatever is said or done +to it, it at once empoisons, and its impulses blow about like a leaf in +the wind. It becomes unendurable to itself, for perverted will is always +gnawing at it, and it craves what it cannot have; it is discordant with +the will of God and with the rational part of its own soul. And all this +comes from the tree of Pride, from which oozes out the sap of anger and +impatience. The man becomes an incarnate demon, and it is much worse to +fight with these visible demons than with the invisible. Surely, then, +every reasonable being ought to flee this sin. + +But note, that there are two sources of impatience. There is a common kind +of impatience, felt by ordinary men in the world, which befalls them on +account of the inordinate love they have for themselves and for temporal +things, which they love apart from God; so that to have them they do not +mind losing their soul, and putting it into the hands of the devils. This +is beyond help, unless a man recognizes himself, how he has wronged God, +and cuts down that tree of Pride with the sword of true humility, which +produces charity in the soul. For there is a tree of Love, whose pith is +patience and goodwill toward one's neighbour. For, just as impatience +shows more clearly than any other sin that the soul is deprived of God-- +because it is at once evident that since the pith is there, the tree of +Pride must be there--so patience shows better and more perfectly than any +other virtue, that God is in the soul by grace. Patience, I say, deep +within the tree of Love, that for love of its Creator disdains the world, +and loves insults whencesoever they come. + +I was saying that anger and impatience were of two kinds, one general and +one special. We have spoken of the common kind. Now I talk of the more +particular, of the impatience of those who have already despised the +world, and who wish to be servants of Christ crucified in their own way; +that is, in so far as they shall find joy and consolation in Him. This is +because spiritual self-will is not dead in them: therefore they +imperiously demand from God that He should give them consolations and +tribulations in their own way, and not in His; and so they become +impatient, when they get the contrary of what their spiritual self-will +wants. This is a little offshoot from Pride, sprouting from real Pride, as +a tree sends out a little tree by its side, which looks separated from it, +but nevertheless it gets the substance from which it springs from the same +tree. So is self-will in the soul which chooses to serve God in its own +way; and when that way fails it suffers, and its suffering makes it +impatient, and it is unendurable to itself, and takes no pleasure in +serving God or its neighbour. Nay, if any one came to it for comfort or +help it would give him nothing but reproaches, and would not know how to +be tolerant to his need. All this results from the sensitive spiritual +self-will that grows from the tree of Pride which was cut down, but not +uprooted. It is cut down when the soul uplifts its desire above the world, +and fastens it on God, but has fastened there imperfectly; the root of +Pride was left, and therefore it sent up an offshoot by its side, and +shows itself in spiritual things. So, if it misses consolations from God, +and its mind stays dry and sterile, it at once becomes disturbed and +depressed, and, under colour of virtue--because it thinks itself deprived +of God--it begins to complain, and lays down the law to God. But were it +truly humble and had true hate and knowledge of itself, it would deem +itself unworthy of the visitation of God to its soul, and worthy of the +pain that it suffers, in being deprived, not of God's grace in the soul, +but of its consolations. It suffers, then, because it has to work in its +chains; yes, spiritual self-will suffers under the delusion that it is +wronging God, while the trouble is really with its own lower nature. + +Therefore the humble soul, which has freely uprooted with eager love the +root of Pride, has annulled its own will, seeking ever the honour of God +and the salvation of souls. It does not mind sufferings, but endures a +restless mind with more reverence than a quiet one; having a holy +respectful knowledge that God gives and grants this to it for its good, +that it may rise from imperfection to perfection. That is the way to make +it attain perfection, for it recognizes better thereby its own defects and +the grace of God, which it finds within, in the goodwill that God has +given it to hate its mortal sin. Also, by meditating on its defects and +faults, old and new, it has conceived hatred for itself, and love for the +Highest Eternal Will of God. Therefore it bears these things with +reverence, and is content to endure inwardly and outwardly, in whatever +way God grants it. Provided that it can be filled and clothed with the +sweetness of the will of God, it rejoices in everything; and the more it +sees itself deprived of the thing it loves, whether the consolations of +God, as I said, or of its fellows, the more gladsome it grows. For many a +time it happens that the soul loves spiritually; but if it does not find +the consolation or satisfaction from the beloved that it would like, or if +it suspects that more love or satisfaction is given to another than to +itself, it falls into suffering, into depression of mind, into criticism +of its neighbour and false judgment, passing judgment on the mind and +intention of the servants of God, and especially on those from whom it +suffers. Thence it becomes impatient, and thinks what it should not think, +and says with its tongue what it should not say. In such suffering as +this, it likes to resort to a proud humility, which has the aspect of +humility, but is really an offshoot of Pride, springing up beside it-- +saying to itself: "I will not pay these people any more attention, or +trouble myself any more about them. I will keep entirely to myself; I do +not wish to hurt either myself or them." And it abases itself with a +perverted scorn. Now it ought to perceive that this is scorn, by the +impulse to judge that it feels in its heart, and by the complaints of its +tongue. It ought not then to do so; for in this fashion it will never get +rid of the root of Pride, nor cut off the little son at the side, which +hinders the soul from attaining the perfection at which it has aimed. But +it ought to kneel at the table of the Most Holy Cross, to receive the food +of the honour of God and the salvation of souls, with a free heart, with +holy hatred of itself, with passionate desire: seeking to gain virtue by +suffering and sweat, and not by private consolations either from God or +its fellows; following the footsteps and the teaching of Christ Crucified, +saying to itself with sharp rebuke: "Thou shouldst not, my soul, thou that +art a member, travel by another road than thy Head. An unfit thing it is +that limbs should remain delicate beneath a thorn-crowned Head." If such +habits became fixed, through one's own frailty, or the wiles of the devil, +or the many impulses that shake the heart like winds, then the soul ought +to ascend the seat of its conscience, and reason with itself, and let +nothing pass without punishment and chastisement, hatred and distaste for +itself. So the root shall be pulled up, and by displeasure against itself +the soul will drive out displeasure against its neighbour, grieving more +over the unregulated instincts of its own heart and thoughts than over the +suffering it could receive from its fellows, or any insult or annoyance +they could inflict on it. + +This is the sweet and holy fashion observed by those who are wholly +inspired of Christ; for in this wise they have uprooted perverted pride, +and that marrow of impatience of which we said above that it was very +pleasing to the devil, because it is the beginning and occasion of every +sin; and on the contrary that as it is very pleasing to the devil, so it +is very displeasing to God. Pride displeases Him and humility pleases Him. +So greatly did the virtue of humility please Him in Mary that He was +constrained to give her the Word His Only-Begotten Son and she was the +sweet mother who gave Him to us. Know well, that until Mary showed by her +spoken words her humility and pure will, when she said: "Ecce Ancilla +Domini, be it done unto me according to Thy word"--the Son of God was not +incarnate in her; but when she had said this, she conceived within herself +that sweet and Spotless Lamb--the Sweet Primal Truth showing thereby how +excellent is this little virtue, and how much the soul receives that +offers and presents its will in humility to its Creator. So then--in the +time of labours and persecutions, of insults and injuries inflicted by +one's neighbour, of mental conflicts and deprivation of spiritual +consolations, by the Creator or the creature, (by the Creator in His +gentleness, when He withdraws the feeling of the mind, so that it does not +seem as if God were in the soul, so many are its pains and conflicts--and +by fellow-creatures, in conversation or amusement, or when the soul thinks +that it loves more than it is loved)--in all these things, I say that the +soul perfected by humility says: "My Lord, behold Thy handmaid: be it done +unto me according to Thy word, and not according to what I want with my +senses." So it sheds the fragrance of patience, around the Creator and its +fellow-creature and itself. It has peace and quiet in its mind, and it has +found peace in warfare, because it has driven far from it its self-will +founded in pride, and has conceived divine grace in its soul. And it bears +in its mind's breast Christ crucified, and rejoices in the Wounds of +Christ crucified, and seeks to know naught but Christ crucified; and its +bed is the Cross of Christ crucified. There it annuls its own will, and +becomes humble and obedient. + +For there is no obedience without humility, nor humility without charity. +This is shown by the Word, for in obedience to His Father and in humility, +He ran to the shameful death of the Cross, nailing and binding Him with +the nails and bands of charity, and enduring in such patience that no cry +of complaint was heard from Him. For nails were not enough to hold God- +and-Man nailed and fastened on the Cross had Love not held Him there. This +I say that the soul feels; therefore it will not joy otherwise than with +Christ crucified. For could it attain to virtue and escape Hell and have +eternal life, without sufferings, and have in the world consolations +spiritual and temporal, it would not wish them; but it desires rather to +suffer, enduring even unto death, than to have eternal life in any other +way: only let it conform itself with Christ crucified, and clothe it with +His shames and pains. It has found the table of the Spotless Lamb. + +Oh, glorious virtue! Who would not give himself to death a thousand times, +and endure any suffering through desire to win thee? Thou art a queen, who +dost possess the entire world; thou dost inhabit the enduring life; for +while the soul that is arrayed in thee is yet mortal, thou makest it abide +by force of love with those who are immortal. Since, then, this virtue is +so excellent and pleasing to God and useful to us and saving to our +neighbour, arise, dearest daughter, from the sleep of negligence and +ignorance, casting to earth the weakness and frailty of thy heart, that it +feel no suffering nor impatience over anything that God permits to us, so +that we may not fall either into the common kind of impatience, or into +the special kind, as we were saying before, but serve our sweet Saviour +manfully, with liberty of heart and true perfect patience. If we do +otherwise, we shall lose grace by the first sort of impatience, and by the +second we shall hinder our state of perfection; and you would not attain +that to which God has called you. + +It seems that God is calling you to great perfection. And I perceive it by +this, that He takes away from you every tie that might hinder it in you. +For as I have heard, it seems that He has called to Himself your daughter, +who was your last tie with the outer world. For which thing I am deeply +content, with a holy compassion, that God should have set you free, and +taken her from her labours. Now then, I want that you should wholly +destroy your own will, that it may cling to nothing but Christ crucified. +In this way you will fulfil His will and my desire. Therefore, not knowing +any other way in which you could fulfil it, I said to you that I desired +to see you established in true and holy patience, because without this we +cannot reach our sweet goal. I say no more. Remain in the holy and sweet +grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +TO SISTER EUGENIA, HER NIECE +AT THE CONVENT OF SAINT AGNES OF MONTEPULCIANO + + +Two nieces, daughters of Bartolo Benincasa, were nuns in the Convent of +Montepulciano. To one of them the following letter is addressed. One can +read between the lines a lively solicitude. Never cloistered herself, +Catherine had a close intimacy with cloisters, and knew their best and +worst. She held in hearty and loyal respect the opportunities which they +offered for leading an exalted life; to this Convent of St. Agnes she was +peculiarly attached. At the same time, she was well aware, as other +letters beside the present show, that even the best of cloisters afforded +at this time scant shelter to young girls from emotional temptation, gross +or fine. Her warnings to her niece have the authoritative tone of anxiety. +Let us hope that Eugenia took them to heart; and that, leading the +disciplined life of Catherine's desire, she became not unworthy to receive +and apprehend in its full beauty the penetrating meditation on Prayer +which forms the second part of the letter. The thoughts of this +meditation, like many others in Catherine's letters, will be found +amplified in her Dialogue--a colloquy between God and her soul, composed +and dictated in trance during the year 1378. The following quotation +illustrates an interesting passage of the letter:-- + +"In this way, vocal prayer can be useful to the soul and do Me pleasure, +and from imperfect vocal prayer it can advance by persevering practice to +perfect mental prayer. But if it aims simply to complete its number (of +paternosters), or if it gave up mental prayer for the sake of vocal, it +would never arrive at perfection. Sometimes, when a soul has made a +resolution to say a certain number of prayers, I may visit its mind, now +in one way, now in another: at one time with the light of self-knowledge +and contrition over its lightness, at another, with the largesse of My +charity; at another, by putting before its mind, in diverse manner as may +please Me, and as that soul may have craved, the Presence of My Truth. And +the soul will be so ignorant that it will turn from My Visitation, in +order to complete its number, from a conscientious scruple against giving +up what it began. It ought not to do thus, for this would be a wile of the +devil. But at once, when it feels its mind ready for My Visitation, in any +way, as I said, it should abandon the vocal prayer. Then, when the mental +has passed, if there is time it can resume the other, which it had planned +to say. But if there is not time it must not care nor be troubled or +bewildered." + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest daughter in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and slave of +the servants of Jesus Christ, write to thee in His precious Blood, with +desire to see thee taste the food of angels, since thou art made for no +other end; and that thou mightest taste it, God bought thee with the Blood +of His Only-Begotten Son. But reflect, dearest daughter, that this food is +not taken upon earth, but on high, and therefore the Son of God chose to +be lifted up upon the wood of the Most Holy Cross, in order that we might +receive this food upon this table on high. But thou wilt say to me: What +is this food of angels? I reply to thee: it is the desire of God, which +draws to itself the desire that is in the depths of the soul, and they +make one thing together. + +This is a food which while we are pilgrims in this life, draws to itself +the fragrance of true and sincere virtues, which are prepared by the fire +of divine charity, and received upon the table of the cross. That is, +virtue is won by pain and weariness, casting down one's own fleshly +nature;--the kingdom of one's soul which is called Heaven (_cielo_) +because it hides (_cela_) God within it by patience, is seized with force +and violence. This is the food that makes the soul angelic, and therefore +it is called the food of angels; and also because the soul, separated from +the body, tastes God in His essential Being. He satisfies the soul in such +wise that she longs for no other thing nor can desire aught but what may +help her more perfectly to keep and increase this food, so that she holds +in hate what is contrary to it. Therefore, like a prudent person, she +looks with the light of most holy faith, which is in the eye of the mind, +and beholds what is harmful and what is useful to her. And as she has +seen, so she loves and condemns--holding, I say, her own fleshly nature +and all the vices which proceed from it, bound beneath the feet of her +affections. She flees all causes that may incline her to vice or hinder +her perfection. So she annuls her self-will, which is the cause of all +evil, and subjects it to the yoke of holy obedience, not only to the Order +and its chief, but to every least creature through God. She flees all +glory and human indulgence, and glories only in the shames and sorrows of +Christ crucified: insults, outrage, ridicule, injuries, are milk to her; +she joys in them, to be conformed with the Bridegroom, Christ crucified. +She renounces conversation with fellow-beings, because she sees that they +often intervene between us and our Creator, and she flees to the actual +and to the mental cell. + +To this I summon thee and the others: and I command thee, dearest daughter +mine, that thou abide for ever in the cell of self-knowledge, where we +find the angelic food of the eager desire of God toward us; and in the +actual cell, with vigil and humble faithful continual prayer, divesting +thy heart and mind of every creature, and clothing them with Christ +crucified. Otherwise thou wouldst eat upon the earth, and there I have +already said to thee, one should not eat. Reflect that thy Bridegroom, +Christ sweet Jesus, wishes naught between thee and Him, and is very +jealous. So as soon as He saw that thou didst love any thing apart from +Him, He would go from thee, and thou wouldst be made worthy to eat the +food of beasts. And wouldst thou not truly be a beast, and food for +beasts, didst thou leave the Creator for the creature, and infinite good +for finite and transitory things that pass like the winds, light for +darkness, life for death, Him who clothes thee in the sun of justice with +the clasp of obedience, and pearls of living faith, firm hope, and perfect +charity, for him who robs thee of them? And wouldst thou not be foolish +indeed to depart from Him who gives thee perfect purity--so that the +closer thou dost cling to Him, the more the flower of thy virginity is +refined--for those who many a time and oft shed a stench of impurity, +defiling mind and body? God avert them from thee by His infinite mercy! + +And in order that no such thing may ever happen to thee, be on thy guard: +let not thy misfortune be such as to enter into any private conversation, +with monk or layman. For if I were to know or hear it, even if I were much +farther away than I am, I would give thee such a discipline that it would +stay in thy memory all thy whole life; never mind who may be by. Beware +neither to give nor receive, except in case of need, helping every one in +common within and without. Be steadfast and mature in thyself. Serve the +sisters tenderly, with all vigilance, especially those whom thou seest in +need. When guests pass by and ask for thee at the gratings, abide in thy +peace and do not go--but let them say to the prioress what they wanted to +say to thee, unless she commands thee to go on thy obedience. Then, hold +thy head bowed, and be as savage as a hedgehog. Keep in thy mind the +manners which that glorious virgin Saint Agnes made her daughters observe. +Go to confession and tell thy need; and when thou hast received thy +penance, run. Beware, moreover, that thy confessors be not from the men +who have brought thee up. And do not wonder because I talk so; for many a +time thou mayest have heard me say, and it is the truth, that the talk of +so-called pious men and women, full of depraved expressions, ruins the +souls and the habits and practices of Religious. Beware that thou bind thy +heart to none but Christ crucified; for the hour would come when thou +wouldst wish to set it free and couldst not, which would be very hard for +thee. I say that the soul which has tasted of the food of angels has seen +in the light that this and the other things we were speaking of are an +obstacle between itself and its food, and therefore flees them with the +greatest zeal. I say that it loves and seeks what may increase and +preserve it. And because it has seen that this food is better enjoyed by +means of prayer offered in self-knowledge, therefore it exercises itself +therein continually by all the ways in which it can hold closer to God. + +Prayer is of three sorts. The one is perpetual: it is the holy perpetual +desire, which prays in the sight of God, whatever thou art doing; for this +desire directs all thy works, spiritual and corporal, to His honour, and +therefore it is called perpetual. Of this it seems that Saint Paul the +glorious was talking when he said: Pray without ceasing. The other kind is +vocal prayer, when the offices or other prayers are said aloud. This is +ordained to reach the third--that is, mental prayer: your soul reaches +this when it uses vocal prayer in prudence and humility, so that while the +tongue speaks the heart is not far from God. But one must exert one's self +to hold and establish one's heart in the force of divine charity. And +whenever one felt one's mind to be visited by God, so that it was drawn to +think of its Creator in any wise, it ought to abandon vocal prayer, and to +fix its mind with the force of love upon that wherein it sees God visit +it; then, if it has time, when this has ceased, it ought to take up the +vocal prayer again, in order that the mind may always stay full and not +empty. And although many conflicts of diverse kinds should abound in +prayer, and darkness of mind with much confusion, the devil making the +soul feel that her prayer was not pleasing to God--nevertheless, she ought +not to give up on account of those conflicts and shadows, but to abide +firm in fortitude and long perseverance, considering that the devil so +does to draw her away from prayer the mother, and God permits it to test +the fortitude and constancy of that soul. Also, in order that by those +conflicts and shadows she may know herself not to be, and in the goodwill +which she feels preserved within her may know the goodness of God, Who is +Giver and Preserver of good and holy wills: such wills as are not +vouchsafed to all who want them. + +By this means she attains to the third and last--mental prayer, in which +she receives the reward for the labours she underwent in her imperfect +vocal prayer. Then she tastes the milk of faithful prayer. She rises above +herself--that is, above the gross impulses of the senses--and with angelic +mind unites herself with God by force of love, and sees and knows with the +light of thought, and clothes herself with truth. She is made the sister +of angels; she abides with her Bridegroom on the table of crucified +desire, rejoicing to seek the honour of God and the salvation of souls; +since well she sees that for this the Eternal Bridegroom ran to the +shameful death of the Cross, and thus fulfilled obedience to the Father, +and our salvation. This prayer is surely a mother, who conceives virtues +by the love of God, and brings them forth in the love of the neighbour. +Where dost thou show love, faith, and hope, and humility? In prayer. For +thou wouldst never take pains to seek the thing which thou didst not love; +but he who loves would ever be one with what he loves--that is, God. By +means of prayer thou askest of Him thy necessity; for knowing thyself--the +knowledge on which true prayer is founded--thou seest thyself to have +great need. Thou feelest thyself surrounded by thine enemies--by the world +with its insults and its recalling of vain pleasures, by the devil with +his many temptations, by the flesh with its great rebellion and struggle +against the spirit. And thou seest that in thyself thou art not; not +being, thou canst not help thyself; and therefore thou dost hasten in +faith to Him who is, who can and will help thee in thine every need, and +thou dost hopefully ask and await His aid. Thus ought prayer to be made, +if thou wishest to have that which thou awaitest. Never shall any just +thing be denied thee which thou askest in this wise from the Divine +Goodness; but if thou dost in other wise, little fruit shalt thou receive. +Where shalt thou feel grief in thy conscience? In prayer. Where shalt thou +divest thee of the self-love which makes thee impatient in the time of +insults and of other pains, and shalt clothe thee in the divine love which +shall make thee patient, and shalt glory in the Cross of Christ crucified? +In prayer. Where shalt thou breathe the perfume of virginity and the +hunger for martyrdom, holding thee ready to give thy life for the honour +of God and the salvation of souls? In this sweet mother, prayer. This will +make thee an observer of thy Rule: it will seal in thy heart and mind +three solemn vows which thou didst make at thy profession, leaving there +the imprint of the desire to observe them until death. This releases thee +from conversation with fellow-creatures, and gives thee converse with thy +Creator; it fills the vessel of thy heart with the Blood of the Humble +Lamb, and crowns it with flame, because with flame of love that Blood was +shed. + +The soul receives and tastes this mother Prayer more or less perfectly, +according as it nourishes itself with the food of angels--that is, with +holy and true desire for God, raising itself on high, as I said, to +receive it upon the table of the most sweet Cross. Therefore I said to +thee that I desired to see thee nourished with angelic food, because I see +not that in otherwise thou couldst be a true bride of Christ crucified, +consecrated to Him in holy religion. So do that I may see thee a jewel +precious in the sight of God. And do not go about wasting thy time. Bathe +and drown thee in the sweet Blood of thy Bridegroom. I say no more. Remain +in the holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +TO NANNA, DAUGHTER OF BENINCASA +A LITTLE MAID, HER NIECE, IN FLORENCE + + +This tender and playful little letter, with its childlike simplicity of +fancy and gentle authority of tone, encourages us to believe that +Catherine appreciated the full advantages of being an aunt. We have other +indications that the many spiritual ties which held her as she grew older +never weakened the bond of any natural affection. Indeed, Catherine re- +created each natural bond, when possible, as a spiritual bond, an +achievement none too common. Doubtless, many children grew up around her +in the large Benincasa household. We know that at the time of the plague, +in 1374, Lapa was bringing up eleven grandchildren in her own house. Of +these, eight fell victims to the pestilence, and we have a glimpse of +Catherine burying them with her own hands, and saying as she laid them to +rest one by one, "This one, at least, I shall not lose." Of the little +Nanna to whom this letter was written we know nothing, except that she was +the child of the elder brother, who, as we have already seen, had moved to +Florence. + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest daughter in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and slave of +the servants of Jesus Christ, write to thee in His precious Blood, with +desire to see thee a real bride of Christ crucified, running away from +everything which might hinder thee from possessing this sweet and glorious +Bridegroom. But thou couldst not do this if thou wert not among those wise +virgins consecrated to Christ who had lamps with oil in them, and light +was within. See, then, if thou wishest to be a bride of Christ, thou must +have lamp, and oil, and light. Dost thou know what this means, daughter +mine? By the lamp is meant our heart, because a heart ought to be made +like a lamp. Thou seest that a lamp is wide above and narrow below, and so +the heart is made, to signify that we ought always to keep it wide above, +through holy thoughts and holy imaginations and continual prayer; always +holding in memory the blessings of God, and chiefly the blessing of the +Blood by which we are bought. For Blessed Christ, my daughter, did not buy +us with gold or silver or pearls or other precious stones; nay, He bought +us with His precious Blood. So one wants never to forget so great a +blessing, but always to hold it before one's eyes, in holy and sweet +gratitude, seeing how immeasurably God loves us: who did not shrink from +giving His only begotten Son to the opprobrious death of the Cross, to +give us the life of grace. + +I said that a lamp is narrow below, and so is our heart: to signify that +the heart ought to be narrow toward these earthly things--that is, it must +not desire nor love them extravagantly, nor hunger for more than God wills +to give us; but ever thank Him, seeing how sweetly He provides for us so +that we never lack anything. + +Now in this way, our heart will really be a lamp. But reflect, daughter +mine, that this would not be enough were there no oil within. By oil is +meant that sweet little virtue, profound humility: for it is fitting that +the bride of Christ be humble and gentle and patient; and she will be as +humble as she is patient, and as patient as she is humble. But we cannot +attain this virtue of humility except by true knowledge of ourselves, +knowing our misery and frailty, and that we by ourselves can do no good +deed, nor escape any conflict or pain; for if we have a bodily infirmity, +or a pain or conflict in our minds, we cannot escape it or remove it--for +if we could we should escape from it swiftly. So it is quite true that we +in ourselves are nothing other than infamy, misery, stench, frailty, and +sins; wherefore, we ought always to abide low and humble. But to abide +wholly in such knowledge of one's self would not be good, because the soul +would fall into weariness and confusion; and from confusion it would fall +into despair: so the devil would like nothing better than to make us fall +into confusion, to drive us afterward to despair. We ought, then, to abide +in the knowledge of the goodness of God in Himself, perceiving that He has +created us in His image and likeness, and re-created us in grace by the +Blood of His only-begotten Son, the sweet incarnate Lord; and reflecting +how continually the goodness of God works in us. But see, that to abide +entirely in this knowledge of God would not be good, because the soul +would fall into presumption and pride. So it befits us to have one mixed +with the other--that is, to abide in the holy knowledge of the goodness of +God, and also in the knowledge of ourselves: and so we shall be humble, +patient, and gentle, and in this way we shall have oil in our lamp. + +Now, then, we must have light--otherwise it would not be enough. This +light has to be the light of most holy faith. But the saints say that +faith without works is dead, so our faith might be neither living nor +holy, but dead. Therefore we need to exert ourselves virtuously all the +time, and leave our childishness and vanities, and not behave any longer +like worldly girls, but like faithful brides consecrated to Christ +crucified; in this way we shall have a lamp, and oil, and light. + +The Gospel says that these wise virgins were five. So I tell thee that +there must be five in each of us--otherwise we shall not enter the wedding +feast of eternal life. + +By these five it is meant that we must subject and mortify our five bodily +senses, in such wise that we may never offend with them, taking through +them or some of them unregulated pleasure or delight. In this way we shall +be five, when we have subdued our five senses. + +But think that that sweet Bridegroom Christ is more jealous of His brides +than I could tell thee! Therefore if He should see that thou didst love +anyone more than Him, He would be angry with thee at once. And if thou +didst not correct thyself, the door would not be open to thee, to the +wedding feast which Christ the Lamb without spot holds for all His +faithful: but we should be driven away like bad women, as those five +foolish virgins were, who, glorying only and vainly in the integrity and +virginity of their body, lost the virginity of their soul, through the +corruption of the five senses, because they did not carry the oil of +humility with them, so that their lamps went out. Therefore it was said to +them: "Go hence to buy oil." By this oil is meant in this place the +flatteries and praises of men; since all the flatterers and praisers of +the world sell this oil. As if it were said to them: "You have not wanted +to buy eternal life with your virginity and your good works; no, you have +wanted to buy the praises of men, and to have the praises of men you have +wrought. Go now and buy praises, for you will not enter here." Therefore, +daughter mine, beware of the praises of men; and do not want praise for +any work that thou mayest do, for the door of eternal life would not be +open to thee later. + +So, reflecting that this was the best way, I said that I desired to see +thee a real bride of Christ crucified; and so I beg and command thee that +thou try hard to be. I say no more to thee. Remain in the holy and sweet +grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +LETTERS ON THE CONSECRATED LIFE + + +Catherine is known in history as one of the great ascetics of the Church; +these letters show her intimate attitude toward the mortification of the +flesh. She was a woman called of God and her natural powers, constantly to +assume the dangerous duty of convincing men of their sin; these letters +give us her conception of the safeguards needed in the performance of that +duty. + +Both letters were written to Religious. Father William Flete was an +Englishman, who, passing through Italy in his youth, became fascinated +with the land, and spent the rest of his life in a hermit's cell in the +Forest of Lecceto. The annals of the time throw some entertaining side- +lights on his figure. Famous for his austerities and for the sanctity of +his life, he was also a very impatient and somewhat intolerant person, +given to carping criticism of his brother hermits. Catherine, in writing +to him, analyses mercilessly the dangers of the ascetic life; one feels +that not much self-righteousness could be left in a man after reading her +trenchant phrases. Soon, however, she lifts him with her to the ardent +contemplation of the perfect life; it is in words of singular beauty that +she describes the attitude of generous loving-kindness, uncritical, humble +and glad, with which the true servant of God considers all sorts and +conditions of men: "Such a man rejoices in every type that he sees, +saying: Thanks be to Thee, Eternal Father, that Thou hast many mansions in +Thy house.... He rejoices more in the differences among men than he would +in seeing them all walk in the same way; for so he sees more manifest the +greatness of the goodness of God. He gets from everything the fragrance of +roses." + +In the letter to Sister Daniella, Catherine develops these ideas further. +Of this "great servant of God" nothing is known except what Catherine's +letters to her show. Something may be inferred from the fact that she is +one of the few people to whom the greater woman writes as to a spititual +equal. She repeats to Daniella the letter to Father William--such +warnings, indeed, being needed by all persons leading the consecrated +life--and then goes on, in the remainder of the letter as here given, to +discuss those farther reaches of perfection in which charity has done its +perfect work. Two things she wishes herself and Daniella to observe: the +first is abstinence from critical thoughts. Let us not "judge the minds of +our fellow-creatures, which are for God alone to judge." It is the key to +her own method in her great cure of souls which she here gives us: "When +it seems that God shows us the faults of others, keep on the safer side-- +for it may be that thy judgment is false. On thy lips let silence abide. +And any vice which thou mayest ascribe to others, do thou ascribe at once +to them and to thyself, in true humility. If that vice really exists in a +person, he will correct himself better, seeing himself so gently +understood, and will say of his own accord the thing which thou wouldst +have said to him."--The other point which Catherine urges on Daniella is +the secondary importance of that life of mortification to which she firmly +believes that they have both been called. "Good is penance and maceration +of the body; but do not present these to me as a rule for every one. If +either for ourselves or others, we made penance our foundation ... we +should be ignorant, and should fall into a critical attitude, and become +weary and very bitter: for we should strive to give a finished work to +God, Who is Infinite Love, and demands from us only infinite desire." +Surely, in this last thought Catherine has attained in a flash to sublime +spiritual insight. + +The Saints knew all about telepathy long before Societies of Psychical +Research grew eager over the matter. It might surprise some modern +psychologists to read the tranquil passage in which Catherine, assuming as +a matter of course that any servant of God engaged in intercessory prayer +has a mystical and direct knowledge of the condition of those she prays +for, proceeds to warn Daniella as intelligently as any modern could do, +though in different terms, as to the limitations within which this kind of +knowledge can be trusted. + +The little note with which this group closes is not written to a great +recluse, but to a tailor's wife. With the simple, Catherine showed herself +simple; but Monna Agnese is to lead the consecrated life no less than +Sister Daniella. Catherine's plain directions to the one about her daily +living evince the same mental clarity and sobriety as her exhortations to +the other, and discriminate in much the same way between the excitement of +religious practices and true consecration. + + + + +TO BROTHER WILLIAM OF ENGLAND +OF THE HERMIT BROTHERS OF ST. AUGUSTINE + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest son in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and slave of the +servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His precious Blood, with desire +to see you in true light. For without light we shall not be able to walk +in the way of truth, but shall walk in shadows. Two lights are necessary. +First, we must be illumined to know the transitory things of the world, +which all pass like the wind. But these are not rightly known if we do not +know our own frailty, how inclined it is, from the perverse law which is +bound up with our members, to rebel against its Creator. This light is +necessary to every rational creature, in whatever state it may be, if it +wishes to have divine grace, and to share in the blessing of the Blood of +the Spotless Lamb. This is the common light, that everybody in general +ought to have, for whoever has it not is in a state of condemnation. This +is the reason; that, not having light, he is not in a state of grace; for +one who does not know the evil of wrong, nor who is cause of it, cannot +avoid it nor hate the cause. So he who does not know good, and virtue the +cause of good, cannot love nor desire that good. + +The soul must not stay content because it has arrived at gaining the +general light; nay, it ought to go on with all zeal to the perfect light. +For since men are at first imperfect rather than perfect, they should +advance in light to perfection. Two kinds of perfect people walk in this +perfect light. There are some who give themselves to castigating their +body perfectly, doing very great harsh penance; and that the flesh may not +rebel against the reason, they have placed all their desire rather on +mortifying their body than on slaying their self-will. These people feed +at the table of penitence and are good and perfect; but unless they have a +great humility and conform themselves not wholly to judge according to the +will of God and not according to that of men, they often wrong their +perfection, making themselves judges of those who do not walk in the same +way in which they do. + +This happens to them because they have put more thought and desire on +mortifying their body than on slaying their self-will. Such men as these +always want to choose times and places and mental consolations to suit +themselves; also, worldly tribulations, and their battles with the devil; +saying, through self-deceit, beguiled by their own will--which is called +spiritual self-will--"I should like this consolation, and not these +assaults or battles with the devil; not for my own sake, but to please +God, and possess Him more fully, because I seem to possess Him better in +this way than in that." Many a time, in such a way as this, the soul falls +into suffering and weariness, and becomes unendurable to itself through +them, and thus wrongs its state of perfection. The odour of pride clings +to it, and this it does not perceive. For, were it truly humble and not +presumptuous, it would see well that the Sweet Primal Truth gives +conditions, time and place, and consolation and tribulation, according as +is needful to our perfection, and to fulfil in the soul the perfection to +which it is chosen. It would see that everything is given through love, +and therefore with love. + +All things ought to be received with reverence, as is done by the second +class of people, who abide in this sweet and glorious light, who are +perfect in whatever condition they are, and, in so far as God permits +them, hold everything in due reverence, esteeming themselves worthy of +sufferings and scandals in the world, and of missing their consolations. +As they hold themselves worthy of sufferings, so they hold themselves +unworthy of the reward which follows suffering. These have known and +tasted in the light the eternal will of God, which wishes naught but our +good, and that we be sanctified in Him, therefore giving His gifts. When +the soul has known this will, it is arrayed therein, and cares for nothing +save to see in what wise it can grow, and preserve its condition perfect, +for glory and praise of the Name of God. Therefore, it opens the eye of +the mind upon its object, Christ crucified, who is rule and way and +doctrine for perfect and imperfect: and sees the loving Lamb, Who gives it +the doctrine of perfection, which seeing it loves. + +Perfection is this: that the Word, the Son of God, fed at the table of +holy desire for the honour of God and for our salvation; and with this +desire ran with great zeal to the shameful death of the Cross, avoiding +neither toil nor labour, not drawing back for the ingratitude and +ignorance of us men who did not recognize His benefits, nor for the +persecution of the Jews, nor for mockery or insults or criticism of the +people, but underwent them all, like our captain and true knight, who was +come to teach us His way and rule and doctrine, opening the door with the +keys of His precious Blood, shed with ardent love and hatred against sin. +As says this sweet, loving Word, "Behold, I have made you a way, and +opened the door with My blood. Be you then not negligent to follow it, and +do not sit yourselves down in self-love, ignorantly failing to know the +Way, and presumptuously wishing to choose it after your own fashion, and +not after Mine who made it. Rise up then, and follow Me: for no one can go +to the Father but by Me. I am the Way and the Door." + +Then the soul, enamoured and tormented with love, runs to the table of +holy desire, and sees not itself in itself, seeking private consolation, +spiritual or temporal, but, as one who has wholly destroyed his own will +in this light and knowledge, refuses no toil from whatever side it comes. +Nay, in suffering, in pain, in many assaults from the devil and criticisms +from men, it seeks upon the table of the Cross the food of the honour of +God and the salvation of men. And it seeks no reward, from God or from +fellow-creatures; such men serve God, not for their own joy, and the +neighbour not for their own will or profit, but from pure love. They lose +themselves, divesting them of the old man, their fleshly desires, and +array them in the new man, Christ sweet Jesus, following Him manfully. +These are they who feed at the table of holy desire, and have more zeal +for slaying their self-will than for slaying and mortifying the body. They +have mortified the body, to be sure, but not as a chief aim, but as the +tool which it is, to help in slaying self-will; for one's chief aim ought +to be and is to slay the will; that it may seek and wish naught save to +follow Christ crucified, seeking the honour and glory of His Name, and the +salvation of souls. Such men abide ever in peace and quiet; there are none +who can offend them, because they have cast away the thing that gives +offence--that is, self-will. All the persecutions which the world and the +devil can inflict run away beneath their feet; they stand in the water, +made fast to the twigs of eager desire, and are not submerged. Such a man +as this rejoices in everything; he does not make himself a judge of the +servants of God, nor of any rational creature; nay, he rejoices in every +condition and every type that he sees, saying, "Thanks be to Thee, eternal +Father, that Thou hast many mansions in Thy House." And he rejoices more +in the different kinds of men that he sees than he would do in seeing them +all walk in the same way, for so he sees the greatness of God's goodness +more manifest. He joys in everything, and gets from it the fragrance of +roses. And even as to a thing which he may expressly see to be sin, he +does not pose as a judge, but regards it rather with holy true compassion, +saying, "To-day it is thy turn, and to-morrow mine, unless it be for +divine grace which preserves me." + +Oh, holy minds, who feed at the table of holy desire, who have attained in +great light to nourish you with holy food, clothed with the sweet raiment +of the Lamb, His love and charity! You do not lose time in accepting false +judgments, either of the servants of God or of the servants of the world; +you do not take offence at any criticism, either against yourselves or +others. Your love toward God and your neighbour is governed well, and not +ungoverned. And because it is governed, such men as these, dearest son, +never take offence at those whom they love; for appearances are dead to +them, and they have submitted themselves not to be guided by men, but only +by the Holy Spirit. See then, these enjoy in this life the pledge of life +eternal. + +I wish you and the other ignorant sons to reach this light, for I see that +this perfection is lacking to you and to others. For were it not lacking +to you, you would not have fallen into such criticism and offence and +false judgment, as to say and believe that another man was guided and +mastered by the will of the creature and not of the Creator. My soul and +my heart grieve to see you wrong the perfection to which God has called +you, under pretence of love and odour of virtue. Nevertheless, these are +the tares which the devil has sowed in the field of the Lord; he has done +this to choke the seed of holy desire and doctrine sowed in your fields. +Will then to do so no more, since God has of grace given you great lights; +the first, to despise the world; the second, to mortify the body; the +third, to seek the honour of God. Do not wrong this perfection with +spiritual self-will, but rise from the table of penance and attain the +table of the desire of God, where the soul is wholly dead to its own will, +nourishing itself without suffering on the honour of God and the salvation +of souls, growing in perfection and not wronging it. + +Therefore, considering that this condition cannot be had without light, +and seeing that you had it not, I said that I desired and desire to see +you in true and perfect light. Thus I pray you, by the love of Christ +crucified--you and Brother Antonio and all the others--that you struggle +to win it, so that you may be numbered among the perfect and not among the +imperfect. I say no more. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. I +commend me to all of you. Bathe you in the Blood of Christ crucified. +Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +TO DANIELLA OF ORVIETO +CLOTHED WITH THE HABIT OF ST. DOMINIC + + +Thou seest, then, that such men enjoy in this life the pledge of life +eternal. They receive, not the payment, but the pledge--not waiting to +receive it till the enduring life, where is life without death, satiety +without disgust, and hunger without pain. For far is the pain of hunger, +since they have completely what they desire; and far is the disgust of +satiety, since that is the Food of Life without any lack. It is true that +in this life one begins to enjoy the pledge, in this way, that the soul +begins to be an-hungered for the food of the honour of God and the +salvation of souls. As it is an-hungered, so it feeds thereon; yes, the +soul nourishes itself on charity for the neighbour, for whom it has a +hungry desire. That is a food which never satisfies those nourished on it. +It never satiates, and therefore hunger lasts for ever. As a pledge is a +beginning of surety given to a man, through which he expects to receive +payment (not that the pledge is perfect in itself, but it gives assurance +through one's trust, that fulfilment will come), so the soul enamoured of +Christ, which has already received in this life the pledge of love for God +and its neighbour, is not perfect in itself, but awaits the perfection of +the life immortal. I say that this pledge is not perfect--that is, the +soul which enjoys it has not yet reached such perfection as not to feel +sufferings, in itself or others: in itself, from the wrong it does to God, +through the perverse law which is bound into our members; and in others, +from the wrong of the neighbour. It is, to be sure, perfect in grace, but +it has not the perfection of the saints, who are in the eternal life, as I +said; since their desires are free from suffering and ours are not. Dost +thou know how it is with the true servant of God, who nourishes him at the +table of holy desire? He is blessčd and grieving, as was the Son of God +upon the wood of the Most Holy Cross: for the flesh of Christ was grieved +and tortured, and the soul was blessčd, through its union with the Divine +Nature. So, through the union of our desire with God, ought we to be +blessed, and clothed with His sweet will; and grieving, through compassion +for our neighbour, casting from us sensuous joys and comforts and +mortifying our flesh. + +But listen, daughter and dearest sister. I have spoken to thee and me in +general, but now I shall speak to thee and me in particular. I want us to +do two special things, in order that ignorance may not hinder our +perfection, to which God calls us; that the devil, under cloak of virtue +and love of the neighbour, may not nourish the root of presumption within +our soul. For from this we shall fall into false judgments; seeming to +ourselves to judge aright, we shall judge crookedly: often, if we followed +our own impressions, the devil would make us see many truths to lead us +into falsehood; and this, because we make ourselves judges of the minds of +our fellow-creatures, which are for God alone to judge. + +This is one of the two things from which I wish that we should free +ourselves completely. But I want the lesson to be learned reasonably. This +is the reasonable way: if God expressly, not only once or twice, but more +often, reveals the fault of a neighbour to our mind, we ought never to +tell it in particular to the person whom it concerns, but to correct in +common the vices of all those whom it befalls us to judge, and to implant +virtues, tenderly and benignly. Severity in the benignity, as may be +needed. And should it seem that God showed us repeatedly the faults of +another, yet unless there were, as I said, a special revelation, keep on +the safer side, that we may escape the deceit and malice of the devil; for +he would catch us with this hook of desire. On thy lips, then, let silence +abide, and holy talk of virtues, and disdain of vice. And any vice that it +may seem to thee to recognize in others, do thou ascribe at once to them +and to thyself, using ever a true humility. If that vice really exists in +any such person, he will correct himself better, seeing himself so gently +understood, and will say that to thee which thou wouldest have said to +him. And thou wilt be safe, and wilt close the way to the devil, who will +be unable to deceive us or to hinder the perfection of thy soul. Know that +we ought not to trust in any appearances, but to put them behind our +backs, and abide only in the perception and knowledge of ourselves. And if +it ever happened that we were praying particularly for some fellow- +creatures, and in prayer we saw some light of grace in one of those for +whom we were praying, and none in another, who was also a servant of God-- +but thou didst seem to see him with his mind abased and sterile--do not +therefore assume to judge that there is grave fault or lack in him, for it +might be that thy opinion was false. For it happens sometimes that when +one is praying for the same person, one occasion will find him in such +light and holy desire before God that the soul will seem to fatten on his +welfare; and on another occasion thou shalt find him when his soul seems +so far from God, and full of shadows and temptations, that it is toil to +whoso prays for him to hold him in God's presence. This may happen +sometimes through a fault of him for whom one is praying, but more often +it is due not to a fault, but to God's having withdrawn Himself from this +soul--that is, He has withdrawn Himself as to any feeling of sweetness and +consolation, though not as to grace. So the soul will have stayed sterile, +dry, and full of pain--which God makes that soul which is praying for it +perceive. And God does this in mercy to that soul which receives the +prayer, that thou mayest aid Him to scatter the cloud. So thou seest, +sweet my sister, how ignorant and worthy of rebuke our opinion would be, +if simply from these appearances we judged that there was vice in this +soul. Therefore, if God showed it to us so troubled and darkened, when we +have already seen that it was not deprived of grace, but only of the +sweetness of feeling God's presence--I beg thee, then, thee and me and +every servant of God, that we apply us to knowing ourselves perfectly, +that we may more perfectly know the goodness of God; so that, illumined, +we may abandon judging our neighbour, and adopt true compassion, hungering +to proclaim virtues and reprove sin in both ourselves and them, in the way +we spoke of before. + +We have spoken of one thing, but now I tell thee of the other, which I beg +that we rebuke in ourselves: if sometimes the devil or our own very evil +construction of matters tormented us by making us want to send or see all +the servants of God walking in the same way that we are walking in +ourselves. For it frequently happens that a soul which sees itself advance +by way of great penance, would like to send all people by that same way; +and if it sees that they do not walk there, it is displeased and shocked, +feeling that they are not doing right: while sometimes it will happen that +the man is doing better and being more virtuous than his critic, although +he does not do as much penance. For perfection does not consist in +macerating or killing the body, but in killing our perverse self-will. And +in this way, of the will destroyed, submitted to the sweet Will of God, we +ought indeed to desire all men to walk. Good is penance and the maceration +of the body; but do not show me these as a rule for every one, since all +bodies are not alike, and also since it often happens that a penance begun +has to be given up from many accidents that may occur. If, then, we made +ourselves or others build on penance as a foundation, it might come to +nothing, and be so imperfect that consolation and virtue would fail the +soul; for, deprived of the thing which it loved and had made of prime +importance, it would seem to be deprived of God, and so would fall into +weariness and very great sadness and bitterness, and would lose in the +bitterness the activity and fervent prayer to which it was accustomed. So +thou seest what evil would follow from making penance alone one's chief +concern: we should be ignorant, and should fall into a critical attitude, +and become weary and very bitter; we should strive to give only a finished +work to God, who is Infinite Good that demands from us infinite desire. We +ought, then, to build our foundation on killing and destroying our own +perverse will; with that will submitted to the will of God, we shall +devote sweet, hungry, infinite desire to the honour of God and the +salvation of souls. Thus shall we feed at the table of that holy desire +which never takes offence either at itself or at its neighbour, but +rejoices and finds fruit in everything. Miserable woman that I am, I mourn +that I never followed this true doctrine; nay, I have done the contrary, +and therefore I feel that I have often fallen into irritation and a +judicial attitude toward my neighbour. Wherefore I pray thee, by the love +of Christ Crucified, that for this and for my every other infirmity, +healing may be found; so that thou and I may begin to-day to walk in the +way of truth, enlightened to build our true foundation on holy desire, and +not trusting in appearances and impressions; so that we may not lightly +neglect ourselves and judge the faults of our neighbours, unless by way of +compassion or general rebuke. + +This we shall do if we nourish us at the table of holy desire: otherwise +we cannot. For from desire we have light, and light gives us desire; so +one nourishes the other. Therefore I said that I desired to see thee in +the true light. I say no more. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. +Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +TO MONNA AGNESE +WIFE OF FRANCESCO, A TAILOR OF FLORENCE + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest daughter in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and slave of +the servants of Jesus Christ, write to thee in His precious Blood, with +desire to see thee clothed in true and perfect humility--for that is a +little virtue which makes us great in the sweet sight of God. This is the +virtue which constrained and inclined God to make His most sweet Son +incarnate in the Womb of Mary. It is as exalted as the proud are humbled; +it shines in the sight of God and men; it binds the hands of the wicked, +it unites the soul with God, it purifies and laves away the soil of our +sin, and calls on God to show us mercy. I will then, sweetest daughter, +that thou strive to embrace this glorious virtue, so that thou mayest pass +over the stormy sea of this world free from storm and peril. + +Now comfort thee in this sweet and sincere virtue, and bathe thee in the +Blood of Christ crucified. And when thou canst empty thy time for prayer, +I pray thee to do it. And love tenderly every rational being. Then, I beg +and command thee not to fast, except, when thou canst, on the days +commanded by Holy Church. And when thou dost not feel strong enough to +fast then, do not observe them. At other times, do not fast, except when +thou feelest able, on Saturday. When this heat is over, fast on the days +of Holy Mary, if thou canst, and no more. And drink something beside water +every day. Labour hard to increase thy holy desire, and let these other +things alone for the future. Do not be anxious or depressed over us, for +we are all well. When it shall please the Divine Goodness, we shall see +one another again. I say no more to thee. Remain in the holy and sweet +grace of God. Comfort my sweet daughters, Ursula and Ginevra. Sweet Jesus, +Jesus Love. + + + + +LETTERS IN RESPONSE TO CERTAIN CRITICISMS + + +Catherine had ample opportunity to suffer from those keenly critical +instincts of the respectable which she reproved in the last group of +letters. Her life was full of eager unconventionalities that drew down on +her the frequent distrust of her co-religionists and fellow-townsmen. We +cannot tell what special cause had excited the indignation of the loyal +friends to whom the following note is written; but we may enjoy the spirit +of fresh and pure humility in which Catherine gives them the difficult +injunction to acquiesce in any criticism made upon her. + +The very matters which were later to be considered as proofs of her +sanctity, were during her lifetime grounds of suspicion. Some unknown, +exercised in his mind over the reports of her extraordinary abstinence, +took evidently what would to-day appear the somewhat impertinent course of +writing her a letter of remonstrance. Catherine's inability or reluctance +to eat as much as others was one of the most interesting marvels of her +life to her simple contemporaries. It is clear, that partly from the +extreme mortification which according to mediaeval custom she inflicted on +her flesh from childhood, her condition became at an early age thoroughly +abnormal. Salads and water were practically her only diet; the curious are +referred to the copious details furnished by her biographers. Meantime, +the present letter shows how reasonable was her own attitude in the +matter. It shows also with what gentle dignity she received criticism. The +little touch at the end--"I pray you not to be light in judging, if you +are not surely illumined in the sight of God"--is the only hint at a +natural impulse of resentment: unless one reads, as it is tempting to do, +a delicate irony in the opening portion of the letter. + + + + +TO MONNA ORSA +WIFE OF BARTOLO USIMBARDI +AND TO MONNA AGNESE +WIFE OF FRANCESCO DI PIPINO TAILOR OF FLORENCE + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest daughter in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and slave of +the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His precious Blood: with +desire to see you persevere in holy desire, so that you may never look +back. For otherwise you would not receive your reward, and would +transgress the word of the Saviour, which says that we are not to turn +back to look at the furrow. Be persevering, then, and contemplate not what +is done, but what you have to do. And what have we to do? To turn our +affections constantly back toward God, despising the world with all its +joys, and loving virtue, bearing with true patience what the divine +goodness permits us; considering that whatever He gives is given for our +good that we may be sanctified in Him. We shall find in the Blood that the +truth is thus. So we ought to fill our memory with this glorious Blood, +which shows us so sweet a truth, that we may never be without the +recollection of it. Thus I want you to do, dearest daughters: that in this +life you shall persevere until death, and at the close of your life shall +receive the Eternal Vision of God. I say no more here. + +I reprove thee, dearest my sweet daughter, because thou hast not kept in +mind what I told thee--not to answer anyone who should say to thee +anything about myself that seemed to thee less than good. Now I do not +wish thee to do so any more, but I wish both of you to reply to anyone who +narrated my faults to you in this wise--that they are not telling so many +that a great many more might not be told. Tell them to be moved by +compassion within their hearts in the sight of God, as they appear to be +by their tongues--and to pray the Divine Goodness earnestly for me, that +It will correct my life. Then say to them that it is the Highest Judge who +will punish my every fault, and reward every labour that shall be borne +for His Name. As to Monna Paula, I do not wish thee to be in the least +indignant with her: but think that she is acting like a good mother, who +wants to test her daughter to see whether she has virtue or not. I confess +truthfully that I have found little success in myself; but I have hope in +my Creator, who will make me correct myself and change my way of life. +Comfort you, and give yourselves no more pain; for we shall find ourselves +united in the fire of divine Charity, a union that shall be taken from us +neither by demon nor by creature. I say no more to you. Remain in the holy +and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +TO A RELIGIOUS MAN IN FLORENCE +WHO WAS SHOCKED AT HER ASCETIC PRACTICES + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest and most beloved father in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, a +useless servant of Jesus Christ, commend me to you: with the desire to see +us united and transformed in that sweet, eternal and pure Truth which +destroys in us all falsity and lying. I thank you cordially, dearest +father, for the holy zeal and jealousy which you have toward my soul: in +that you are apparently very anxious over what you hear of my life. I am +certain that nothing affects you except desire for the honour of God and +for my salvation, which makes you fear the assaults and illusions of +devils. As to your special fear, father, concerning my behaviour about +eating, I am not surprised; for I assure you, that not only do you fear, +but I myself tremble, for fear of devilish wiles. Were it not that I trust +in the goodness of God, and distrust myself, knowing that in myself I can +have no confidence. For you sent, asking me whether or no I believed that +I might be deceived, saying that if I did not believe so, that was a wile +of the devil. I answer you, that not only about this, which is above the +nature of the body, but about all my other activities also, I am always +afraid, on account of my frailty and the astuteness of the devil, and +think that I may be deceived; for I am perfectly well aware that the devil +lost beatitude, but not wisdom, with which wisdom, as I said, I recognized +that he might deceive me. But then I turn me, and lean against the Tree of +the Most Holy Cross of Christ crucified, and there will I fasten me; and I +do not doubt that if I shall be nailed and held with Him by love and with +profound humility, the devils will have no power against me--not through +my virtue, but through the virtue of Christ crucified. + +You sent me word to pray God particularly that I might eat. I tell you, my +father, and I say it in the sight of God, that in all ways within my power +I have always forced myself once or twice a day to take food. And I have +prayed constantly, and do pray God and shall pray Him, that in this matter +of eating He will give me grace to live like other creatures, if it is His +will--for it is mine. I tell you, that often enough, when I have done what +I could, I enter within myself, to recognize my infirmity, and God, who by +most special grace has made me correct the sin of gluttony. I grieve much +that I have not corrected that miserable fault of mine through love. I for +myself do not know what other remedy to adopt, except that I beg you to +pray that Highest Eternal Truth, that He give me grace, if it is more for +His honour and the salvation of my soul, to enable me to take food if it +please Him. And I am sure that the goodness of God will not despise your +prayers. I beg you that if you see any remedy you will write me of it; and +provided it be for the honour of God, I will accept it willingly. Also I +beg you not to be light in judging, if you are not clearly illumined in +the sight of God. I say no more to you. Remain in the holy and sweet grace +of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +TO BROTHER BARTOLOMEO DOMINICI +OF THE ORDER OF THE PREACHERS WHEN HE WAS BIBLE READER AT FLORENCE + + +Belief in the wrath to come is sufficiently real to Catherine, and the +current demonology of her day slips readily from her tongue. These things +she accepted as she found them. But the atmosphere in which her spirit +breathes is the perception of the love of God. The spiritual history of +the race, from the creation to the coming of the Spirit and the perpetual +support of the soul in the Sacrament of the Altar, is to her a revelation +of the One encompassing Love, poured forth in fresh measure and under new +forms at each stage in the movement of human destiny. + +And so, in this little letter, she invites us to enter with her the +"peaceful and profound sea" found in the words "God is Love." Elsewhere, +both in her Dialogue and in a letter to one Brother Matteo Tolomei, she +analyses with keen insight the relations which redeemed humanity can bear +to the Loving God; she tells us how the servant, obedient through fear, +may become the friend, obedient through gratitude and desire for spiritual +blessings; and how these lower loves, through the operation of the Holy +Spirit, may be transformed into the love of the son, who seeks God for His +own sake, "with nothing between." And how shall human love, when it has +reached this point, reflect the love of Him who "needs not man's work nor +His own gifts?" How become, not merely receptive, but active and creative? +Catherine gives the simple Christian answer: "God has loved us without +being loved, but we love Him because we are loved.... We cannot be of any +profit to Him, nor love Him with this first love. Yet God demands of us, +that as He has loved us without any second thoughts, so He should be loved +by us. In what way can we do this, then, since He demands it of us and we +cannot give it to Him? I tell you: through a means which He has +established by which we can love Him freely, and without the least regard +to any profit of ours: we can be useful, not to Him, which is impossible, +but to our neighbour.... To show the love we have to Him, we ought to +serve and love every rational creature.... Every virtue receives life from +love, and love is gained in love, that is, by raising the eye of our mind +to behold how much we are beloved of God. Seeing ourselves loved, we +cannot do otherwise than love.... So thou seest that we conceive virtues +through God and bring them to the birth for our neighbour." + +Thus do Catherine's loftiest meditations end on the practical note. Her +fundamental thought, here as elsewhere, is strikingly akin to the thought +of St. Bernard. Love yourself not for your own sake, but for God! she +constantly repeats. To the same effect, Bernard describes at length the +progress of the soul till it reaches the highest stage, in which self-love +is so lost that even gratitude is left behind, and man loves himself and +God for the sake of God alone. + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +To you, most beloved and dear father, through reverence of the most sweet +Sacrament, and son in Christ Jesus: I Catherine, servant and slave of the +servants of Jesus Christ, write and send comfort in His precious Blood, +with desire to see you kindled, on fire, and consumed in His most ardent +charity, since I know that he who is on fire and consumed with this +charity sees not himself. This, then, I will that you do. I summon you to +enter through this most ardent charity, a sea that is peaceful and +profound. This I have just now found anew--not that the sea is new, but +that it is new to me in the feeling of my soul--in that word, God is Love. +And in this word, as the mirror reflects the face of man, and the sun its +light upon the earth, so it is reflected in my soul, that all His works +whatsoever are Love alone, for they are not wrought of anything save love. +Therefore He says, "I God am Love." From this a light is thrown on the +unsearchable mystery of the Incarnate Word, who by force of love was given +with such humility that it confounds my pride, and teaches us not to +regard His works, but the burning devotion of the Word given to us. He +says that we should do as he who loves: who, when his friend comes with a +present, looks not at the hands for the gift which he brings, but opens +the eye of love, and regards his heart and affection. So He wills that we +should do, when the Highest eternal goodness of God, sweet above all +things, visits our soul. It visits us then with measureless benefits. Let +memory act swiftly to receive the intention in the divine charity: and let +the will arise with most ardent desire, and receive and behold the +sacrificed Heart of sweet and good Jesus the Giver: and thus you shall +find you kindled and clothed with fire, and with the gift of the Blood of +the Son of God; and you shall be free from all pain and disease. This it +was which took away the pain of the holy disciples, when it behoved them +to leave Mary and one another, and gladly they endured that separation, to +sow the word of God. Run then, run, run. + +Concerning the affairs of Benincasa, I cannot reply unless I am at Siena. +Thank Messer Nicolao for the charity which he has shown for them. Alessa +and I and Cecca, poor women, commend ourselves to you a thousand thousand +times. May God be ever in your soul, amen. Jesus, Jesus. + +Catherine, servant of the servants of God. + + + + +TO BROTHER MATTEO DI FRANCESCO TOLOMEI +OF THE ORDER OF THE PREACHERS + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest son in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and slave of the +servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His precious Blood, with desire +to see you seek God in truth, not through the intervention of your own +fleshliness or of any other creature, for we cannot please God through any +intervening means. God gave us the Word, His Only-Begotten Son, without +regard to His own profit. This is true, that we cannot be of any profit to +Him; but the reverse is not the case, because, although we do not serve +God for our profit, nevertheless we profit just the same. To Him belongs +the flower of honour, and to us the fruit of profit. He has loved us +without being loved, and we love because we are loved: He loves us of +grace, and we Him of duty, because we are bound to love Him. We cannot be +of any profit to God just as we cannot love Him of grace, without duty. +For we are bound to Him, and not He to us, because before He was loved, He +loved us, and therefore created us in His Image and Likeness. There it is, +then: we cannot be of any profit to Him, nor love Him with this first +love. Yet I say that God demands of us, that as He has loved us without +any second thoughts, so He should be loved by us. In what way can we do +this, then, since He demands it of us, and we cannot give it Him? I tell +you: through a means which He has established, by which we can love Him +freely, and without the least regard to any profit of ours; that is, we +can be useful, not to Him, which is impossible, but to our neighbour. Now +by this means we can obey what He demands of us for the glory and praise +of His Name; to show the love that we have for Him, we ought to serve and +love every rational creature, and extend our charity to good and bad, to +every kind of people, as much to one who does us ill service and +criticises us as to one who serves us. For God is no respecter of persons, +but of holy desires, and His charity extends over just men and sinners. + +One man, to be sure, He loves as a son, and one as a friend, and another +as a servant, and another as a person who has departed from Him, for whose +return He longs--these last are the wicked sinners who are deprived of +grace. But wherein does the Highest Father show His love to these? In +lending them time, and in time He gives them many opportunities, either to +repent of their sins, taking from them place and power to do as much ill +as they would, or He has many other ways to make them hate vice and love +virtue, the love of which takes away the wish to sin. And so, through the +time which God gave them in love, from foes they are made friends, and +have grace and are fit to become the Father's heirs. + +He loves as sons those who serve Him in truth without any servile fear, +who have annulled and killed their self-will, and are through God obedient +till death to every rational creature: no mercenaries they, who serve Him +for their own profit, but sons; and they despise consolations and joy in +tribulations, and seek only in what way they can conform them to Christ +crucified, and nourish them on His shames and labours and sorrows. Such +men seek not God nor serve Him for sweetness or consolation, spiritual or +temporal, which they receive from God or the fellow-creature; they seek +not God for their own sakes, nor the neighbour, but God for God, inasmuch +as He is worthy of being loved, and themselves for God, for the glory and +praise of His Name; and they serve their neighbour for God, being of what +profit they may to Him. These men follow the footsteps of the Father, +rejoicing wholly in charity toward their neighbour, loving the servants of +God through the love with which they love their Creator; and they love +imperfect men through love that they should reach perfection, devoting to +them holy desire and continual prayers. They love wicked men, who lie in +the death of mortal sin, because they are rational beings, created by God, +and bought by the same Blood as they, wherefore they mourn over their +condemnation, and to rescue them would give themselves to bodily death. As +to the persecutors and slanderers and judges who take offence at them, +they love these both because they are creatures of God, as I said, and +also because they are the means and cause of testing their virtue, and +helping them reach perfection--especially as to that royal virtue +patience, a sweet virtue, which is never offended or disturbed, nor cast +down by any contrary wind or any molesting of men. Such men are those who +seek God with nothing between, and love Him truly as dear and lawful sons; +and He loves them as a true father, and shows them the secret of His +charity, to make them heirs of His eternal kingdom, wherefore they run, +refreshed by the Blood of Christ, kindled by the fire of divine charity, +by which they are perfectly illumined. Such men do not run in the path of +virtue after their own fashion, nay, but after the fashion of Christ +crucified, following in His steps. Were it possible for them to serve God +and win virtue without labour, they would not wish it. These men do not +act like the second kinds of men, the friend and the servant, for the +service of these last has some ulterior thought. Sometimes it has regard +to the man's own profit; one can reach great friendship in this way, when +he knows his need, and his benefactor, who, as he sees, can and will help +him. Yet first he was a servant, for he knew his own wrong-doing, on which +followed punishment; so from the fear of punishment he drives out his sin, +and lovingly embraces virtue, serving his Lord, whom he has wronged; and +he begins to draw hope from His benignity, considering that He wills not +the death of a sinner, but that he be converted and live. If the man abode +in fear alone, it would not suffice to give him life, nor would he attain +to the perfect favour of his Lord; but he would be a mercenary servant. +Nor ought he to remain only in the love of the fruit and the consolation +which he might receive from his Lord, after he has been made a friend; for +this kind of love would not be strong, but would fail when it was deprived +of sweetness or consolation and joy of mind, or else when some contrary +wind struck it, of persecution or temptation from the devil; then at once +it would fail under temptations of the devil or vexations of the flesh. So +it would fall into confusion through being deprived of mental consolation; +and in the persecutions and insults wrought against it by fellow- +creatures, it would fall into impatience. + +So you see, that this kind of love is not strong. Nay, he who loves with +this love does as St. Peter, who before the Passion loved Christ tenderly; +but he was not strong, therefore he failed in the time of the Cross: but +then, after the coming of the Holy Spirit, he separated him from the love +of sweetness, and lost fear, and reached a love strong, and tried in the +fire of many tribulations. Thence, having reached the love of a son, he +bore all such with true patience--nay, ran under them in great gladness, +as he had been going to a marriage feast and not to torment. This was +because he had been made a son. But had Peter remained absorbed in the +sweetness and the fear which he felt in the Passion and after the Passion +of Christ, he would not have reached such perfection as to be a son and +champion of Holy Church, a lover and seeker of souls. But note the way +that Peter took, and the other disciples, to gain power to lose their +servile fear and love of consolations, and to receive the Holy Spirit, as +had been promised them by the Sweet Primal Truth. Therefore says the +Scripture that they shut them in the house, and stayed there in vigil and +continual prayers; they stayed ten days, and then came the Holy Spirit. + +Now this is the teaching which we and every rational creature ought to +receive; to shut ourselves into the house, and remain in vigil and +continual prayer: to stay ten days, and then we shall receive the +plenitude of the Holy Spirit. Who, when He was come, illumined them with +truth; and they saw the secret of the immeasurable love of the Word, with +the will of the Father, who willed naught but our sanctification. This has +been shown us by the Blood of that sweet and enamoured Word: who was +restored to His disciples, when the plenitude of the Holy Spirit came. He +came with the power of the Father, the wisdom of the Son, the mercy and +clemency of the Holy Spirit; so the truth of Christ is fulfilled, which He +spake to His disciples: I shall go and shall return to you. Then did He +return, because the Holy Spirit could not come without the Son and the +Father, because He was one thing with them. Thus He came, as I said, with +the power that is assigned to the Father, and the wisdom that is assigned +to the Son, and the benevolence and love that is assigned to the Holy +Spirit. Well did the Apostles show it, for suddenly through love they lost +their fear. So in true wisdom they knew the truth, and went with great +power against the infidels; they threw idols to the ground and drove out +devils. This was not with the power of the world, nor with bodily +fortitude, but with strength of spirit and the power of God, which they +had received through Divine grace. Now thus it will happen to those who +have arisen from the filth of mortal sin and the misery of this world, and +begin to taste the Highest Good and enamour themselves of His sweetness. +But as I have said, by remaining in fear alone, one would not escape hell; +but would do like the thief, who does not steal, because he is afraid of +the gallows; but he would not abstain from stealing if he did not expect +to be punished. It is just such a case when one loves God for the +sweetness of it; that is, one would not be strong and perfect, but weak +and imperfect. + +The way to arrive at perfection is that of the disciples, as I said. That +is, as Peter and the others shut themselves into the house, so those have +done and should do who have attained the love of the Father, who are sons. +Those who wish to reach this state should enter the house, and shut +themselves in; that is, the house of the knowledge of themselves, which is +the cell that the soul should inhabit. Within this cell another cell is +found, that of the knowledge of the goodness of God in Himself. So from +knowledge of self the soul draws true humility, with holy hatred of the +wrong which it has done to its Creator, and by this it attains to true and +holy patience. And from the knowledge of God, which it finds in itself, it +wins the virtue of most ardent charity: whence it draws holy and loving +desires. In this wise it finds vigil and continual prayer--that is, while +it abides enclosed in so sweet and glorious a thing as is the knowledge of +itself and of God. It keeps vigil, I say, not only with the eye of the +body, but with the eye of the soul; that is, the eye of the intellect +never sees itself closed, but remains opened upon its Object and ineffable +Love, Christ crucified: and there it finds love, and its own guilt. For +that guilt, Christ gave us His Blood. Then the soul uplifts itself with +deepest devotion, to love what God loves and to hate what He hates. And it +directs all its works in God, and does everything to the glory and praise +of His Name. This is the continual prayer of which Paul says, "Pray +without ceasing." Now this is the way to rise from being only a servant +and a friend--that is, from servile fear and from tender love of one's own +consolation--and to arrive at being a true servant, true friend, true son. +For when one is truly made a son, he does not therefore lose being a +servant and true friend; but is a servant and friend in truth, without any +regard to himself, or to anything except pleasing God alone. + +We said that they abode ten days, and then came the Holy Spirit. So the +soul, which wishes to arrive at this perfection, must observe ten days, +that is the ten commandments of the law. And with the legal commandments +it will observe the Counsels; for they are bound together, and the one +cannot be observed without the other. True, those who are in the world +must observe the Counsels mentally, through holy desire, and those who are +freed from the world must observe them both mentally and actually. Thus, +if the soul receives the abundance of the Holy Spirit, with true wisdom of +true and perfect light and knowledge, and with fortitude and power to make +it strong in every battle, it becomes mighty chiefly against itself, +lording it over its own fleshly nature. But all this you could not do if +you went roaming about, in much conversation, keeping far from the cell, +and neglecting the choir. Whence, considering this, I said to you when you +left me that you should study to flee conversation and to visit the cell, +and not to abandon the choir or the refectory (so far as might be possible +to you), and to keep vigil with humble prayer: and thus to fulfil my +desire, when I told you that I desired to see you seek God in truth, +without anything between. I say no more to you. Remain in the holy and +sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +TO A MANTELLATA OF SAINT DOMINIC CALLED CATARINA DI SCETTO + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +My dearest sister and daughter in Christ sweet Jesus. I Catherine, servant +and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to thee in His precious +Blood, with desire to see thee a true servant and bride of Christ +crucified. Servants we ought to be, because we are bought with His blood. +But I do not see that we can be of any profit to Him by our service; we +ought, then, to be of profit to our neighbour, because he is the means by +which we test and gain virtue. Thou knowest that every virtue receives +life from love; and love is gained in love, that is, by raising the eye of +our mind to behold how much we are beloved of God. Seeing ourselves loved, +we cannot do otherwise than love; loving Him, we shall embrace virtue +through the force of love, and shall hate vice and spurn it. + +So thou seest that we conceive virtues through God, and bring them to the +birth for our neighbour. Thou knowest well that for the necessity of thy +neighbour thou bringest forth the child charity that is within thy soul, +and patience in the wrongs which thou receivest from him. Thou givest him +prayer, particularly to those who have done thee wrong. And thus we ought +to do; if men are untrue to us, we ought to be true to them, and +faithfully to seek their salvation; loving them of grace, and not by +barter. That is, do thou beware not to love thy neighbour for thine own +profit; for that would not be faithful love, and thou wouldst not respond +to the love which God bears thee. For as God has loved thee of grace, so +He wills that since thou canst not return this love to Him, thou return it +to thy neighbour, loving him of grace and not by barter, as I said. +Neither if thou art wronged, nor if thou shouldst see love toward thee, or +thy joy or profit lessened, must thou lessen or stint love toward thy +neighbour; but love him tenderly, bearing and enduring his faults; and +beholding with great consolation and reverence the servants of God. + +Beware lest thou do like mad and foolish people who want to set themselves +to investigate and judge the deeds and habits of the servants of God. He +who does this is entirely worthy of severe rebuke. Know that it would not +be different from setting a law and rule to the Holy Spirit if we wished +to make the servants of God all walk in our own way--a thing which could +never be done. Let the soul inclined to this kind of judgment think that +the root of pride is not yet out, nor true charity toward the neighbour +planted--that is, the loving him by grace and not by barter. Then let us +love the servants of God, and not judge them. Nay, it befits us to love in +general every rational creature: those who are outside of grace we must +love with grief and bitterness over their fault, because they wrong God +and their own soul. Thus thou shalt be in accord with that sweet enamoured +Paul, who mourns with those who mourn, and joys with those who joy; thus +thou shalt mourn with those who are in mournful state, through desire for +the honour of God and for their salvation; and thou shalt joy with the +servants of God who rejoice, possessing God through loving tenderness. + +Thou seest, then, that through charity to God we conceive virtues, and +through charity toward our neighbours they are brought to the birth. Being +thus--loving thy neighbour sincerely, without any falsity of love or +heart, freely, without any regard to thine own profit, spiritual or +temporal--thou shalt be a true servant, and respond by means of thy +neighbour to the love which thy Creator bears thee; thou shalt be a +faithful, not a faithless bride. Then does the bride fail in faith to her +bridegroom, when she gives to another creature the faith which she ought +to give to him. Thou art a bride, for Christ in His circumcision showed +that He would wed the human race. Thou, beholding love so ineffable, +shouldst love Him without any means that might be apart from God. Thus art +thou made the servant of thy neighbour, serving him in all things to the +measure of thy power. Verily thou art the bride of Christ, and shouldst be +the servant of thy neighbour. If thou art a faithful bride, since we can +neither be of profit nor of service to God by the love which we bear Him, +we ought, as I said, to serve our neighbour with true and heartfelt love. +In no other way nor wise can we serve Him. Therefore I said to thee that I +desired to see thee the true servant and bride of Christ crucified. I say +no more. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus +Love. + + + + +LETTERS TO NERI DI LANDOCCIO DEI PAGLIARESI + + +Neri di Landoccio dei Pagliaresi is one of the attractive group of +Catherine's secretaries, which included also Stefano Maconi and Barduccio +Canigiani. There is something very charming, wholly Italian and mediaeval, +in the thought of the three highly-born and gently-bred young Tuscans, +who, without leaving the world or taking religious vows, attached +themselves with a pure and passionate devotion to the person of the Beata +Populana, dedicated their time and powers to her service, caught the fire +of her ideals, and after her death followed her wishes for their future. +The faces that appear a little later in such pictures as Botticelli's +"Adoration of the Magi," help us to understand the type of these young +men. + +Of the three secretaries, Neri was the first to enter Catherine's service. +It was he who introduced to her most of the people who later became her +disciples, and many letters yet extant from one and another show that he +was devotedly loved by the little group. He was of a sensitive, subtle, +and despondent temperament--a reader of Dante, himself a poet, a man given +to self-torment, and, as his later life showed, with a tendency to +melancholia. He must have possessed tact, force, and probably charm, for +Catherine more than once sent him on important embassies--once as +harbinger of her own coming to Pope Gregory at Avignon, and again, at a +later time, to the corrupt and brilliant court of Queen Giovanna at +Naples. In obedience to the dying wish of his spiritual mother--who +probably well understood his needs--he became a hermit after her death. + +Catherine writes to this fine but fearful soul with an exquisite +tenderness. "Confusion of mind," with its inhibiting sadness and +helplessness, is of all evils in the world the one most abhorrent to her +clear, decisive, intuitive nature. Against this, his besetting danger, she +seeks with all her customary vigour to protect her beloved disciple. The +love rather than the wrath of God was, as we have seen, ever the chief +burden of Catherine's teaching. Never did she dwell on it more earnestly +than here, as with searching insight into the unfathomable depths of the +Divine mercy, she writes firmly: "His truth is this, that He created us to +give us life eternal." Her words must have brought reassurance to any +darkened vision, while her practical counsels were never more adapted to +individual need than in these peculiarly gentle letters, written to one +whose temptations and spiritual perils were far different from her own. + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest son in Christ sweet Jesus. I Catherine, servant and slave of the +servants of Jesus Christ, write to thee in His precious Blood: with desire +to see thee in the true light, that in the light may be known the truth of +thy Creator. His truth is this, that He created us to give us life +eternal. But because man rebelled against God, this truth was not +fulfilled, and therefore He descended to the greatest depths to which +descent is possible, when Deity assumed the vesture of our humanity. So we +see in this glorious light that God has been made man, and this He has +done to fulfil His truth in us: and He has shown this to us verily by the +Blood of the Loving Word, inasmuch that what we held by faith is proved to +us with the price of that Blood. The creature that has reason in itself +cannot deny that this is so. + +I will, then, that thy confusion be consumed and vanish in the hope of the +Blood, and in the fire of the immeasurable Love of God; and that nothing +remain but the true knowledge of thyself, in which thou shalt humble thee +and grow, and nourish light in thy soul. Is not He more ready to pardon +than we to sin? And is not He the Physician and we the sick, the Bearer of +our iniquities? And does not He hold confusion of mind as worse than all +other faults? Yes, truly. Then, dearest son, open the eye of thine +intellect in the light of most holy faith, and behold how much thou art +beloved of God. And from beholding His love, and the ignorance and +coldness of thy heart, do not fall into confusion; but let the flame of +holy desire increase, with true knowledge and humility, as I said. And the +more thou seest that thou hast not responded to such great favours as thy +Creator has shown thee, humble thyself the more, and say with holy +resolution: "What I have not done to-day, I will do now." Thou knowest +that confusion is wholly discordant with the doctrine which has always +been given thee. It is a leprosy that dries up soul and body, and holds +them in continual affliction, and binds the arms of holy desire, and does +not let one do what one would; and it makes the soul unendurable to +itself, disposing the mind to conflicts and varying fantasies; it robs the +soul of supernatural light, and darkens its natural light. So one falls +into great faithlessness, because one does not know the truth of God, in +which He has created us--that is, that He created us in truth to give us +life eternal. Then with living faith, with holy desire, and with hope in +the Blood of Christ, let the devil of confusion be defeated. + +I say no more. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. I pray Him to +give thee His sweet benediction. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest and sweetest son in Christ sweet Jesus. I Catherine, servant and +slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to thee in His precious +Blood: with desire to see in thee the light of most holy faith, in order +that thou mayest never be shocked by anything that may happen to thee; but +may thy mind be pacified concerning all the mysteries of God, as thou +beholdest the ineffable love which moved Him to draw forth from Himself +reasonable creatures, and to give us His image and likeness, and to buy us +with the Blood of the humble and spotless Lamb. Thus doing, thou wilt hold +all that happens to thee in due reverence, and in true humility thou wilt +deny mere appearances, when sometimes through the illusion of the devil +things seem to thee to get out of their right proportion, through thy many +mental occupations and sweet physical torments. I say no more. Remain in +the holy and sweet grace of God. May Christ the Blessed give thee His +eternal benediction. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest and sweetest son in Christ sweet Jesus. I Catherine, servant and +slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to thee in His precious +Blood: with desire to see thee ever grow from virtue to virtue, till I +behold thee return to that sea of peace where thou shalt never have any +fear of being separated from God. For the foul perverse law that fights +against the Spirit shall be left on earth, and shall have rendered its due +thereto. I will, sweet my son, that while thou livest in this life thou +exert thee to live dead to all self-will, and in such death thou shalt win +virtue. Thus living, thou shalt resign to earth the law of perverse +desire. So thou shalt not fear lest God permit in thy case what He +permitted in that other, nor shalt thou suffer, because for a little while +the human part of thee is separated from me and from the rest of the +family. Comfort thee, and may that which Truth says abide in thy mind-- +that not one person shall be lost out of His hands. I say out of His +hands, because all things are His. And I know that thou understandest me +without many words. I say no more. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of +God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +TO MONNA GIOVANNA AND HER OTHER DAUGHTERS IN SIENA + + +"Teach us, O Lord, and enable us to live the life of saints and angels!" +cried Cardinal Newman. There is a lovely parallel to Catherine's prayer in +the Paternoster of Dante's blessed souls in Purgatory: + + "Come del suo voler gli angeli tuoi + Fan sacrificio a te, cantando osanna, + Cosi facciano gli uomini de' suoi." + +From the gentle thoughts on non-resistance with which this letter opens, +Catherine turns with transition as fine as sudden to the splendid figure +of the holy soul as a horse without bridle, running most swiftly "from +grace to grace, from virtue to virtue." One is accustomed by Plato--not to +speak of Browning in "The Two Poets of Croisic"--to the image of the soul +as a charioteer. Catherine's metaphor is less familiar but not less +forceful. The will, to her, is only free when pure: impure and sinful +desires, far from being the sign of liberty, are the bit and bridle that +hinder its fiery course toward God. The same thought, less vividly put, is +found in a modern theologian--Dr. Moberly. "The real consummation of +either moral or immoral character," he writes, "would exclude the +ambiguity which was offered as the criterion of free will.... Full power +to sin is not the key to freedom. On the contrary, all inherent power to +do wrong is a direct infringement of the reality of free-will.... Free- +will is not the independence of the creature, but rather his self- +realisation in perfect dependence. Freedom is self-identity with +goodness." + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest and most beloved daughters in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, +servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, and your mother in +Christ, write to you and comfort you in the Precious Blood of the Son of +God, who was a gentle Lamb, spotless and slain not by power of nails or +lance, but by power of love and measureless charity which He felt and +still feels to His creatures. Oh, charity unspeakable of our God! Thou +hast taught me, Love most sweet, and hast shown me, not by words alone-- +for Thou sayest that Thou dost not delight in many words--but by deeds, +in which Thou sayest that Thou dost delight, and which Thou dost demand +from Thy servants. And what hast Thou taught me, O Love Uncreate? Thou +hast taught me that I should bear, patiently like a lamb, not only harsh +words, but even blows harsh and hard and injury and loss. And with this +Thou dost will that I be innocent and spotless, harmful to no one of my +neighbours and brethren; not only in case of those who do not persecute +us, but in that of those who injure us; Thou dost will that we pray for +them as for special friends who give us a good and great gain. And Thou +dost will that we be patient and meek not only in injuries and temporal +losses, but universally, in everything that may be contrary to my will: as +Thou didst not will Thine own will to be done in anything, but the will of +Thy Father. How then shall we lift up our head against the goodness of +God, wishing that our perverted wills should be fulfilled? How shall we +not will that the will of God be fulfilled? + +O Jesus, Most Sweet Love, make Thy will to be fulfilled in us ever, as in +Heaven by Thy Angels and saints! Dearest my daughter in Christ, this is +the meekness which our sweet Saviour wants to find in us: that we, with +hearts wholly peaceful and tranquil, be content with everything which He +plans and does concerning us, and wish neither times nor seasons in our +own way, but in His alone. Then the soul, so divested of its every wish +and clothed with the will of God, is very pleasing to God. Like an +unbridled horse, it runs most swiftly from grace to grace, from virtue to +virtue; for it has no bridle that holds or prevents it from running, since +it has severed from itself every inordinate appetite and impulse of its +own self-will, which are bands and bridles that do not allow the souls of +spiritual men to run. + +The affairs of the Crusade are going constantly better and better, and the +honour of God is increasing every day. Increase constantly in virtue, and +furnish the ship of your soul, for our time draws near. Comfort and bless +Francesca, from Jesus Christ and me; and tell her to be zealous that I may +find her increased in virtue when I shall return. Bless and comfort all my +sons in Christ. Now this very day the ambassador of the Queen of Cyprus +came and talked to me. He is going to the Holy Father, Christ on earth, to +urge him concerning the affairs of the holy Crusade. And, moreover, the +Holy Father has sent to Genoa to urge them concerning the same thing. + +Our sweet Saviour give you His eternal benediction! Remain in the holy and +sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +TO MESSER JOHN +THE SOLDIER OF FORTUNE AND HEAD OF THE COMPANY +THAT CAME IN THE TIME OF FAMINE + + + _Which letter is one of credentials, certifying that he may put faith in +all things said to him by Fra Raimondo of Capua. Wherefore the said Fra +Raimondo went to the said Messer John, and the other captains, to induce +them to go over and fight against the infidels should it happen that +others should go. And before leaving he had from them and from Messer John +a promise on the sacrament that they would go, and they signed it with +their hands and sealed it with their seals._ + + So runs the old heading to this letter. It is piquant to contemplate +Catherine writing to that picturesque gentleman, Sir John Hawkwood. Her +attitude of friendly and almost sisterly sympathy with the audacious free- +lance appears in her unwonted addition of the word "glory" to her usual +formula, "The honour of God and the salvation of souls," in the last +sentence. We are told that the letter and Fra Raimondo produced a real +impression, and that Hawkwood not only vowed himself to the Crusade, but +that, no Crusade occurring, he from this time bore arms only in regular +warfare. He who follows the Englishman's subsequent career may perhaps +wonder a little what "regular warfare" meant to his mind. Yet let us +remember to his credit that Hawkwood protested against the massacre of +Cesena--nor was this the only occasion on which his nature flashed for a +moment a chivalrous light. May his bones rest in peace in the Duomo of +Florence, that city to the gates of which he brought terror and dismay, +but which bore him no grudge, and at the end decreed him splendid +funerals, and sepulchre among her honoured sons! + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +To you, most beloved and dear brothers in Christ Jesus: I Catherine, +servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write in His precious +Blood: with desire to see you a true son and knight of Christ, in such +wise that you may desire to give your life a thousand times, if need were, +in service of sweet and good Jesus. This is a gift which would pay off all +our sins, which we have committed against our Saviour. Dearest and +sweetest brother in Christ Jesus, it would be a great thing now if you +would withdraw a little into yourself, and consider, and reflect how great +are the pains and anguish which you have endured by being in the service +and pay of the devil. Now my soul desires that you should change your way +of life, and take the pay and the cross of Christ crucified, you and all +your followers and companions; so that you may be Christ's company, to +march against the infidel dogs who possess our Holy Place, where rested +the Sweet Primal Truth and bore death and pains for us. I beg you, then, +gently in Christ Jesus, that since God and also our Holy Father have +ordered a crusade against the infidels, and you take such pleasure in war +and fighting, you should not make war against Christians any more--for +this is a wrong to God; but go against the infidels! For it is a great +cruelty that we who are Christians, and members bound in the Body of Holy +Church, should persecute one another. We are not to do so; but to rise +with perfect zeal, and to uplift ourselves above every evil thought. + +I marvel much that you, having, as I heard, promised to be willing to go +to die for Christ in this holy crusade, are wanting to make war in these +parts. This is not that holy disposition which God demands from you if you +are to go to so holy and venerable a place. It seems to me that you ought +now, at this present time, to dispose you to virtue, until the time shall +come for us and the others who shall be ready to give their lives for +Christ: and thus you shall show that you are a manly and true knight. + +There is coming to you this father and son of mine, Brother Raimondo, who +brings you this letter. Trust in what he tells you; because he is a true, +faithful servant of God, and will advise you and say to you nothing except +what will be to the honour of God and the safety and glory of your soul. I +say no more. I beg you, dearest brother, to keep in memory the shortness +of your time. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, +Jesus Love. + + + + +TO MONNA COLOMBA IN LUCCA + + +Let us hope that the frivolous Monna Colomba listened to Catherine's +gentle but very explicit exhortations and turned away from her levities. +If she had a sense of humour--and it is a not uncommon possession of +light-minded elderly widows--she must have been lovingly entertained at +the pale virgin's identification of herself with those who "walk in the +way of luxuries and pleasures," and "set themselves up as an example of +sin and vanity." But Catherine's use of the first person in this +connection, strained though it may appear, is more than a figure of +speech, to soften the severity of her rebuke. We learn from the legend +that till the end of her life she never ceased to repent, bitterly and +with tears, for having at the age of twelve allowed an older sister to +dress her prettily, and blanch her hair after the fashion of the day. The +reason for this terrible lapse, as she told her confessor, was simply a +delight in beautiful things--but she always looked back on it with horror. + +The application of the finding of Christ in the Temple, in this letter, is +curious, but not devoid of grace. + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +To you, dearest sister and daughter in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, +servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write in His precious +Blood, with desire that I might see you a fruitful field, receiving the +seed of the Word of God, and bringing forth fruit for yourself and others. +I want to see you, who are now getting to be an old woman, and who are +free from worldly ties, a mirror of virtue to younger women, who are still +bound to the world by the tie of their husbands. + +Alas, alas, I perceive that we are unfruitful ground, for we are letting +the Word of God be smothered by the inordinate affections and desires of +the world, and are walking in the way of its luxuries and pleasures, +studying to please our fellow-beings rather than our Creator. And there is +a more wretched thing yet, for our own evil-doing is not enough for us; +where we ought to be an example of virtue and modesty, we set ourselves up +as an example of sin and vanity. And as the devil was not willing to fall +alone, but wanted a large company with him, so we are enticing other +people to those same vanities and amusements that we indulge in ourselves. +You ought to withdraw, by love of virtue and your salvation, from vain +diversions and worldly weddings--for they do not suit your condition--and +try to keep others away, who would like to be there. But you talk bad +talk, and entice young women, who are wanting to withdraw from going to +these things through love of virtue, because they see that it is wronging +God. I do not wonder, then, if no fruit appears, since the seed is +smothered as I said. Perhaps you would find some excuse in saying, +"Still, I have to condescend to my friends and relatives by doing this, so +that they will not be annoyed and irritated with me." So fear and +perverted self-indulgence sap our life, and often kill us; rob us of the +perfection to which God chose and calls us. This excuse is not acceptable +to God; for we ought not to condescend to people in a matter which wrongs +God and our own soul; nor to love or serve them, except in those matters +which come from God and befit our condition. + +Oh me, miserable! Was it our relatives or friends or any fellow-being who +bought us? No; Christ crucified alone was the Lamb who with love +unsearchable sacrificed His Body, making Him our Purification and Healing, +our Food and Raiment, and the Bed where we can rest. He had no regard to +love of self nor fleshly joy, but abased Himself in pain, enduring shames +and insults, seeking the honour of the Father and our salvation. It ill +befits that we poor miserable men should hold by another way than that +held by the Sweet Primal Truth. + +You know that God is not found in luxuries and pleasures. We perceive that +when Our Saviour was lost in the Temple, going to the Feast, Mary could +not find Him among friends or relatives, but found Him in the Temple +disputing with the doctors. And this He did to give us an example--for He +is our Rule, and the Way we should follow. Notice that it says that He was +lost when going to the Feast. Know, most beloved sister, that, as was +said, God is not found at feasts or balls or games or weddings or places +of recreation. Nay, going there is a very sure means of losing Him, and +falling into many sins and faults, and inordinate frivolous self- +indulgence. Since this is the reason that has made us lose God by grace, +is there any way to find Him again? Yes; to accompany Mary. Let us seek +Him with her, in bitterness and pain and distaste for the fault committed +against our Creator, to condescend to the will of men. It befits us then +to go to the Temple, and there He is found. Let our hearts, our minds, and +desires be lifted up with this Company of Bitterness, and let us go to the +Temple of our soul, and there we shall know ourselves. Then the soul, +recognizing itself not to be, will recognize the goodness of God towards +it, who is He who is. Then the will shall be uplifted with zeal, and shall +love what God loves and hate what God hates. Then, as it enters into +reason with itself, it will rebuke the memory which has held in itself the +gaieties and pleasures of the world, and has nor held nor retained the +favours and gifts and great benefits of God, who has given Himself to us +with so great fire of love. It will rebuke the mind, which has given +itself to understand the will of fellow-creatures, and the shows and +observances of the world, rather than the will of its Creator, and +therefore will and fleshly love have turned them to love and desire those +gross things of sense, which pass like the wind. The soul should not do +thus, but should note and know the will of God, which seeks and wants +naught but our sanctification, and has therefore given us life. + +God has not set you free from the world, for you are smothered and drowned +in the world by your affections and inordinate desires. Now, have you more +than one soul? No. If you had two, you might give one to God and the other +to the world. Nor have you more than one body, and this gets tired over +every little thing. + +Be a dispenser to the poor of your temporal substance. Submit you to the +yoke of holy and true obedience. Kill, kill your own will, that it may not +be so tied to your relatives, and mortify your body, and do not so pamper +it in delicate ways. Despise yourself, and have in regard neither rank nor +riches, for virtue is the only thing that makes us gentlefolk, and the +riches of this life are the worst of poverty when possessed with +inordinate love apart from God. Recall to memory what the glorious Jerome +said about this, which one can never repeat often enough, forbidding that +widows should abound in daintiness, or keep their face anointed, or their +garments choice or delicate. Nor should their conversation be with vain or +dissolute young women, but in the cell: they should do like the turtle- +dove, who, when her companion has died, mourns for ever, and keeps to +herself, and wants no other company. Limit your intercourse, dearest and +most beloved Sister, to Christ crucified; set your affection and desire on +following Him by the way of shame and true humility, in gentleness, +binding you to the Lamb with the bands of charity. + +This my soul desires, that you may be a true daughter, and a bride +consecrated to Christ, and a fruitful field, not sterile, but full of the +sweet fruits of true virtues. Hasten, hasten, for time is short and the +road is long. And if you gave all you have in the world, time would not +pause for you from running its course. I say no more. Remain in the holy +and sweet grace of God. Pardon me if I have said too many words, for the +love and zeal that I have for your salvation have made me say them. Know +that I would far rather do something for you than merely talk. May God +fill you with His most sweet Favour. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +TO BROTHER RAIMONDO OF CAPUA +OF THE ORDER OF THE PREACHERS + + +The following is one of the famous letters of the world. The record in art +and literature of the scene which it depicts has carried knowledge of +Catherine to many who otherwise would have but the vaguest idea of her +personality. The letter has been frequently translated, but most of the +translators have avoided the opening and closing paragraphs, with their +amazing, confused, and to our modern taste almost shocking metaphors. +Surely, however, we want the whole just as Catherine poured it out; full +of intense excitement, her emotions clearer than her ideas, lifted into a +region where taste and logic have no meaning, and using, to convey the +inexpressible feelings quickened by the events she describes, homeliest +figures of speech, such as her commercial surroundings naturally suggest +to her. For the matter of that, modern congregations sing with no +distress: + + "Jesus let me still abide + In Thy heart and Wounded Side." + +The reiteration of the figure of the Blood is here psychologically +inevitable. Catherine writes still quivering from close contact with the +victim of a mediaeval execution. + +A young gentleman from Perugia, Niccolo Tuldo by name, had been condemned +to death for speaking critically of the Sienese Government. It does not +appear that he was a serious political conspirator, but simply a young man +whose aristocratic sympathies led him thoughtlessly to the use of haughty +or bitter speech. But a _parvenu_ Government is always sensitive. We hear +of a man at this time being condemned and executed because he had not +invited one of the Riformatori to a feast! + +Death was lightly inflicted in those days: probably it was no more lightly +suffered than in our own. We have vivid accounts of the incredulity with +which Niccolo Tuldo received his sentence--incredulity leading to horror, +to rage, to rebellion, to black despair. Then Catherine went to him; her +own words tell the rest. As one reads of the wonderful effect of her +soothing presence, as one sees the terrified youth becoming quiet and +subdued, clinging wistfully to the spiritual strength of this frail woman, +and catching at the end not only her spirit of calm submission, but even +something of her exaltation, one is irresistibly reminded of another +scene--George Eliot's marvellous description in "Adam Bede" of Dinah's +ministry to Hetty in the prison. But this scene is real, that only +imagined; and here no third person, but the consoler herself, reveals the +meaning of the experience to her own spirit. + +In bringing Niccolo Tuldo to so illumined an end that he recognized the +judgment-place as holy, and died in full accord with the will of God, +Catherine achieved a great marvel which only Christianity can compass: she +lifted one of those seemingly purposeless and cruel accidents of destiny +which stagger faith, into unity with the organic work of the world's +redemption. + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Most beloved and dearest father and dear my son in Christ Jesus: I +Catherine, servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to +you, commending myself to you in the precious Blood of the Son of God; +with desire to see you inflamed and drowned in that His sweetest Blood, +which is blended with the fire of His most ardent charity. This my soul +desires, to see you therein, you and Nanni and Jacopo my son. I see no +other remedy by which we may reach those chief virtues which are necessary +to us. Sweetest father, your soul, which has made itself food for me--(and +no moment of time passes that I do not receive this food at the table of +the sweet Lamb slain with such ardent love)--your soul, I say, would not +attain the little virtue, true humility, were it not drowned in the Blood. +This virtue shall be born from hate, and hate from love. Thus the soul is +born with very perfect purity, as iron issues purified from the furnace. + +I will, then, that you lock you in the open side of the Son of God, which +is an open treasure-house, full of fragrance, even so that sin itself +there becomes fragrant. There rests the sweet Bride on the bed of fire and +blood. There is seen and shown the secret of the heart of the Son of God. +Oh, flowing Source, which givest to drink and excitest every loving +desire, and givest gladness, and enlightenest every mind and fillest every +memory which fixes itself thereon! so that naught else can be held or +meant or loved, save this sweet and good Jesus! Blood and fire, +immeasurable Love! Since my soul shall be blessed in seeing you thus +drowned, I will that you do as he who draws up water with a bucket, and +pours it over something else; thus do you pour the water of holy desire on +the head of your brothers, who are our members, bound to us in the body of +the sweet Bride. And beware, lest through illusion of the devils--who I +know have given you trouble, and will give you--or through the saying of +some fellow-creature, you should ever draw back: but persevere always in +the hour when things look most cold, until we may see blood shed with +sweet and enamoured desires. + +Up, up, sweetest my father! and let us sleep no more! For I hear such news +that I wish no more bed of repose or worldly state. I have just received a +Head in my hands, which was to me of such sweetness as heart cannot think, +nor tongue say, nor eye see, nor the ears hear. The will of God went on +through the other mysteries wrought before; of which I do not tell, for it +would be too long. I went to visit him whom you know: whence he received +such comfort and consolation that he confessed, and prepared himself very +well. And he made me promise by the love of God that when the time of the +sentence should come, I would be with him. So I promised, and did. Then in +the morning, before the bell rang, I went to him: and he received great +consolation. I led him to hear Mass, and he received the Holy Communion, +which he had never before received. His will was accorded and submitted to +the will of God; and only one fear was left, that of not being strong at +the moment. But the measureless and glowing goodness of God deceived him, +creating in him such affection and love in the desire of God that he did +not know how to abide without Him, and said: "Stay with me, and do not +abandon me. So it shall not be otherwise than well with me. And I die +content." And he held his head upon my breast. I heard then the rejoicing, +and breathed the fragrance of his blood; and it was not without the +fragrance of mine, which I desire to shed for the sweet Bridegroom Jesus. +And, desire waxing in my soul, feeling his fear, I said: "Comfort thee, +sweet my brother; since we shall soon arrive at the Wedding Feast. Thou +shalt go there bathed in the sweet Blood of the Son of God, with the sweet +Name of Jesus, which I will never to leave thy memory. And I await thee at +the place of justice." Now think, father and son, his heart then lost all +fear, and his face changed from sorrow to gladness; and he rejoiced, he +exulted, and said: "Whence comes such grace to me, that the sweetness of +my soul will await me at the holy place of justice?" See, that he had come +to so much light that he called the place of justice holy! And he said: "I +shall go wholly joyous, and strong, and it will seem to me a thousand +years before I arrive, thinking that you are awaiting me there." And he +said words so sweet as to break one's heart, of the goodness of God. + +I waited for him then at the place of justice; and waited there with +constant prayer, in the presence of Mary and of Catherine, Virgin and +martyr. But before I attained, I prostrated me, and stretched my neck upon +the block; but my desire did not come there, for I had too full +consciousness of myself. Then up! I prayed, I constrained her, I cried +"Mary!" for I wished this grace, that at the moment of death she should +give him a light and a peace in his heart, and then I should see him reach +his goal. Then my soul became so full that although a multitude of people +were there, I could see no human creature, for the sweet promise made to +me. + +Then he came, like a gentle lamb; and seeing me, he began to smile, and +wanted me to make the sign of the Cross. When he had received the sign, I +said: "Down! To the Bridal, sweetest my brother! For soon shalt thou be in +the enduring life." He prostrated him with great gentleness, and I +stretched out his neck; and bowed me down, and recalled to him the Blood +of the Lamb. His lips said naught save Jesus! and, Catherine! And so +saying, I received his head in my hands, closing my eyes in the Divine +Goodness, and saying, "I will!" + +Then was seen God-and-Man, as might the clearness of the sun be seen. And +He stood wounded, and received the blood; in that blood a fire of holy +desire, given and hidden in the soul by grace. He received it in the fire +of His divine charity. When He had received his blood and his desire, He +also received his soul, which He put into the open treasure-house of His +Side, full of mercy; the primal Truth showing that by grace and mercy +alone He received it, and not for any other work. Oh, how sweet and +unspeakable it was to see the goodness of God! with what sweetness and +love He awaited that soul departed from the body! He turned the eye of +mercy toward her, when she came to enter within His Side, bathed in blood +which availed through the Blood of the Son of God. Thus received by God +through power--powerful is He to do! the Son also, Wisdom the Word +Incarnate, gave him and made him share the crucified love with which He +received painful and shameful death through the obedience which he showed +to the Father, for the good of the human race. And the hands of the Holy +Spirit locked him within. + +But he made a gesture sweet enough to draw a thousand hearts. And I do not +wonder, for already he tasted the divine sweetness. He turned as does the +Bride when she has reached the threshold of her bridegroom, who turns back +her head and her look, bowing to those who have accompanied her, and with +the gesture she gives signs of thanks. + +When he was at rest, my soul rested in peace and in quiet, in so great +fragrance of blood that I could not bear to remove the blood which had +fallen on me from him. + +Ah me, miserable! I will say no more. I stayed on the earth with the +greatest envy. And it seems to me that the first new stone is already in +place. Therefore do not wonder if I impose upon you nothing save to see +yourselves drowned in the blood and flame poured from the side of the Son +of God. Now then, no more negligence, sweetest my sons, since the blood is +beginning to flow, and to receive the life. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +TO GREGORY XI + + +This is the first letter to Gregory which has come down to us; it may or +may not have been the first which Catherine wrote him. That she had had +relations with him earlier seems fairly certain. As early as 1372 we find +her writing to Gerard du Puy, a relative of the Pope and Papal Legate in +Tuscany. This letter is evidently a reply, and contains passages which she +apparently expected du Puy to share with Gregory. Perhaps Gregory had made +approaches to her through his cousin. There was nothing unlikely at that +time in such action on the part of a great churchman, who, man of the +world though he was, retained a sincere reverence for humble men and +women. + +Be this as it may, Catherine in her letter to Gerard du Puy writes +concerning the condition of the Church in the strain of indignant sorrow +which she was to hold till her death: "In reply to the first of the three +things you ask me, I will say that I believe that our sweet Christ on +earth should do away entirely with two things which ravage the Bride of +Christ. The first is the over-great tenderness and care for relatives, +which ought to be entirely mortified. The other is that over-great good +nature which is founded on too great mercy.... Christ holds three vices as +especially evil--impurity, avarice, and swollen pride, which reign in the +Bride of Christ among the prelates, who care for nothing but luxuries and +honours and vast riches. A strong justice is needed to correct them, for +too great pity is the greatest cruelty. As to the other question, I say: +When I told you that you should toil for Holy Church, I was not thinking +only of the labours you should assume about temporal things, but chiefly +that you and the Holy Father ought to toil and do what you can to get rid +of the wolfish shepherds who care for nothing but eating and fine palaces +and big horses. Oh me, that which Christ won upon the wood of the Cross is +spent with harlots! I beg that if you were to die for it, you tell the +Holy Father to put an end to such iniquities. And when the time comes to +make priests or cardinals, let them not be chosen through flatteries or +moneys or simony; but beg him, as far as you can, that he notice well if +virtue and a good and holy fame are found in the man; and let him not +prefer a gentleman to a tradesman, for virtue is the thing that makes a +man gentle." Savonarola could hardly say more. + +This present letter must date from 1375, for the rebellion of the Tuscan +cities was gathering when she wrote. It is evident that Catherine at the +time had never met the Pope personally. She must, however, have gained +from hearsay a fairly just idea of his character; in the letter--one of +the most carefully composed which we have from her--we see her approaching +him with frankness, dignity, and courage, and also with a rare degree of +tact. It was one thing to speak her mind out through Gerard du Puy: it +must have been another to speak directly to the Head of Christendom. How +Catherine acquits herself the reader may judge. The hint that the "sweet +Christ on earth," the father of the faithful, lacks self-knowledge, is +made so delicately that offence could not be taken; yet as she proceeds +the indirect suggestion becomes unmistakable. Gregory is that weak prelate +in whom through self-indulgence holy justice is dead or dying; the smooth, +peaceable man, who to avoid incurring displeasure, shuts his eyes to the +corruption of the Church and the sins of her priests; he is the indolent +physician who anoints when he should cauterize. As soon as she deems his +mind prepared, comes the direct statement: "I hope by the goodness of God, +venerable father mine, that you will quench this [self-love] in yourself, +and will not love yourself for your own sake, nor your neighbour, nor +God." Nor does she shrink from more specific mention of the dangers which +beset him, in his devotion to the interests of "friends and parents," and +considerations of temporal policy. + +It is with relief, here as ever, that Catherine passes from criticism +implied or explicit to a strain of high enthusiasm by which she tries to +rouse the soul to all of latent manhood it may possess. She heartens +Gregory with stirring appeal to the memories of his great predecessors-- +yet more with impassioned reminder of that mystery of divine love and +sacrifice from which their strength was drawn. All that was possible to +them is possible to him, "for the same God is now that was then." "And if +up to this time we have not stood very firm," she says--associating +herself, as usual, with the weakness she would condemn--"I wish and pray +in truth that you deal manfully with the moment of time which remains, +following Christ, whose vicar you are." Gentle encouragement, and a +curious tone of almost maternal tenderness, pervade the rest of the +letter. In dealing with the political situation which Gregory confronted, +Catherine speaks without reserve. The suggestions concerning practical +matters with which the letter closes are lucid and to the point. +Altogether, it is a masterly document which the daughter of Jacopo +Benincasa despatches to the Head of Christendom. Reading it, one finds no +difficulty in understanding the influence which, as the sequel shows, she +established over the sensitive and religious if weak spirit of Gregory XI. + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +To you, most reverend and beloved father in Christ Jesus, your unworthy, +poor, miserable daughter Catherine, servant and slave of the servants of +Jesus Christ, writes in His precious Blood; with desire to see you a +fruitful tree, full of sweet and mellow fruits, and planted in fruitful +earth--for if it were out of the earth the tree would dry up and bear no +fruit--that is, in the earth of true knowledge of yourself. For the soul +that knows itself humbles itself, because it sees nothing to be proud of; +and ripens the sweet fruit of very ardent charity, recognizing in itself +the unmeasured goodness of God; and aware that it is not, it attributes +all its being to Him who Is. Whence, then, it seems that the soul is +constrained to love what God loves and to hate what He hates. + +Oh, sweet and true knowledge, which dost carry with thee the knife of +hate, and dost stretch out the hand of holy desire, to draw forth and kill +with this hate the worm of self-love--a worm that spoils and gnaws the +root of our tree so that it cannot bear any fruit of life, but dries up, +and its verdure lasts not! For if a man loves himself, perverse pride, +head and source of every ill, lives in him, whatever his rank may be, +prelate or subject. If he is lover of himself alone--that is, if he loves +himself for his own sake and not for God--he cannot do other than ill, and +all virtue is dead in him. Such a one is like a woman who brings forth her +sons dead. And so it really is; for he has not had the life of charity in +himself, and has cared only for praise and self-glory, and not for the +name of God. I say, then: if he is a prelate, he does ill, because to +avoid falling into disfavour with his fellow-creatures--that is, through +self-love--in which he is bound by self-indulgence--holy justice dies in +him. For he sees his subjects commit faults and sins, and pretends not to +see them and fails to correct them; or if he does correct them, he does it +with such coldness and lukewarmness that he does not accomplish anything, +but plasters vice over; and he is always afraid of giving displeasure or +of getting into a quarrel. All this is because he loves himself. Sometimes +men like this want to get along with purely peaceful means. I say that +this is the very worst cruelty which can be shown. If a wound when +necessary is not cauterized or cut out with steel, but simply covered with +ointment, not only does it fail to heal, but it infects everything, and +many a time death follows from it. + +Oh me, oh me, sweetest "Babbo" mine! This is the reason that all the +subjects are corrupted by impurity and iniquity. Oh me, weeping I say it! +How dangerous is that worm we spoke of! For not only does it give death to +the shepherd, but all the rest fall into sickness and death through it. +Why does that shepherd go on using so much ointment? Because he does not +suffer in consequence! For no displeasure visits one and no ill will, from +spreading ointment over the sick; since one does nothing contrary to their +will; they wanted ointment, and so ointment is given them. Oh, human +wretchedness! Blind is the sick man who does not know his own need, and +blind the shepherd-physician, who has regard to nothing but pleasing, and +his own advantage--since, not to forfeit it, he refrains from using the +knife of justice or the fire of ardent charity! But such men do as Christ +says: for if one blind man guide the other, both fall into the ditch. Sick +man and physician fall into hell. Such a man is a right hireling shepherd, +for, far from dragging his sheep from the hands of the wolf, he devours +them himself. The cause of all this is, that he loves himself apart from +God: so he does not follow sweet Jesus, the true Shepherd, who has given +His life for His sheep. Truly, then, this perverse love is perilous for +one's self and for others, and truly to be shunned, since it works too +much harm to every generation of people. I hope by the goodness of God, +venerable father mine, that you will quench this in yourself, and will not +love yourself for yourself, nor your neighbour for yourself, nor God; but +will love Him because He is highest and eternal Goodness, and worthy of +being loved; and yourself and your neighbour you will love to the honour +and glory of the sweet Name of Jesus. I will, then, that you be so true +and good a shepherd that if you had a hundred thousand lives you would be +ready to give them all for the honour of God and the salvation of His +creatures. O "Babbo" mine, sweet Christ on earth, follow that sweet +Gregory (the Great)! For all will be possible to you as to him; for he was +not of other flesh than you; and that God is now who was then: we lack +nothing save virtue, and hunger for the salvation of souls. But there is a +remedy for this, father: that we flee the love spoken of above, for +ourselves and every creature apart from God. Let no more note be given to +friends or parents or one's temporal needs, but only to virtue and the +exaltation of things spiritual. For temporal things are failing you from +no other cause than from your neglect of the spiritual. + +Now, then, do we wish to have that glorious hunger which these holy and +true shepherds of the past have felt, and to quench in ourselves that fire +of self-love? Let us do as they, who with fire quenched fire; for so great +was the fire of inestimable and ardent charity that burned in their hearts +and souls, that they were an-hungered and famished for the savour of +souls. Oh, sweet and glorious fire, which is of such power that it +quenches fire, and every inordinate delight and pleasure and all love of +self; and this love is like a drop of water, which is swiftly consumed in +the furnace! Should one ask me how men attained that sweet fire and +hunger--inasmuch as we are surely in ourselves unfruitful trees--I say +that those men grafted themselves into the fruitful tree of the most holy +and sweet Cross, where they found the Lamb, slain with such fire of love +for our salvation as seems insatiable. Still He cries that He is athirst, +as if saying: "I have greater ardour and desire and thirst for your +salvation than I show you with My finished Passion." O sweet and good +Jesus! Let pontiffs shame them, and shepherds, and every other creature, +for our ignorance and pride and self-indulgence, in the presence of so +great largess and goodness and ineffable love on the part of our Creator! +He has revealed Himself to us in our humanity, a Tree full of sweet and +mellow fruits, in order that we, wild trees, might graft ourselves in Him. +Now in this wise wrought that enamoured Gregory, and those other good +shepherds: knowing that they had no virtue in themselves, and gazing upon +the Word, our Tree, they grafted themselves in Him, bound and chained by +the bands of love. For in that which the eye sees does it delight, when +the thing is fair and good. They saw, then, and seeing they so bound them +that they saw not themselves, but saw and tasted everything in God. And +there was neither wind nor hail nor demons nor creatures that could keep +them from bearing cultivated fruits: since they were grafted in the +substance of our Tree, Jesus. They brought forth their fruits, then, from +the substance of sweet charity, in which they were united. And there is no +other way. + +This is what I wish to see in you. And if up to this time, we have not +stood very firm, I wish and pray in truth that the moment of time which +remains be dealt with manfully, following Christ, whose vicar you are, +like a strong man. And fear not, father, for anything that may result from +those tempestuous winds that are now beating against you, those decaying +members which have rebelled against you. Fear not; for divine aid is near. +Have a care for spiritual things alone, for good shepherds, good rulers, +in your cities--since on account of bad shepherds and rulers you have +encountered rebellion. Give us, then, a remedy; and comfort you in Christ +Jesus, and fear not. Press on, and fulfil with true zeal and holy what you +have begun with a holy resolve, concerning your return, and the holy and +sweet crusade. And delay no longer, for many difficulties have occurred +through delay, and the devil has risen up to prevent these things being +done, because he perceives his own loss. Up, then, father, and no more +negligence! Raise the gonfalon of the most holy Cross, for with the +fragrance of the Cross you shall win peace. I beg you to summon those who +have rebelled against you to a holy peace, so that all warfare may be +turned against the infidels. I hope by the infinite goodness of God that +He will swiftly send His aid. Comfort you, comfort you, and come, come, to +console the poor, the servants of God, your sons! We await you with eager +and loving desire. Pardon me, father, that I have said so many words to +you. You know that through the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. +I am certain that if you shall be the kind of tree I wish to see you, +nothing will hinder you. + +I beg you to send to Lucca and to Pisa with fatherly proposals, as God +shall instruct you, supporting them so far as can be, and summoning them +to remain firm and persevering. I have been at Pisa and at Lucca, up to +now, influencing them as much as I can not to make a league with the +decaying members that are rebelling against you: but they are in great +perplexity, because they have no comfort from you, and are constantly +urged to make it and threatened from the contrary side. However, up to the +present time, they have not wholly consented. I beg you also to write +emphatically to Messer Piero: and do it zealously, and do not delay. I say +no more. + +I have heard here that you have appointed the cardinals. I believe that it +would honour God and profit us more if you would take heed always to +appoint virtuous men. If the contrary is done, it will be a great insult +to God, and disaster to Holy Church. Let us not wonder later if God sends +us His disciplines and scourges; for the thing is just. I beg you to do +what you have to do manfully and in the fear of God. + +I have heard that you are to promote the Master of our Order to another +benefice. Therefore I beg you, by the love of Christ crucified, that if +this is so you will take pains to give us a good and virtuous Vicar. The +Order has need of it, for it has run altogether too wild. You can talk of +this with Messer Niccola da Osimo and the Archbishop of Tronto; and I will +write them about it. + +Remain in the sweet and holy grace of God. I ask you humbly for your +blessing. Pardon my presumption, that I presume to write to you. Sweet +Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +TO GREGORY XI + + +There is less formality here than in the first letter to Gregory. +Catherine in writing to the Pope soon felt herself as much at home as a +child in her earthly father's house. The little pet name, "Babbo," which +she habitually uses to him, could be translated only by "Daddy"--which +would sound so strange in English ears that it seems best to let the +Italian stand. There is something touching as well as entertaining in the +spirit of childlike freedom to which such a term bears witness. + +The Anti-Papal League has become a grim reality. The un-Christian pomp and +arrogance of ruling prelates, the mean cruelty of William of Noellet in +refusing to allow corn to be imported from the Papal States in Tuscany in +time of famine, the harshness and lack of tact in the policy of Gregory +toward his unsatisfactory children, were all forces potent to destroy +among the rebels any strong sense of committing a religious crime in their +opposition to the Church. Catherine stands as mediator between the two +parties. Not for a moment condoning the sin of a rebellion heinous indeed +in her eyes, she yet does not allow the Pope to forget that the chief +cause of the trouble has been the unjust and iniquitous things which the +Florentines have endured from the Legates--men "whom you know yourself"-- +so she writes with vigorous plebeian candour--"whom you know yourself to +be incarnate demons"! Let God's vicegerent, then, show forth the love of +God, and find in the divine attitude toward rebellious man an example for +his own attitude toward his rebellious cities. Conciliation is to her mind +the only wisdom. There is practical sagacity in her remark in another +letter: "On with benignity, father! For know that every rational creature +is more easily conquered by love and benignity than by anything else: and +especially these Italians of ours in these parts. I do not see any other +way in which you can conquer them, but if you do this you can do anything +you like with them." + +The beautiful opening meditation on the Love of God as shown in creation +and redemption is then no mere general exordium, but in close dramatic +unity with the sequel of the letter. The Augustinian theology, however +alien to our modern modes of thought, has, as she puts it, a nobility not +to be ignored. As presented briefly here, and more grandly by Dante in the +seventh canto of the _Paradiso_, it represents the supreme effort of the +law-reverencing mind of the Latin Church to formulate the methods of +Infinite Love. In the curious figure of the Tournament, we have a +characteristic play of mediaeval fancy. As Langland puts it, a little +differently: + + "Then was Faith in a fenestre, and cryed: Ah! Fili David! + As doth an heraude of armes when adventrous cometh to jousts. + Olde Jewes of Jerusalem for joy they sungen, + Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini. + Then I fraynčd at Faith what all that fare meant, + And who should joust in Jerusalem: 'Jesus,' he said, + 'And fetch that the fiend claimeth: Piers' fruit the Plowman.' + 'Is Piers in this place?' quoth I: and he winked at me,-- + 'This Jesus of His gentrice will joust in Piers' armes, + In his helme and in his habergeon, humana natura.'" + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Most holy and most reverend my father in Christ Jesus: I Catherine your +poor unworthy daughter, servant and slave of the servants of Christ, write +to you in His precious Blood; with desire to see you a good shepherd. For +I reflect, sweet my "Babbo," that the wolf is carrying away your sheep, +and there is no one found to help them. So I hasten to you, our father and +our shepherd, begging you on behalf of Christ crucified to learn from Him, +who with such fire of love gave Himself to the shameful death of the most +holy Cross, to rescue that lost sheep, the human race, from the hands of +the demons; because, through man's rebellion against God, they were +holding it for their own possession. + +Then comes the Infinite Goodness of God, and sees the evil state and the +loss and the ruin of these sheep, and sees that they cannot be won back by +wrath or war. So, notwithstanding that it has been wronged by them--since +man deserved an infinite penalty for his disobedient rebellion against +God--Highest and Eternal Wisdom will not do thus; but finds an attractive +way, the most gentle and loving possible to find. For it sees that the +heart of man is in no wise so drawn as by love, because he was made by +love. This seems to be the reason why he loves so much, that he was made +by nothing but love, both his soul and his body. For by love God created +him in His Image and Likeness, and by love his father and mother gave him +substance, conceiving and bearing a son. God, therefore, seeing that man +is so ready to love, throws the book of love straight at him, giving him +the Word His Only-Begotten Son, who takes our humanity, to make a great +peace. But justice wills that vengeance should be wrought for the wrong +that has been done to God: so comes Divine Mercy and unspeakable Charity, +and to satisfy justice and mercy condemns His Son to death, having clothed +Him in our humanity--that is, with the clay of Adam, who sinned. So by His +death the wrath of the Father is pacified, having wrought justice on the +person of His son: so He has satisfied justice and has satisfied mercy, +releasing the human race from the hands of demons. This sweet Word jousted +in His arms upon the wood of the most holy Cross, death making a +tournament with life, and life with death: so that by His death He +destroyed our death, and to give us life He sacrificed the life of His +body. So then with love He has drawn us, and has conquered our malice with +His benignness, in so much that every heart should be drawn to Him: since +greater love one cannot show--and this He Himself said--than to give one's +life for one's friend. And if He commends the love which gives one's life +for a friend, what, then, shall we say of that most burning and complete +love which gave its life for its foe? For we through sin had been made +foes of God. Oh, sweet and amorous Word, who with love hast found thy +flock once more, and with love hast given Thy life for them, and hast +brought them back into the fold, restoring to them the Grace which they +had lost! + +Holiest sweet "Babbo" mine, I see no other way for us, and no other help +in winning back your sheep, which have left the fold of Holy Church in +rebellion, not obedient nor subject to you, their father. I pray you +therefore, on behalf of Christ crucified, and I will that you do me this +grace, to overcome their malice with your benignity. Yours we are, father! +I know and recognize that they all feel that they have done wrong; but +although they have no excuse for their evil deeds, nevertheless it seemed +to them that they could not do otherwise on account of the many sufferings +and unjust and iniquitous things that they endured from bad shepherds and +governors. For, breathing the stench of the life of many rulers whom you +know yourself to be incarnate demons, they fell into the worst of fears, +so that they did like Pilate, who, not to lose the government, killed +Christ; so did they, for not to lose the state, they persecuted you. I ask +you, then, father, to show them mercy. Do not have regard to the ignorance +and pride of your sons; but with the food of love and of your benignity, +inflicting such sweet discipline and benign reproof as shall please your +Holiness, restore peace to us miserable children who have done wrong. I +tell you, sweet Christ on earth, on behalf of Christ in Heaven, that if +you do thus, without any strife or tempest, they will all come, grieving +for the wrong they have done, and will put their heads in your bosom. Then +you will rejoice, and we shall rejoice, because by love you have restored +the wandering sheep to the fold of Holy Church. And then, sweet my +"Babbo," you will fulfil your holy desire and the will of God, by making +the holy Crusade, which I summon you in His Name to do swiftly and without +negligence. They will turn to it with great eagerness; they are ready to +give their life for Christ. Ah me, God, sweet Love! Raise swiftly, +"Babbo," the gonfalon of the most holy Cross, and you will see the wolves +become lambs. Peace, peace, peace, that war may not delay this happy time! +But if you will wreak vengeance and justice, take them upon me, poor +wretch, and give me any pain and torment that may please you, even to +death. I believe that through the stench of my iniquities many evils have +happened, and many misfortunes and discords. On me, then, your poor +daughter, take any vengeance that you will. Ah me, father, I die of grief +and cannot die! Come, come, and resist no more the will of God that calls +you; and the hungry sheep await your coming to hold and possess the place +of your predecessor and champion, Apostle Peter. For you, as the Vicar of +Christ, should rest in your own place. Come, then, come, and delay no +more; and comfort you, and fear not for anything that might happen, since +God will be with you. I ask humbly your benediction, for me and for all my +sons; and I beg you to pardon my presumption. I say no more. Remain in the +holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +TO GREGORY XI + + + "Ahi, Constantin, di quanto mal fu matre, + Non la tua conversion, ma quella dote + Che da te prese il primo ricco patre!" + +"For ever since Holy Church has aimed more at temporal than at spiritual +things, matters have gone from bad to worse." Catherine's sorrowful +denunciations of the sins of the Church recall the thought of Dante, the +thought of Petrarch--which is also the thought of all the great saints, +seers, and loyal Catholics, to whom through the Christian ages the +shortcoming of their spiritual mother has meant grief beyond words. The +lovely conception of Holy Church as a garden, borrowed though it be from +Holy Writ, she has made peculiarly her own by constant repetition. We +recognize in it the womanly imagination which, we are told, always found +refreshment in wreathing fragrant flowers and walking abroad through the +fields and woods. + +Catherine in this letter presents explicitly her threefold policy: reform +of the Church, return to Rome, the initiation of a Crusade. In her little +letter to Sir John Hawkwood, we have already seen her devotion to this +last cause. A Crusade in the fourteenth century was not to be. +Nevertheless, Catherine never showed more political wisdom than in this +matter, and it was the one aim of her life in which she wholly failed. We +have in the Legenda Minore a racy account of a personal interview with +Gregory on the subject, in which she presented cogent considerations to +him. She shrewdly suggested that the mercenary troops who ravaged Italy, +and were "the very cause and nourishment of war," would gladly turn their +arms against the infidel, "For there are few people so wicked that they +are not willing to serve God by indulging their taste: all men would +gladly expiate their sins by doing what they enjoy." Behind all such +considerations of policy, however, lay, as we clearly see, the intense +desire that the infidels should be saved. And not for their own sake only. +Desperate and desolate as she beheld the worldliness of Christian folk, +and their remoteness from the faith and ardour of an earlier time, +Catherine ventured to dream that new converts, won from the peoples that +sat in darkness, might revive the spiritual life of Christendom by the +infusion of spiritual passion strong in young purity. "Oh, what joy it +would be," she wrote to Gregory, "could we see the Christian people +convert the Infidel! For when they had once received the Light, they might +reach great perfection, like a young plant which has escaped the wintry +cold of faithlessness, and expands in the warmth and light of the Holy +Spirit; so they might bear flowers and fruits of virtue in the mystical +body of Holy Church; so that the fragrance of their virtue might help us +to drive away the sins and vice, the pride and impurity, which abound to- +day among the Christian people, and above all among those high in Holy +Church." + +It was a strange dream, and hopeless; but it was the dream of a saint. + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Most holy and dear and sweet father in Christ sweet Jesus: I your unworthy +daughter Catherine, servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, +write to you in His precious Blood. With desire have I desired to see in +you the fulness of divine grace, in such wise that you may be the means, +through divine grace, of pacifying all the universal world. Therefore, I +beg you, sweet my father, to use the instrument of your power and virtue, +with zeal, and hungry desire for the peace and honour of God and the +salvation of souls. And should you say to me, father--"The world is so +ravaged! How shall I attain peace?" I tell you, on behalf of Christ +crucified, it befits you to achieve three chief things through your power. +Do you uproot in the garden of Holy Church the malodorous flowers, full of +impurity and avarice, swollen with pride: that is, the bad priests and +rulers who poison and rot that garden. Ah me, you our Governor, do you use +your power to pluck out those flowers! Throw them away, that they may have +no rule! Insist that they study to rule themselves in holy and good life. +Plant in this garden fragrant flowers, priests and rulers who are true +servants of Jesus Christ, and care for nothing but the honour of God and +the salvation of souls, and are fathers of the poor. Alas, what confusion +is this, to see those who ought to be a mirror of voluntary poverty, meek +as lambs, distributing the possessions of Holy Church to the poor: and +they appear in such luxury and state and pomp and worldly vanity, more +than if they had turned them to the world a thousand times! Nay, many +seculars put them to shame who live a good and holy life. But it seems +that Highest and Eternal Goodness is having that done by force which is +not done by love; it seems that He is permitting dignities and luxuries to +be taken away from His Bride, as if He would show that Holy Church should +return to her first condition, poor, humble, and meek as she was in that +holy time when men took note of nothing but the honour of God and the +salvation of souls, caring for spiritual things and not for temporal. For +ever since she has aimed more at temporal than at spiritual, things have +gone from bad to worse. See therefore that God, in judgment, has allowed +much persecution and tribulation to befall her. But comfort you, father, +and fear not for anything that could happen, which God does to make her +state perfect once more, in order that lambs may feed in that garden, and +not wolves who devour the honour that should belong to God, which they +steal and give to themselves. Comfort you in Christ sweet Jesus; for I +hope that His aid will be near you, plenitude of divine grace, aid and +support divine in the way that I said before. Out of war you will attain +greatest peace; out of persecution, greatest unity; not by human power, +but by holy virtue, you will discomfit those visible demons, wicked men, +and those invisible demons who never sleep around us. + +But reflect, sweet father, that you could not do this easily unless you +accomplished the other two things which precede the completion of the +other: that is, your return to Rome and uplifting of the standard of the +most holy Cross. Let not your holy desire fail on account of any scandal +or rebellion of cities which you might see or hear; nay, let the flame of +holy desire be more kindled to wish to do swiftly. Do not delay, then, +your coming. Do not believe the devil, who perceives his own loss, and so +exerts himself to rob you of your possessions in order that you may lose +your love and charity and our coming be hindered. I tell you, father in +Christ Jesus, come swiftly like a gentle lamb. Respond to the Holy Spirit +who calls you. I tell you, Come, come, come, and do not wait for time, +since time does not wait for you. Then you will do like the Lamb Slain +whose place you hold, who without weapons in His hand slew our foes, +coming in gentleness, using only the weapons of the strength of love, +aiming only at care of spiritual things, and restoring grace to man who +had lost it through sin. + +Alas, sweet my father, with this sweet hand I pray you, and tell you to +come to discomfit our enemies. On behalf of Christ crucified I tell it +you: refuse to believe the counsels of the devil, who would hinder your +holy and good resolution. Be manly in my sight, and not timorous. Answer +God, who calls you to hold and possess the seat of the glorious Shepherd +St. Peter, whose vicar you have been. And raise the standard of the holy +Cross; for as we were freed by the Cross--so Paul says--thus raising this +standard, which seems to me the refreshment of Christians, we shall be +freed--we from our wars and divisions and many sins, the infidel people +from their infidelity. In this way you will come and attain the +reformation, giving good priests to Holy Church. Fill her heart with the +ardent love that she has lost; for she has been so drained of blood by the +iniquitous men who have devoured her that she is wholly wan. But comfort +you, and come, father, and no longer make to wait the servants of God, who +afflict themselves in desire. And I, poor, miserable woman, can wait no +more; living, I seem to die in my pain, seeing God thus reviled. Do not, +then, hold off from peace because of the circumstance which has occurred +at Bologna, but come; for I tell you that the fierce wolves will put their +heads in your bosom like gentle lambs, and will ask mercy from you, +father. I say no more. I beg you, father, to hear and hark that which Fra +Raimondo will say to you, and the other sons with him, who come in the +Name of Christ crucified and of me; for they are true servants of God and +sons of Holy Church. Pardon, father, my ignorance, and may the love and +grief which make me speak excuse me to your benignity. Give me your +benediction. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus +Love. + + + + +TO BROTHER RAIMONDO OF CAPUA +AT AVIGNON + + +The last letter tells us that Catherine had sent to the Pope her beloved +Confessor, who was later to become her biographer--Fra Raimondo of Capua. +It is evident that the simple Italian priest and his companions have +become somewhat daunted by the conditions they have encountered at +Avignon; and, indeed, the subtlest temptations and most perplexing +problems that Europe could furnish were doubtless focussed at the Papal +Court. Just what the difficulties were which Raimondo had confided to +Catherine and which called forth this spirited answer, we do not know, but +we can easily imagine their nature. A holy man of considerable learning, +Fra Raimondo was also of mild disposition, much inclined to sigh over +dangers and blench before exposure. Catherine, on more than one occasion, +showed herself the better man of the two. There was a militant strain in +her bright nature; she was really the "Happy Warrior"-- + + "Whose powers shed round him in the common strife + Or mild concerns of ordinary life + A constant influence, a peculiar grace; + But who if he be called upon to face + Some awful moment to which Heaven has joined + Great issues, good or bad for human kind, + Is happy as a Lover; and attired + With sudden brightness, like a man inspired; + And, through the heat of conflict, keeps the law + In calmness made, and sees what he foresaw." + +So, in this letter, we find the daughter encouraging the father, with +reflections much in the temper of Browning: + + "Was the trial sore, + Temptation sharp? Thank God a second time! + Why come temptations but for man to meet, + And master, and make crouch beneath his feet, + And so be pedestalled in triumph!" + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Reverend father in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and slave of +the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His precious Blood: with +desire to see you and the other sons clothed in the wedding garment that +covers all our nakedness. That is a protection which does not let the +blows of our adversary the devil pierce our flesh with mortal wound, but +makes us rather strengthened than weakened by every blow of temptation or +molesting of devils or fellow-creatures or our own flesh, rebellious to +the spirit. I say that these blows not only do not hurt us, but they shall +be precious stones and pearls placed on this garment of most burning +charity. + +Now suppose there should be a soul that did not have to endure many +labours and temptations, from whatever direction and in whatever wise God +may grant them. No virtue would be tested in it; for virtue is tested by +its opposite. How is purity tested and won? Through the contrary--that is, +through the vexations of uncleanliness. For were a man unclean already, +there would be no need for him to be molested by unclean reflections, but +because it is evident that his will is free from all depraved consenting, +and purified from every spot by his holy and true desire to serve his +Creator, therefore the devil, the world, and the flesh molest him. Yes, +everything is driven out by its opposite. See how humility is won through +pride. When a man sees himself molested by that vice of pride, at once he +humbles himself, recognizing himself to be faulty--proud: while had he not +been so molested he would not have known himself so well. When he has +humbled and seen himself, he conceives hatred in such wise that he joys +and exults in every pain and injury that he bears. Such a one is like a +manful knight, who does not avoid blows. Nay, he holds him unworthy of so +great grace, as it seems to him to be, to bear pain, temptations and +vexations for Christ crucified. All is through the hate he has for +himself, and the love he has conceived for virtue. + +So you see that we are not to flee nor to grieve in the time of darkness, +since from the darkness light is born. O God, sweet Love, what sweet +doctrine Thou givest, that through the contrary of virtue, virtue is won! +Out of impatience is won patience; for the soul that feels the vice of +impatience becomes patient over the injury received, and is impatient +toward the vice of impatience, and is more hurt because it is hurt than +over anything else. And so out of the very contrary its perfection comes +to be won. It is not aware of this; it finds itself become perfect in many +storms and temptations. In no other wise does one ever arrive at the +harbour of perfection. + +Yea, meditate on this: that the soul can never receive nor desire virtue, +unless it has cravings, vexations and temptations to endure with true and +holy patience for the love of Christ crucified. We ought, then, to joy and +exult in the time of conflicts, vexations and shadows, since from them +proceeds such virtue and delight. Oh me, my son given me by Mary that +sweet mother, I do not want you to fall into weariness or confusion +through any vexations that you might feel in your mind; but I want you to +keep that good and holy and true faithful will which I know that God in +His mercy has given you. I know that you would rather die than offend Him +mortally. Yes, I want that out of the shadows should issue knowledge of +yourself, free from confusion; out of your goodwill should issue knowledge +of the infinite goodness and unspeakable charity of God; and in this +knowledge may our soul abide and fatten. Reflect that through love He +keeps your will good, and does not let it run by its own consent or +pleasure after the suggestions of the devil. And so, through love, He has +permitted to you and me and His other servants, the many vexations and +deceits of the devil and fellow-creatures and our own flesh, solely in +order that we might rise from negligence, and reach perfect zeal, true +humility and most ardent charity: humility which comes from knowledge of +self, and charity which comes from knowledge of the goodness of God. There +is the soul inspired and consumed by love. + +Joy, father, and exult; and comfort you, without any servile fear, and +fear not, for any thing that you should see happen. But comfort you: for +perfection is near you. And answer the devil saying: "That power against +you did not work through me, since it was not in me; it works through +grace of the infinite pity and mercy of God." Yes, through Christ +crucified you shall be able to do all things. Carry on all your works with +living faith; and do not wonder should you see some contrary circumstance +present itself which seemed to oppose your work. Comfort you, comfort you, +because the Sweet Primal Truth has promised to fulfil your and my desire +for you. Slay yourself through your burning desire, with the Lamb that was +slain; rest you upon the Cross with Christ crucified. Rejoice in Christ +crucified; rejoice in pains; steep yourself in shames for Christ +crucified; graft your heart and your affection into the tree of the most +holy Cross with Christ crucified, and make in His wounds your habitation. +And pardon me, cause and instrument that I am of your every pain and +imperfection; for were I an instrument of virtue, you and others would +breathe the fragrance of virtue. And I do not say these words because I +want you to suffer, for your suffering would be mine; but that you may +have compassion, you and the other sons, upon my miseries. I hope and +firmly hold, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, that He will put limit +and end to all those things that are apart from the will of God. + +Reflect that I, poor miserable woman, abide in the body, and find me +through desire continually away from the body. Oh me, sweet and good +Jesus! I die and cannot die, my heart breaks and cannot break, from the +desire that I have of the renewal of Holy Church, for the honour of God +and the salvation of every creature; and to see you and the others arrayed +in purity, burned and consumed in His most ardent charity! + +Tell Christ on earth not to make me wait longer; and when I shall see him, +I shall sing with Simeon, that sweet old man: "Nunc dimittis servum tuum, +Domine, secundum verbum tuum, in pace." I say no more; for did I follow my +wish, I should begin again at once. Make me see and feel you bound and +fastened into Christ sweet Jesus, in such wise that nor demon nor creature +can ever separate you from so sweet a bond. Love, love, love one another. +Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +TO CATARINA OF THE HOSPITAL AND GIOVANNA DI CAPO + + +From the comparative quiet of her home Catherine looks off to far +horizons, surveying the religious and political world. She can encourage +Fra Raimondo, yet the sword has pierced her heart. This letter is full of +sickening recognition of evils that hold grave prevision of worse +disaster. Even now we see clearly formed in Catherine's mind that strange +sense of responsibility for the sins of her time, so illogical to the +natural, so inevitable to the spiritual vision. "I believe that I am the +wretched woman who is the cause of so great evils!" Thus she cries, not in +rhetorical figure of speech, but in deep conviction. It is a conviction +destined to grow more intense till it leads direct to her spiritual +martyrdom. + +Out of her pain she turns to the simple women, her daughters and +companions in faith, calling on them to join her in the life of +intercession and expiation. Then her thought fastens on one little lamb of +the flock--one who had strayed and been rescued, and was in danger of +straying again; and in care for this one soul needing shelter and strength +she finds comfort. Catherine's sense of proportion is that of the +spiritual man so finely presented by Browning in the person of Lazarus. +Let Andrea be saved, and the corruption of the Church will seem less +painful! She can say as her last word, "Sweet daughters, now is the time +for toils, which must be our consolations in Christ crucified." + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest daughters in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and slave of +the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His precious Blood, with +desire to see you established in true patience and deep humility, so that +you may follow the sweet and Spotless Lamb, for you could not follow Him +in other wise. Now is the time, my daughters, to show if we have virtue, +and if you are daughters or not. It behoves you to bear with patience the +persecutions and detractions, slanders and criticisms of your fellow- +creatures, with true humility, and not with annoyance or impatience; nor +must you lift up your head in pride against any person whatever. Know well +that this is the teaching which has been given us, that it behoves us to +receive on the Cross the food of the honour of God and the salvation of +souls, with holy and true patience. Ah me, sweetest daughters, I summon +you on behalf of the Sweet Primal Truth to awaken from the sleep of +negligence and selfish love of yourselves, and to offer humble and +continual prayers, with many vigils, and with knowledge of yourselves, +because the world is perishing through the crowding multitude of +iniquities, and the irreverence shown to the sweet Bride of Christ. Well, +then, let us give honour to God, and our toils to our neighbour. Ah, me, +do not be willing, you or the other servants of God, that our life should +end otherwise than in mourning and in sighs, for by no other means can be +appeased the wrath of God, which is evidently falling upon us. + +Ah, me, misfortunate! My daughters, I believe that I am the wretched woman +who is the cause of so many evils, on account of the great ingratitude and +other faults which I have committed toward my Creator. Ah, me! ah, me! Who +is God, who is wronged by His creatures? He is Highest and eternal +Goodness, who in His love created man in His image and likeness, and re- +created him by grace, after his sin, in the Blood of the immaculate and +enamoured Lamb, His Only-Begotten Son. And who is mercenary and ignorant +man, who wrongs his Creator? We are those who are not ourselves by +ourselves, save in so far as we are made by God, but by ourselves we are +full of every wretchedness. It seems as if people sought nothing except in +what way they could wrong God and their fellow-creatures, in contempt of +the Creator. We see with our wretched eyes that Blood which has given us +life persecuted in the holy Church of God. Then let our hearts break in +torment and grieving desire; let life stay in our body no more, but let us +rather die than behold God so reviled. I die in life, and demand death +from my Creator and cannot have it. Better were it for me to die than to +live, instead of beholding such disaster as has befallen and is to befall +the Christian people. + +Let us draw the weapons of holy prayer, for other help I see not. That +time of persecution has come upon the servants of God when they must hide +in the caves of knowledge of themselves and of God, craving His mercy +through the merits of the Blood of His Son. I will say no more, for if I +did according to my choice, my daughters, I should never rest until God +removed me from this life. + +To thee now I say, Andrea, that he who begins only never receives the +crown of glory, but he who perseveres till death. O daughter mine, thou +hast begun to put thy hand to the plough of virtue, leaving the parbreak +of mortal sin; it behoves thee, then, to persevere, to receive the reward +of thy labour, which thy soul endures, choosing to bridle its youth, that +it may not run to be a member of the devil. Ah me, my daughter! And hast +thou not reflection that thou wast once a member of the devil, sleeping in +the filth of impurity, and that God by His mercy drew thee from that great +misery in which thou wast, thy soul and thy body? It does not befit thee, +then, to be ungrateful nor forgetful, for evil would befall thee, and the +devil would come back with seven companions stronger than at first. Then +thou shalt show the grace thou hast received by being grateful and +mindful, when thou shalt be strong in battles with the devil, the world, +and thy flesh, which vexes thee; thou must be persevering in virtue. +Cling, my daughter, if thou wilt escape such vexations, to the Tree of the +most holy Cross, in bodily abstinence, in vigil and in prayer, bathing +thee by holy desire in the blood of Christ crucified. So thou shalt attain +the life of grace, and do the will of God, and fulfil my desire, which +longs to have thee a true servant of Christ crucified. I beg thee +therefore not to be a child any longer, and to choose for Bridegroom +Christ crucified, who has bought thee with His Blood. If thou yet wishest +the life of the world, it befits thee to wait long enough so that the way +can be found of giving it to thee in a way that shall be for the honour of +God and for thy good. Be subject and obedient till death, and do not +contradict the will of Catarina and Giovanna, who I know will never +counsel thee or tell thee anything that is not for the honour of God and +the salvation of thy soul and body. If thou dost not behave so, thou wilt +displease me very much, and do thyself little good. I hope in the goodness +of God that thou wilt so act that He will be honoured, and thou shalt have +thy reward and give me great consolation. + +I tell thee, Catarina and Giovanna, to work till death for the honour of +God and her salvation. Sweet daughters, now is the time for toils, which +must be our consolations in Christ crucified. I say no more. Remain in the +holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +TO SISTER DANIELLA OF ORVIETO +CLOTHED WITH THE HABIT OF SAINT DOMINIC WHO NOT BEING ABLE TO CARRY OUT +HER GREAT PENANCES HAD FALLEN INTO DEEP AFFLICTION + + +Catherine's beloved sister Daniella is in trouble. As happened to many +others leading the dedicated life in the middle ages, she has carried her +scorn of the body past all bounds of reason, has fallen ill and been +obliged to care for her poor physical nature. Catherine, who is +perpetually trying to raise Fra Raimondo and others in her spiritual +family to more heroic heights, recognizes the different needs of this +over-eager soul. She writes her friend, therefore, a long and tender +letter, one of the most elaborate among her many analyses of the means +that lead to perfection, urging upon her discretion and a sense of +proportion in spiritual things. It is noteworthy that Catherine's +exhortations to impassioned sacrifice are almost always delivered in +connection with the claims of active service, to the Church or fellow-men. +When writing to "contemplatives" absorbed in the ecstasies and trials of +the interior life, her habitual warnings are against excess, her constant +plea, as here, for a perception of relative values. She ranks, herself, +alike as a great "contemplative" and as a great woman of action: both +phases of experience relate to something deeper. Her soul was athirst for +the Infinite, and well she knew that neither in deeds nor in ascetic +ecstasy, but only in "holy desire," in the life of ceaseless aspiration +"which prays for ever in the presence of God," can our mortality attain to +untrammelled union with Infinite Being. + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest daughter and sister in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant +and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to thee in His precious +Blood, with desire to see in thee the holy virtue of discretion, which it +is necessary for us to have if we wish to be saved. Why is it so +necessary? Because it proceeds from the knowledge of ourselves and of God; +in this house its roots are planted. It is really an offspring of charity, +which, properly speaking, is discretion--an illumined knowledge which the +soul has, as I said, of God and itself. The chief thing it does is this: +having seen, in a reasonable light, what it ought to render and to whom, +it renders this with perfect discretion at once. So it renders glory to +God and praise to His Name; the soul achieves all its works by this light +and to this end. It renders to God His due of honour--not like an +indiscreet robber, who wants to give honour to himself, and, seeking his +own honour and pleasure, does not mind insulting God and harming his +neighbour. When the roots of inclination in the soul are rotted by +indiscretion, all its works, relating to others or to itself, are rotten. +All relating to others, I say: for it imposes burdens indiscreetly, and +lays down the law to other people, seculars or spiritual, or of whatever +rank they may be. If such a person admonishes or advises, he does it +indiscreetly, and wants to load everyone else with the burden which he +carries himself. The discreet soul, that sees its own need and that of +others reasonably, does just the opposite. When it has rendered to God His +due of honour, it gives its own due to itself--that is, hatred of sin and +of its own fleshliness. What is the reason? The love of virtue, which it +loves in itself. It renders its due to the neighbour with the same light +as to itself, and therefore I said, in relation to itself and to others. +So it gives goodwill to its neighbour, as it is bound to do, loving virtue +in him and hating sin. It loves him as a being created by the Highest +Eternal Father. And it gives him loving charity more or less perfectly, +according as it has this in itself. Yes, this is the principal result +which the virtue of discretion achieves in the soul: it has seen clearly +what due it ought to render, and to whom. + +These are three chief branches of that glorious discretion which springs +from the tree of charity. From this tree spring infinite fruits, all +mellow and very sweet, which nourish the soul in the life of grace, when +it plucks them with the hand of free will, and eats them with holy eager +desire. Whatever condition a person may be in, he tastes these fruits, if +he has the light of discretion, in diverse ways, according to his state. +He who is placed in the world, and has this light, gathers the fruit of +obedience to the commands of God, and distaste for the world, of which he +divests himself in mind, although he may be clothed with it in fact. If he +has children, he plucks the fruit of the fear of God, and nourishes them +with this holy fear. If he is a nobleman, he plucks the fruit of justice, +discreetly wishing to render to everyone his due--so he punishes the +unjust man rigorously, and rewards the just, tasting the fruit of reason, +and for no flatteries or servile fear deserts this way. If he is a +subject, he gathers the fruit of obedience and reverence toward his lord, +avoiding any cause or means by which he might offend him. Had he not seen +these things by the light, he would not have avoided them. If men are +monks or prelates, they get from the tree the sweet and pleasing fruit of +observing their Rule, enduring one another's faults, embracing shames and +annoyances, placing on their shoulders the yoke of obedience. The prelate +takes desire for the honour of God and the salvation of souls, seeking to +win them by doctrine and exemplary life. In what different ways and by +what different people these fruits are gathered! It would take too long to +tell them the tongue could not express it. + +But let us see, dearest daughter (now we will speak in particular, and so +we shall be speaking in general too), what rule that virtue of discretion +imposes on the soul. That rule seems to me to apply both to the soul and +body of people who wish to live spiritually, in deed and thought. To be +sure, it regulates every person in his rank and place: but let us now talk +to ourselves. The first rule it gives to the soul is that we have +mentioned--to render honour to God, goodwill to one's neighbour, and to +oneself, hatred of sin and of one's own fleshliness. It regulates this +charity toward the neighbour; for it is not willing to sacrifice the soul +to him, since, in order to do him good or pleasure, it is not willing to +offend God; but it flees from guilt discreetly, yet holds its body ready +for every pain and torment, even to death, to rescue a soul, and as many +souls as it can, from the hands of the devil. Also, it is ready to give up +all its temporal possessions to help and rescue the body of its neighbour. +Charity does this, when enlightened with discretion; for discretion should +regulate one's charity to one's neighbour. The indiscreet man does just +the contrary, who does not mind offending God, or sacrificing his soul, to +serve or please his neighbour--sometimes by keeping him company in wicked +places, sometimes by bearing false witness, or in many other ways, as +happens every day. This is the rule of indiscretion, which proceeds from +pride and perverse self-love and the blindness of not having known oneself +or God. + +And when measure and rule have been found in regard to charity to the +neighbour, discretion regulates also the matter which keeps the soul in +that charity, and makes it grow--that is, in faithful, humble, and +continual prayer; robing the soul in the cloak of desire for virtue, that +it may not be injured by lukewarmness, negligence, or self-love, spiritual +or temporal: therefore it inspires the soul with this desire for virtue, +that its desire may not be placed on anything by which it might be +deceived. + +Also, it rules and orders the creature physically, in this way: the soul +which is prepared to wish for God makes its beginning as we have said; but +because it has the vessel of its body, enlightened discretion must impose +a rule on this, as it has done upon the soul, since the body ought to be a +means for the increase of virtue. The rule withdraws it from the +indulgences and luxuries of the world, and the conversation of worldlings; +gives it conversation with the servants of God; takes it from dissolute +places, and keeps it in places that stimulate devotion. It imposes +restraint on all the members of the body, that they be modest and +temperate: let the eye not look where it should not, but hold before +itself earth, and heaven; let the tongue flee idle and vain speech, and be +disciplined to proclaim the word of God for the salvation of the +neighbour, and to confess its sins: let the ear flee agreeable, +flattering, dissolute words, and any words of detraction that might be +said to it; and let it hearken for the word of God, and the need of the +neighbour, willingly listening to his necessity. So let the hand be swift +in touching and working, and the feet in going: to all, discretion gives a +rule. And that the perverse law of the flesh that fights against the +spirit may not throw these tools into disorder, it imposes a rule upon the +body, mortifying it with vigil, fast, and the other exercises which are +all meant to bridle our body. + +But note, that all this is done, not indiscreetly, but with enlightened +discretion. How is this shown? In this: that the soul does not place its +chief desire in any act of penance. That it may not fall into such a fault +as to take penance for its chief desire, enlightened discretion takes +pains to robe the soul in the desire for virtue. Penance to be sure must +be used as a tool, in due times and places, as need may be. If the flesh, +being too strong, kicks against the spirit, penance takes the rod of +discipline, and fast, and the cilice of many buds, and mighty vigils; and +places burdens enough on the flesh, that it may be more subdued. But if +the body is weak, fallen into illness, the rule of discretion does not +approve of such a method. Nay, not only should fasting be abandoned, but +flesh be eaten; if once a day is not enough, then four times. If one +cannot stand up, let him stay on his bed; if he cannot kneel, let him sit +or lie down, as he needs. This discretion demands. Therefore it insists +that penance be treated as a means and not as a chief desire. + +Dost thou know why it must not be chief? That the soul may not serve God +with a thing that can be taken from it and that is finite: but with holy +desire, which is infinite, through its union with the infinite desire of +God; and with the virtues which neither devil nor fellow-creature nor +weakness can take from us, unless we choose. Herein must we make our +foundation, and not in penance. Nay, in weakness the virtue of patience +may be tested; in vexing conflicts with devils, fortitude and long +perseverance; and in adversities suffered from our fellow-beings, +humility, patience, and charity. So as to all other virtues--God lets them +be tested by many contraries, but never taken from us, unless we choose. +Herein must we make our foundation, and not in penance. The soul cannot +have two foundations: either the one or the other must be overthrown. Let +the thing which is not the chief, be used as a means. If I find my chief +principle in bodily penance, I build the city of my soul upon the sand, so +that each little breeze throws it to the earth, and no building can be +erected on it. But if I build upon the virtues, founded upon the Living +Stone, Christ sweet Jesus, there is no building so great that it will not +stand firmly, nor wind so contrary that it can ever blow it down. + +From these and many other difficulties that arise, it has not been meant +that penance should be used otherwise than as a means. I have already seen +many penitents who have been neither patient nor obedient, because they +have studied to kill their bodies, but not their wills. The rule of +indiscretion has wrought this. Dost thou know the result? All their +consolations and desires centre in carrying out their penance to suit +themselves, and not to suit anyone else. Therein they nourish their will. +While they can fulfil their penance, they have consolation and gladness, +and seem to themselves full of God, as if they had accomplished +everything; and they do not perceive that they fall into a mere personal +estimate, and into a judicial attitude. For if all people do not walk in +the same way, they seem to them in a state of damnation, an imperfect +state. They indiscreetly want to measure all bodies by one same measure, +by that with which they measure themselves. And if one wants to withdraw +them from this, either to break their will or from some necessity of +theirs, they hold their will harder than a diamond; living in such wise, +that at the time of test by a temptation or injury, they find themselves, +from indulgence in this wrong will, weaker than straw. + +Indiscretion taught them that penance bridled wrath, impatience, and the +other sinful impulses that come into the heart; it is not so. This +glorious light teaches thee that thou shalt kill sin in thy soul, and draw +out its roots, with hatred and displeasure against thyself, loading thy +fault with rebuke, with the consideration of who God is whom thou +wrongest, and who thou art who wrongest Him, with the memory of death and +the longing for virtue. Penance cuts off, yet thou wilt always find the +root in thee, ready to sprout again; but virtue pulls up. Earth in which +sins have been planted is always ready to receive them again if self-will +puts them there with free choice; not otherwise, when once the root is +pulled up. + +It may happen that a sick body is obliged perforce to give up its habits +of life; then it falls at once into weariness and confusion of mind, +deprived of all gladness: it thinks itself condemned and confounded, and +finds no sweetness in prayer, such as it seemed to have in the time of its +penance. And whither is this sweetness gone? Lost, with the personal will +on which it was built! This cannot be gratified, and so the soul suffers. +And why art thou fallen into such confusion and almost despair? And where +is the hope which thou hadst in the Kingdom of God? All lost, by means of +that very penance through which the soul hoped to have eternal life! +Capable of this no more, it thinks itself deprived of the other. + +These are the fruits of indiscretion. Had the soul the light of +discretion, it would see that nothing but being without virtues deprived +it of God; and it has eternal life through virtue, by the Blood of Christ. +Then let us rise above all imperfection, and set our heart, as I said, on +true virtues, which are of such joy and gladsomeness as tongue could not +tell. There is none who can give pain to the soul founded on virtue, or +take from it the hope of heaven; for it has put its self-will to death in +spiritual things as in temporal, and its affections are not set on +penance, or private consolations or revelations, but on endurance through +Christ crucified and the love of virtue. So it is patient, faithful, hopes +in God and not in itself or its works: is humble and obedient, believing +others rather than itself, because it does not presume. It stretches wide +the arms of mercy, and thereby drives forth confusion of mind. In shadows +and conflicts it uplifts the light of faith, labouring manfully, with true +and profound humility; and in gladness it enters into itself, that the +heart may not fall into vain glee. It is strong and persevering, because +it has put to death its own will, which made it weak and inconstant. All +times are the right time for it; all places the right place. If it is in a +season of penance, this is a time of gladness and consolation to it, using +penance as a means; and if, by necessity or obedience, penance has to be +abandoned, it rejoices; because its chief foundation, in the love of +virtue, cannot be and is not taken from it; and because it sees the +contradiction of its own will, which it has been enlightened to perceive +must always be resisted with great diligence and zeal. + +It finds prayer in every place, for it bears ever with it the place +wherein God lives by grace, and where we ought to pray--that is, the house +of our soul wherein holy desire prays constantly. This desire is uplifted +by the light of the mind to be reflected in itself and in the immeasurable +flame of divine love, which it finds in the Blood shed for us, which by +largess of love it finds in the vase of the soul. This it cares and should +care to know, that it may drink deep of the Blood, and therein consume its +self-will--and not simply to accomplish the count of many paternosters. So +we shall make our prayer continuous and faithful; because in the fire of +His love we know that He is powerful to give us what we ask. He is Highest +Wisdom, who knows how to give and discern what we need; He is a most +piteous and gracious Father, who wishes to give us more than we desire, +and more than we know how to ask for our need. The soul is humble, for it +has recognized its own defects and that in itself it is not. This is the +kind of prayer through which we attain virtue, and preserve in our souls +the longing for it. + +What is the beginning of so great good? Discretion, the daughter of +charity, as I said. And it presents straightway to its neighbour the good +which it has itself. So it seeks to present to its fellow-creature the +foundation it has found, and the love and the teaching it has received, +and shows these by example of life and doctrine, advising when it sees +need or when advice were asked of it. It comforts the soul of its +neighbour, and does not confound him by leading him into despair when he +has fallen into some fault; but tenderly it makes itself ill with that +soul, giving him what healing it can, and enlarging in him hope in the +Blood of Christ crucified. + +The virtue of discretion gives this and infinitely many other fruits to +the neighbour. Then, since it is so useful and necessary, dearest and most +beloved daughter and sister mine in Christ sweet Jesus, I summon thee and +me to do what in past time I confess not to have done with that perfection +which I should. It has not happened to thee as to me, to have been and to +be very faulty, or over-lax and easy-going in my life, instead of strict, +through my fault; but thou, as one who has wished to subdue her youthful +body that it be not rebel to the soul, hast chosen a life so extremely +strict that apparently it is out of all bounds of discretion; in so much +that it seems to me that indiscretion is trying to make thee feel some of +its results, and is quickening thy self-will in this. And now that thou +art leaving what thou art accustomed to do, the devil apparently is trying +to make it seem to thee that thou art damned. I am very much distressed at +this, and I believe that it is a great offence against God. Therefore I +will and I beg thee that our beginning and foundation be in the love of +virtue, as I said. Kill thy self-will, and do what thou art made to do; +pay attention rather to how things look to others than to thyself. Thou +dost feel thy body weak and ill; take every day the food that is needed to +restore nature. And if thy illness and weakness are relieved, undertake a +regular life in moderation, and not intemperately. Do not consent to let +the little good of penance hinder the greater; nor array thyself therein +as thy chief affection--for thou wouldst find thyself deceived: but wish +that we may haste in sincerity upon the beaten road of virtue, and that we +may guide others on this same road, breaking and shattering our own wills. +If we have the virtue of discretion in us, we shall do it; otherwise, not. + +Therefore I said that I desired to see in thee the holy virtue of +discretion. I say no more. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. +Forgive me should I have talked too presumptuously; the love of thy +salvation, through the honour of God, is my reason. Sweet Jesus, Jesus +Love. + + + + +TO BROTHER RAIMONDO OF CAPUA +OF THE ORDER OF THE PREACHERS + +AND TO MASTER JOHN III. +OF THE ORDER OF THE HERMIT BROTHERS OF ST. AUGUSTINE + +AND TO ALL THEIR COMPANIONS +WHEN THEY WERE AT AVIGNON + + +Catherine's interest in public affairs is rising and widening. This letter +marks an inner crisis. Her thoughts and deeds have, as we have seen, been +already busied for some time with the dissension between the Pope and his +rebellious Tuscan people: now the hour has come when she is to feel +herself solemnly dedicated, by a divine command, to the great task of +reconciliation. We overhear her, as it were, thinking out in her Master's +presence and with His aid the deepest questions which the situation +suggests: and as we listen to that colloquy, so natural, so sweetly +familiar, so deeply reverent, we feel that no problems, however sorrowful +and perplexing, could be hopeless there. From communion with her Lord, she +went forth strong and reassured into the stormy action of her time. Christ +Himself, so she tells us, placed the Cross upon her shoulder and the olive +in her hand, changed her mourning into a high and rapturous hope, and bade +her go, strong in the faith, to bear His message of joy "to one and the +other people." Thus she should be shown in art--Cross-bearer like her +Lord, and holding to the world the sign of reconciliation. Thus did she +start upon the Via Dolorosa of the peace-maker; from now on we shall +follow her in her letters, as she treads that way of sorrows which was +also the way of life. + +The experience here described fell on the first of April, 1376. Early in +May, the Florentines, knowing of her holy fame, sent for her to come to +their city and give them counsel. For to defy the Vicar of Christ was a +fearsome thing, and many hearts were uneasy in the rebellious town. + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest my sons in Christ Jesus. I your poor mother have longed +passionately to see your hearts and affections nailed to the Cross, held +together by the bond which grafted God into man and man into God. So my +soul longs to see your affections grafted into the Incarnate Word Christ +Jesus, in such wise that nor demons nor creatures can divide you. For if +you are held and enkindled by sweet Jesus, I do not fear that all the +devils of hell with all their wiles can separate you from so sweet love +and union. So I wish, because there is mighty need, that you should never +cease from throwing fuel on the fire of holy desire--the fuel of the +knowledge of yourselves. For that is the fuel which feeds the fire of +divine charity: charity which is won by knowledge of the inestimable love +of God, and then unites the soul with its neighbour. And the more material +one gives to the flame--that is, the more fuel of self-knowledge--the more +the warmth of the love of Christ and one's neighbour increases. Abide, +then, hidden in the knowledge of yourselves, and do not live +superficially, lest Devil Malatasca catch you with many illusions and +reflections against one another: this he would do to take from you your +union in divine charity. So I will and command you that the one be subject +to the other, and each bear the faults of the other; learning from the +Sweet Primal Truth, who chose to be the least of men, and humbly bore all +our faults and iniquities. So I will that you do, dearest sons; love, +love, love one another. And joy and exult, for the summer-tide draws near. + +For the first of April, especially in the night, God opened His secrets, +showing His marvellous things in such a wise that my soul did not seem to +be in the body, and received such joy and plenitude as the tongue does not +suffice to tell. He explained and made clear part by part the mystery of +the persecution which Holy Church is now enduring, and of her renewal and +exaltation, which shall be in time to come: saying that the present crisis +is permitted to restore her to her true condition. The Sweet Primal Truth +quoted two words which are in the Holy Gospel--"It must needs be that +offences come into the world": and then added: "But woe to him by whom the +offence cometh." As if He said: "I permit this time of persecution, to +uproot the thorns, with which My bride is wholly choked; but I do not +permit the evil thoughts of men. Dost thou know what I do? I am doing as I +did when I was in the world, when I made the scourge of cords, and drove +out those who sold and bought in the Temple, not choosing that the House +of God should be made a den of thieves. So I tell thee that I am doing +now. For I have made a scourge out of human beings, and with that scourge +I drive out the impure traffickers, greedy, avaricious, and swollen with +pride, who buy and sell the gifts of the Holy Spirit." Yes, He was driving +them forth with the scourge of the persecutions of their fellow-beings-- +that is, by force of tribulation and persecution He put an end to their +disorderly and immodest living. + +And, the fire growing in me, I gazed and saw the Christian people and the +infidel enter into the side of Christ crucified; and I passed through the +midst of them, by my loving and longing desire, and entered with them into +Christ Sweet Jesus, accompanied by my father St. Dominic, and John the +Single, with all my sons together. Then He placed the Cross on my shoulder +and the olive in my hand, almost as if I had asked for them, and said that +thus I should bear them, to the one and to the other people. And He said +to me: "Tell them, I bring you tidings of great joy." Then my soul became +more full; it was lost to itself among the true believers who feed upon +the Divine Substance, by the uniting force and longing of love. And so +great was the delight of my soul, that it no longer realized its past +affliction from seeing God wronged; nay! I said: "O blessed and fortunate +wrong!" Then sweet Jesus smiled, and said: "Is sin fortunate, which is +nothing at all? Dost thou know what St. Gregory meant when he said, +'Blessed and fortunate fault'? What element is it that thou holdest as +fortunate and blessed, and that Gregory calls so?" I replied as He made me +reply, and said: "I see well, sweet my Lord, and well I know, that sin is +not worthy of good fortune, and is not fortunate nor blessed in itself; +but the fruit may be, which comes from sin. It seems to me that Gregory +meant this: that through the sin of Adam, God gave us the Word, His only- +begotten Son, and the Word gave His Blood, so that, giving His life, He +restored life with a great fire of love. So, then, sin is fortunate, not +through the sin itself, but from the fruit and the gift we receive by that +sin." Now, so it is. Thus from the wrong done by the wicked Christians who +persecute the Bride of Christ, spring her exaltation, her light, and the +fragrance of her virtues. This was so sweet that there seemed no +comparison between the wrong, and the unsearchable goodness and benignity +of God, which He showed toward His Bride. Then I rejoiced and exulted, and +was so arrayed in assurance of the time to come that I seemed to possess +and taste it. And I said then with Simeon: "Nunc dimittis servum tuum, +Domine, secundum verbum tuum, in pace." So many mysteries were wrought in +me as tongue cannot suffice to tell nor heart to think nor eye to see. + +Now, what tongue could suffice to tell the wonderful things of God? Not +mine, poor wretch that I am. Therefore I choose to keep silence, and to +give me wholly to seeking the honour of God and the salvation of souls and +the renewal and exaltation of Holy Church, and through grace and power of +the Holy Spirit to persevere even unto death. With this desire I called +our Christ on earth, and I will call him, with great love and compassion, +and you, father, and all my dear sons; I made and was granted your +petition. Rejoice, then, rejoice and exult. O sweet God our Love, fulfil +quickly the desires of thy servants! I will say no more--and I have said +nothing. I die, delayed in my desires. Have compassion on me. Pray the +divine Goodness and Christ on earth that there be no more loitering. +Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. Drown you in the Blood of +Christ crucified; and on no account faint, but rather take comfort. +Rejoice, rejoice, in your sweet labours. Love, love, love one another. +Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +TO SISTER BARTOLOMEA DELLA SETA +NUN IN THE CONVENT OF SANTO STEFANO AT PISA + + +The conflicts of the cloister and of the court are not dissimilar; and the +first, to Catherine, are as real and significant as the second. She writes +in a familiar strain to Sister Bartolomea. The truths on which she is +insisting have been reiterated in every age by guides to the spiritual +life. But whenever, as here, they come from the depths of personal +experience, they possess peculiar freshness and force; and, indeed, this +Colloquy of the Saint of Siena with her Lord has become a _locus +classicus_ in the literature of the interior life. + +One likes to note, in passing, how frequently Catherine urges frail, +cloistered women, sheltered from all the din and storm of outer life, to +"manfulness." "Virile," "virilmente"--they are among her especial words. +And, indeed, they well befit her own spirit, singularly vigorous and +fearless for a woman whose feminine sensitiveness is evident in every +letter she writes. + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest daughter in Christ Jesus. I Catherine, servant and slave of the +servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His precious Blood: with desire +to see you a true bride, consecrated to the eternal Bridegroom. It belongs +to a bride to make her will one with that of her bridegroom; she cannot +will more than he wills, and seems unable to think of anything but him. +Now do you so think, daughter mine, for you, who are a bride of Christ +crucified, ought not to think or will anything apart from Him--that is, +not to consent to any other thoughts. That thoughts should not come, this +I do not tell thee--because neither thou nor any created being couldst +prevent them. For the devil never sleeps; and God permits this to make His +bride reach perfect zeal and grow in virtue. This is the reason why God +sometimes permits the mind to remain sterile and gloomy, and beset by many +perverse cogitations, so that it seems unable to think of God, and can +hardly remember His Name. + +Beware, when thou mayest feel this in thyself, lest thou fall into +weariness or bewildered confusion, and do not give up thy exercises nor +the act of praying, because the devil may say to thee: "How does this +prayer uplift thee, since thou dost not offer it with any feeling or +desire? It would be better for thee not to make it." Yet do not give up, +nor fall for this into confusion, but reply manfully: "I would rather +exert myself for Christ crucified, feeling pain, gloom and inward +conflicts, than not exert myself and feel repose." And reflect, that this +is the state of the perfect; if it were possible for them to escape Hell, +and have joy in this life and joy eternal beside, they do not want it, +because they delight so greatly in conforming themselves to Christ +crucified; nay, they want to live rather by the way of the Cross and pain, +than without pain. Now what greater joy can the bride have than to be +conformed to her bridegroom, and clothed with like raiment? So, since +Christ crucified in His life chose naught but the Cross and pain, and +clothed Him in this raiment, His bride holds herself blessed when she is +clothed in this same raiment; and because she sees that the Bridegroom has +loved her so beyond measure, she loves and receives Him with such love and +desire as no tongue can suffice to tell. Therefore the Highest and Eternal +Goodness, to make her attain most perfect love and possess humility, +permits her many conflicts and a dry mind, that the creature may know +itself and see that it is not. For were it anything, it would free itself +from pain when it chose, but being naught it cannot. So, knowing itself, +it is humbled in its non-existence, and knows the goodness of God, which, +through grace, has given it being, and every grace that is founded upon +being. + +But thou wilt say to me: "When I have so much pain, and suffer so many +conflicts and such gloom, I can see nothing but confusion; and it does not +seem as if I could take any hope, I see myself so wretched." I reply to +thee, my daughter, that if thou shalt seek, thou shalt find God in thy +goodwill. Granted that thou feel many conflicts, do thou not therefore +feel thy will deprived of wishing God. Nay, this is the reason why the +soul mourns and suffers, because it fears to offend God. It ought then to +joy and exult, and not to fall into confusion through its conflicts, +seeing that God keeps its will good, and gives it hatred of mortal sin. + +I remember that I heard this said once to a servant of God, and it was +said to her by the Sweet Primal Truth, when she was abiding in very great +pain and temptation, and among other things, felt the greatest confusion, +in so much that the devil said: "What wilt thou do? for all the time of +thy life thou shalt abide in these pains, and then thou shalt have hell." +She then answered with manly heart, and without any fear, and with holy +hatred of herself, saying: "I do not avoid pains, for I have chosen pains +for my refreshment. And if at the end He should give me hell, I will not +therefore abandon serving my Creator. For I am she who am worthy of +abiding in hell, because I wronged the Sweet Primal Truth; so, did He give +me hell, He would do me no wrong, since I am His." Then our Saviour, in +this sweet and true humility, scattered the shadows and torments of the +devil, as it happens when the cloud passes that the sun remains; and +suddenly came the Presence of Our Saviour. Thence she melted into a river +of tears, and said in a sweet glow of love: "O sweet and good Jesus, where +wast thou when my soul was in such affliction?" Sweet Jesus, the Spotless +Lamb, replied: "I was beside thee. For I move not, and never leave My +creature, unless the creature leave Me through mortal sin." And that woman +abode in sweet converse with Him, and said: "If Thou wast with me, how did +I not feel Thee? How can it be that being by the fire, I should not feel +the heat? And I felt nothing but freezing cold, sadness, and bitterness, +and seemed to myself full of mortal sins." He replied sweetly, and said: +"Dost thou wish Me to show thee, daughter mine, how in those conflicts +thou didst not fall into mortal sin, and how I was beside thee? Tell me, +what is it that makes sin mortal? Only the will. For sin and virtue +consist in the consent of the will; there is no sin nor virtue, unless +voluntarily wrought. This will was not in thee; for had it been, thou +wouldst have taken joy and delight in the suggestions of the devil; but +since the will was not there, thou didst grieve over them, and suffer for +fear of doing wrong. So thou seest that sin and virtue consist in choice-- +wherefore I tell thee that thou shouldst not, on account of these +conflicts, fall into disordered confusion. But I will that from this +darkness thou derive the light of self-knowledge, in which thou mayest +gain the virtue of humility, and joy and exult in a good will, knowing +that then I abide in thee secretly. The will is a sign to thee that I am +there; for hadst thou an evil will, I should not be in thee by grace. But +knowest thou how I thus abide in thee? In the same way in which I hung +upon the wood of the Cross. And I take the same way with you that my +Father took with Me. Reflect, daughter mine, that upon the Cross I was +blessed and was sorrowful; blessed I was by the union of the divine and +the human nature, and nevertheless the flesh endured pain, because the +Eternal Father withdrew His power to Himself, letting Me suffer; but He +did not withdraw the union in which He was for ever united with Me. +Reflect that in this way I abide in the soul; for often I withdraw to +myself feeling, but do not withdraw grace, since grace is never lost, +except by mortal sin, as I said. But knowest thou why I do this? Only to +make the soul reach true perfection. Thou knowest that the soul cannot be +perfect unless borne on these two wings, humility and charity. Humility is +won through the knowledge of itself, into which it enters in the time of +darkness; and charity is won by seeing that I, through love, have kept its +will holy and good. Wherefore, I tell thee, that the wise soul, seeing +that from this experience proceeds such profit, reassures itself (and for +no other cause do I permit the devil to give you temptations), and will +hold this time dearer than any other. Now I have told thee the way I take. +And reflect, that such experience is very necessary to your salvation; for +if the soul were not sometimes pressed by many temptations, it would fall +into very great negligence, and would lose the exercise of continual +desire and prayer. Because in the hour of battle it is more alert, through +fear of its foes, and provisions the rock of its soul, having recourse to +Me who am its Fortitude. But this is not the intention of the devil--for +I permit him to tempt you that he may make you attain virtue, though he, +on his part, tempts you to make you attain despair. Reflect that the devil +will tempt a person who is dedicated to My service, not because he +believes that the man may actually fall into that sin, for he sees at once +that he would choose death rather than actually to do wrong. But what does +he do? He exerts himself to make the man fall into confusion, saying: 'No +good is of any use to you, on account of these thoughts and impulses that +come to you.' Now thou seest how great is the malice of the devil; for, +not being able to conquer in the first battle, he often conquers in the +second, under guise of virtue. Wherefore I do not want thee ever to follow +his malicious will; but I want thee to assume My will, as I have told +thee. This is the rule which I give thee, and which I wish thee to teach +others when there is need." + +Now thus I tell thee, dearest my daughter, that I want thee to do. And be +for me a mirror of virtue, following the footsteps of Christ crucified. +Bathe thee in the Blood of Christ crucified, and so live, as is my will, +that thou nor seek nor will aught but the Crucified, like a true bride, +bought with the Blood of Christ crucified. Well seest thou that thou art a +bride, and that He has wedded thee and every creature, not with a ring of +silver, but with the ring of His Flesh. O depth and height of Love +unspeakable, how didst Thou love this Bride, the human race! O Life +through which all things do live, Thou hast plucked it from the hands of +the devil, who possessed it as his own; from his hands Thou hast plucked +it, catching the devil with the hook of Thy humanity, and hast wedded it +with Thy flesh. Thou hast given Thy Blood for a pledge, and at the last, +sacrificing Thy body, Thou hast made the payment. Now drink deep, my +daughter, and fall not into negligence, but arise with true zeal, and by +this Blood may the hardness of thy heart be broken in such wise that it +never may close again, for any ignorance or negligence, nor for the speech +of any creature. I say no more. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. +Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +TO GREGORY XI + + +Catherine, sent by the Florentines as their representative to the Pope, +has reached Avignon and seen the Holy Father. Far from being overawed in +his presence, she has evidently felt toward him a mingling of sympathy and +tenderness not untouched by compassion. She is impressed by the +sensitiveness of the man--by the strength of the adverse influences +continually playing upon him from his own household; above all, by his +extreme timidity. The gentle, reassuring tone of this letter is almost +like that of a mother encouraging a dear but weak-spirited child to make +his own decisions and to abide by them. Catherine's sweetness of nature +preserves her from viewing Gregory with any tinge of contempt; but we +cannot help feeling the contrast between this frail woman of heroic soul +and the hesitating figure of the Pope. + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Most holy and blessed father in Christ sweet Jesus: your poor unworthy +little daughter Catherine comforts you in His precious Blood, with desire +to see you free from any servile fear. For I consider that a timorous man +cuts short the vigour of holy resolves and good desire, and so I have +prayed, and shall pray, sweet and good Jesus that He free you from all +servile fear, and that holy fear alone remain. May ardour of charity be in +you, in such wise as shall prevent you from hearing the voice of incarnate +demons, and heeding the counsel of perverse counsellors, settled in self- +love, who, as I understand, want to alarm you, so as to prevent your +return, saying, "You will die." And I tell you on behalf of Christ +crucified, most sweet and holy father, not to fear for any reason +whatsoever. Come in security: trust you in Christ sweet Jesus: for, doing +what you ought, God will be above you, and there will be no one who shall +be against you. Up, father, like a man! For I tell you that you have no +need to fear. You ought to come; come, then. Come gently, without any +fear. And if any at home wish to hinder you, say to them bravely, as +Christ said when St. Peter, through tenderness, wished to draw Him back +from going to His passion; Christ turned to him, saying, "Get thee behind +Me, Satan; thou art an offence to Me, seeking the things which are of men, +and not those which are of God. Wilt thou not that I fulfil the will of My +Father?" Do you likewise, sweetest father, following Him as His vicar, +deliberating and deciding by yourself, and saying to those who would +hinder you, "If my life should be spent a thousand times, I wish to fulfil +the will of my Father." Although bodily life be laid down for it, yet +seize on the life of grace and the means of winning it for ever. Now +comfort you and fear not, for you have no need. Put on the armour of the +most holy Cross, which is the safety and the life of Christians. Let talk +who will, and hold you firm in your holy resolution. My father, Fra +Raimondo, said to me on your behalf that I was to pray God to see whether +you were to meet with an obstacle, and I had already prayed about it, +before and after Holy Communion, and I saw neither death nor any peril. +Those perils are invented by the men who counsel you. Believe, and trust +you in Christ sweet Jesus. I hope that God will not despise so many +prayers, made with so ardent desire, and with many tears and sweats. I say +no more. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. Pardon me, pardon me. +Jesus Christ crucified be with you. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +TO THE KING OF FRANCE + + +Catherine's letters to great personages whom she did not know are, as +would be expected, less searching and fresh than the many written with a +more personal inspiration, but they afford at least an interesting +testimony to the breadth of her interests. This letter to Charles V. was +evidently written during her stay at Avignon, where she formed relations +with the Duke of Anjou, and received his promise to lead in the +prospective Crusade. Avignon was a centre of intellectual life and of +European politics, and Catherine must have been quickened there to think +more than ever before in large terms and on great issues. To think of a +matter is always, for her, to feel a sense of responsibility toward it; +she writes, accordingly, to Charles V., urging him to make peace with his +brother monarch: "For so," says the maid of Siena serenely to the great +King--"So you will fulfil the will of God and me." + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest lord and father in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and +slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His precious Blood: +with desire to see you observe the holy and sweet commands of God, since I +consider that in no other way can we share the fruit of the Blood of the +Spotless Lamb. Sweet Jesus, the Lamb, has taught us the Way: and thus He +said: "Ego sum Via, Veritas et Vita." He is the sweet Master who has +taught us the doctrine, ascending the pulpit of the most holy Cross. +Venerable father, what doctrine and what way does He give us? His way is +this: pains, shames, insults, injuries, and abuse; endurance in true +patience, hunger and thirst; He was satiate with shame, nailed and held +upon the Cross for the honour of the Father and our salvation. With His +pains and shame He gave satisfaction for our guilt, and the reproach in +which man had fallen through the sin committed. He has made restitution, +and has punished our sins on His own Body, and this He has done of love +alone and not for debt. + +This sweet Lamb, our Way, has despised the world, with all its luxuries +and dignity, and has hated vice and loved virtue. Do you, as son and +faithful servant of Christ crucified, follow His footsteps and the way +which He teaches you: bear in true patience all pain, torment, and +tribulation which God permits the world to inflict on you. For patience is +not overcome, but overcomes the world. Be, ah! be a lover of virtue, +founded in true and holy justice, and despise vice. I beg you, by love of +Christ crucified, to do in your state three especial things. The first is, +to despise the world and yourself and all its joys, possessing your +kingdom as a thing lent to you, and not your own. For well you know that +nor life nor health nor riches nor honour nor dignity nor lordship is your +own. Were they yours, you could possess them in your own way. But in such +an hour a man wishes to be well, he is ill; or living, and he is dead; or +rich, and he is poor; or a lord, and he is made a servant and vassal. All +this is because these things are not his own, and he can only hold them in +so far as may please Him who has lent them to him. Very simple-minded, +then, is the man who holds the things of another as his own. He is really +a thief, and worthy of death. Therefore I beg you that, as The Wise, you +should act like a good steward, made His steward by God; possessing all +things as merely lent to you. + +The other matter is, that you maintain holy and true justice; let it not +be ruined, either for self-love or for flatteries, or for any pleasing of +men. And do not connive at your officials doing injustice for money, and +denying right to the poor: but be to the poor a father, a distributer of +what God has given you. And seek to have the faults that are found in your +kingdom punished and virtue exalted. For all this appertains to the divine +justice to do. + +The third matter is, to observe the doctrine which that Master upon the +Cross gives you; which is the thing that my soul most desires to see in +you: that is, love and affection with your neighbour, with whom you have +for so long a time been at war. For you know well that without this root +of love, the tree of your soul would not bear fruit, but would dry up, +abiding in hate and unable to draw up into itself the moisture of grace. +Alas, dearest father, the Sweet Primal Truth teaches it to you, and leaves +you for a commandment, to love God above everything, and one's neighbour +as one's self. He gave you the example, hanging upon the wood of the most +holy Cross. When the Jews cried "Crucify!" He cried with meek and gentle +voice: "Father, forgive those who crucify Me, who know not what they do." +Behold His unsearchable love! For not only does He pardon them, but +excuses them before His Father! What example and teaching is this, that +the Just, who has in Him no poison of sin, endures from the unjust the +punishment of our iniquities! + +Oh, how the man should be ashamed who follows the teaching of the devil +and his own lower nature, caring more to gain and keep the riches of this +world, which are all vain, and pass like the wind, than for his soul and +his neighbour! For while abiding in hate with his neighbour, he has hate +by his side, since hate deprives him of divine charity. Surely he is +foolish and blind, for he does not see that with the sword of hate to his +neighbour he is killing himself. + +Therefore I beg you, and will that you follow Christ crucified, and love +your neighbour's salvation: proving that you follow the Lamb, who for +hunger of His Father's honour and the salvation of souls chose bodily +death. So do you, my lord! Care not if you lose from your worldly +substance; for loss will be gain to you, provided that you can reconcile +your soul with your brother. I marvel that you are not willing to devote +to this, not only temporal things, but even, were it possible, life +itself: considering how great destruction of souls and bodies there has +been, and how many Religious and women and children have been injured and +exiled by this war. No more, by love of Christ crucified! Do you not +reflect of how great harm you are cause, if you fail to do what you can? +Harm to the Christians, and harm to infidels. For your strife has +obstructed the mystery of the Holy Crusade, and is doing so still. If no +other harm than this followed, it seems to me that we ought to expect the +divine judgment. I beg you that you be no longer a worker of so great harm +and an obstructer of so great good as the recovery of Holy Land and of +those poor wretched souls who do not share in the Blood of the Son of God. +Of which thing you ought to be ashamed, you and the other Christian +rulers: for this is a very great confusion in the sight of men and +abomination in the sight of God, that war should be made against one's +brother, and the enemy left alone, and that a man should want to take away +another person's possessions and not to win his own back again. No more +such folly and blindness! I tell you, on behalf of Christ crucified, that +you delay no longer to make this peace. Make peace, and direct all your +warfare to the infidels. Help to encourage and uplift the standard of the +most holy Cross, which God shall demand from you and others at the point +of death--demanding also from you account for such ignorance and +negligence as has been committed and is committed every day. Sleep no +more, for love of Christ crucified, and for your own profit, during the +little time that remains to us: for time is short, and you are to die, and +know not when. + +May the flame of holy desire to follow this holy Cross and to be +reconciled with your neighbour, increase in you! In this wise you will +follow the way and doctrine of the Lamb slain and abandoned on the Cross, +and you will observe the commandments. You will follow the way, enduring +with patience the injuries that have been offered you; the doctrine, being +reconciled with your neighbour; and the love of God, which you will +manifest by following the most holy Cross in the holy and sweet Crusade. +As to this matter, I think that your brother, Messer the Duke of Anjou, +will undertake the labour of this holy enterprise, for the love of Christ. +There would be reason for self-reproach did so sweet and holy a mystery +remain unfulfilled through you. Now in this wise you will follow the +footsteps of Christ crucified, you will fulfil the will of God and me, and +His commands: as I told you that I wished to see you observe the holy +commands of God. I say no more. Pardon my presumption. Remain in the holy +and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +LETTERS TO FLORENCE + + +The Florentines played with Catherine as history shows that subtle folk to +have played with more than one of the friends whose services they +accepted; the story of their dealings with her strongly recalls the +situation in Browning's _Luria_. Having been despatched ostensibly with +full powers as harbinger of the formal embassy to be sent later, Catherine +carried through her part of the negotiations with expedition, prudence and +entire success. It shows how such unconventional democracy and matter-of- +fact respect for spiritual values existed in the later middle ages, that +no one seems to have been surprised at the situation. Apparently it was +considered quite natural that a powerful republic should send as its +representative to the papal court a young woman, the daughter of simple +tradespeople, whose life had been quietly passed in her father's house. +Gregory bore himself to Catherine with compunctious deference. On the +third day after her arrival she spoke in full consistory, pleading the +cause of peace. The result she records in this letter: the Pope put the +whole matter in her hands. To the young Dominican were left the terms of +reconciliation between the two rival powers. + +All now depended upon the arrival of the Florentine ambassadors; but these +gentlemen failed to appear, while Florence continued to pursue a +contumacious policy. The insult, alike to the Pope and to Catherine, was +obvious. Avignon jested, shrugged shoulders, finally sneered. Gregory +gently told Catherine the truth--that her friends had played her false. +Few more mortifying situations than that in which she found herself could +be conceived. + +The spirited letter which follows was written ten days after her arrival. +She speaks, as usual, without reserve, but it is noteworthy that the +letter contains no word of personal reproof beyond the quiet statement: +"You might bring great shame and reproach upon me. For nothing but shame +and confusion could result if I told the Pope one thing and you another." +When at last the ambassadors arrived, they brought small comfort, for they +refused to confer with Catherine. In the second letter, written after they +had come to a personal friend in Florence, she tells the situation +frankly, and with dignity, but still with remarkable freedom from personal +bitterness. In this time of test, no lower element than sorrow for the +failure of her cause appears to have been present in her mind. + + + + +TO THE EIGHT OF WAR CHOSEN BY THE COMMUNE OF FLORENCE, +AT WHOSE INSTANCE THE SAINT WENT TO POPE GREGORY XI + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest fathers and brothers in Christ Jesus: I Catherine, servant and +slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His precious Blood: +with desire to see you true sons, humble and obedient to your father in +such wise that you may never look back, but feel true grief and bitterness +over the wrong that you have done to your father. For if he who does wrong +does not rise in grief above the wrong he has done, he does not deserve to +receive mercy. I summon you to true humiliation of your hearts; not +looking back, but going forward, following up the holy resolutions which +you began to take, and growing stronger in them every day, if you wish to +be received in the arms of your father. As sons who have been dead, do you +ask for life; and I hope by the goodness of God that you shall have it, if +you are willing really to humble yourselves and to recognize your faults. + +But I complain strongly of you, if it is true what is said in these parts, +that you have imposed a tax upon the clergy. If this is so, it is a very +great evil for two reasons. The first is that you are wronging God by it, +for you cannot do it with a good conscience. But it seems to me that you +are losing your conscience and everything good; it seems as if you cared +for nothing but transitory things of sense, that pass like the wind. Do +you not see that we are mortal, and must die, and know not when? Therefore +it is great folly to throw away the life of grace, and to bring death on +one's own self. I do not wish you to do so any more, for if you did you +would be turning back, and you know that it is not he who begins who +deserves glory, but he who perseveres to the end. So I tell you that you +would never reach an effective peace, unless by perseverance in humility, +no longer insulting or offending the ministers and priests of Holy Church. + +This is the other thing that I was telling you was harmful and bad. For +beside the evil I spoke of that comes from wronging God, I tell you that +such action is ruin to your peace. For the Holy Father, if he knew it, +would conceive greater indignation against you. + +That is what some of the cardinals have said, who are seeking and eagerly +desiring peace. Now, hearing this report, they say: "It doesn't seem true +that the Florentines want to have peace made; for if it were true, they +would beware of any least action that was against the will of the Holy +Father and the habits of Holy Church." I believe that sweet Christ on +earth himself may say these and like words, and he has excellent reason to +say them if he does. + +I tell you, dearest fathers, and I beg you, not to choose to hinder the +grace of the Holy Spirit, which by no merits of yours He by His clemency +is disposed to give you. You might bring great shame and reproach upon me. +For nothing but shame and confusion could result if I told the Holy Father +one thing and you did another. I beg you that it may not be so any more. +Nay, do you exert yourselves to show in word and deed that you wish peace +and not war. + +I have talked to the Holy Father. He heard me graciously, by God's +goodness and his own, showing that he had a warm love of peace; like a +good father, who does not consider so much the wrong the son has done to +him, as whether he has become humble, so that he may be shown full mercy. +What peculiar joy he felt my tongue could not tell. Having discussed with +him a good length of time, at the end of our talk he said that if your +case were as I presented it to him, he was ready to receive you as sons, +and to do what seemed best to me. I say no more here. It seems to me that +absolutely no other answer ought to be given to the Holy Father until your +ambassadors arrive. I marvel that they are not here yet. When they shall +have come, I shall talk to them, and then to the Holy Father, and as I +shall find things disposed I will write you. But you, with your taxes and +frivolities, are spoiling all that is sown. Do so no more, for the love of +Christ crucified and for your own profit. I say no more. Remain in the +holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + +Given in Avignon, the 28th day of June, 1376. + + + + +TO BUONACCORSO DI LAPO IN FLORENCE +WRITTEN WHEN THE SAINT WAS AT AVIGNON + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest brother in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and slave of +the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His precious Blood: with +desire to see you and the others your lords, pacify your heart and soul in +His most sweet Blood, wherein all hate and warfare is quenched, and all +human pride is lowered. For in the Blood man sees God humbled to his own +level, assuming our humanity, which was opened and nailed and fastened on +the Cross, so that it flows from the wounds of the Body of Christ +crucified, and pours over us the Blood which is ministered to us by the +ministers of Holy Church. I beg you by the love of Christ crucified to +receive the treasure of the Blood given you by the Bride of Christ. Be +reconciled, be reconciled to her in the Blood; recognize your sins and +offences against her. For he who recognizes his sin, and shows that he +does so by his deeds, and humbles him, always receives mercy. But he who +shows repentance only in speech, and goes no further in works, never finds +it. I do not say this so much for you as for others who might fall into +this fault. + +Oh me, oh me, dearest brother! I mourn over the methods which have +prevailed in asking the Holy Father for peace. For words have been more in +evidence than deeds. I say this because when I came yonder into the +presence of you and your lords, they seemed by their words to have +repented for their wrong, and to be willing to humble themselves and to +ask mercy from the Holy Father. And when I said to them: "See, gentlemen, +if you intend to show all possible humility in deed and speech, and wish +me to offer you like dead children to your father, I will take all the +trouble you wish in this matter, otherwise I will not go yonder," they +answered me that they were content. Alas, alas! dearest brothers, this was +the way and the door by which you ought to have entered, and there is no +other. Had this way been followed in deed as in word, you would have had +the most glorious peace that anyone ever gained. And I do not say this +without reason, for I know what the Holy Father's disposition was; but +since we began to leave that path, following the astute ways of the world, +doing differently from what our words had previously implied, the Holy +Father has had reason, not for peace, but for more disturbance. For when +your ambassadors came into these parts, they did not hold to the right way +which the servants of God indicated to them. You went on in your own ways. +And I never had a chance to confer with them, as you told me that you +would direct when I asked for a letter of credentials, so that we might +confer together about everything, and you said: "We do not believe that +this thing will ever be accomplished by any other hands than those of the +servants of God." Exactly the contrary has been done. All is because we +have not yet true recognition of our faults. I perceive that those humble +words proceeded rather from fear and policy than from a real impulse of +love and virtue; for had the wrong done really been recognized, deeds +would have corresponded to the sound of words, and you would have trusted +your needs and what you wished from the Holy Father to the hands of the +true servants of God. They would so have conducted your affairs and those +of the Holy Father that you would have reached a good understanding. You +have not done it; wherefore I have felt great bitterness, over the wrong +done to God and over our loss. + +But you do not see what evil and what great misfortunes come from your +obstinacy, and clinging fast to your resolution! Oh me, oh me! loose +yourselves from the bond of pride, and bind you to the humble Lamb; and do +not scorn or oppose His Vicar. No more thus! For the love of Christ +crucified! Hold not His Blood cheap! That which has not been done in past +time, do it now. Do not feel bitter or scornful should it seem to you that +the Holy Father demanded what appeared very hard and impossible to do. +Nevertheless he will not wish anything but what is possible to you. But he +does as a true father, who beats his son when he does wrong. He reproves +him very severely, to make him humble, and cognizant of his fault; and the +true son does not grow angry with his father, for he sees that whatever he +does is done for love of him; therefore the more the father drives him +off, the more he returns to him, ever asking for mercy. So I tell you, on +behalf of Christ crucified, that the more times you should be spurned by +our father Christ on earth, so many times you are to flee to him. Let him +do as he will, for he is right. + +Behold that now he is coming to his bride, that is to hold the seat of St. +Peter and St. Paul. Do you run to him at once, with true humility of heart +and amendment of your sins, following the holy principle with which you +began. So doing, you shall have peace, spiritual and bodily. And if you do +in any other way, our ancestors never had so many woes as we shall have, +for we shall call down the wrath of God upon us, and shall not share in +the Blood of the Lamb. + +I say no more. Be as urgent as you can, now that the Holy Father is to be +at Rome. I have done, and shall do, what I can, until death, for the +honour of God and for your peace, in order that this obstacle may be +removed, for it hinders the holy and sweet Crusade. If no other ill should +come from it, we are worthy of a thousand hells. Comfort you in Christ our +sweet Jesus, for I hope by His goodness that if you will keep in the way +you should you will have a good peace. Remain in the holy and sweet grace +of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +TO GREGORY XI + + +The attempt to reconcile Gregory with the Florentines miscarried through +their own fault. Catherine, far from being daunted by mortification or +failure, bent herself with new energy to the cause which she had even more +deeply at heart--the return of the Pope to Rome. The ascendency which she +obtained over his sensitive spirit was soon evident to everyone, and no +sooner was it realized than counter influences were set to work. Other +people beside this woman of Siena could write letters, and, since Gregory +proved superstitious and susceptible to the influence of holy fools, why, +there were ecstatics enough in Europe! The Pope, as is obvious from this +reply of Catherine's, had received an anonymous epistle, craftily wrought, +purporting to come from a man of God, working on his well-known love for +his family and timidity of nature, warning him of poison should he venture +to return to Rome. Whether Catherine's surmise that the letter was a +forgery proceeding from the papal court was justified we do not know; the +episode is of interest to us now chiefly because it called forth a reply +which shows how sardonic the meek of the earth can be. Catherine's +trenchant exposure of the weakness of the anonymous correspondent shows +her in a new aspect. Terrible is the scorn of the gentle. "He who wrote it +does not seem to me to understand his trade very well; he ought to put +himself to school," writes she, and proceeds with analysis so convincing +and exhortation so invigorating that even the vacillating Gregory must +have been magnetized afresh with power to resolve. One feels in the letter +that Catherine is as near impatience with him and with the situation as is +permitted to a saint. Gregory must have felt the sting in her words when +she tells him plainly that his correspondent treats him like a coward or a +frightened child, and adds on her own part, "I pray you on behalf of +Christ crucified that you be no longer a timorous child, but manly. Open +your mouth, and swallow down the bitter for the sake of the sweet." If +anyone could hold a weak nature true to its better self, it would be this +woman, endued as she was with a vitality that tingles through her words +down the centuries. + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Most holy and reverend sweet father in Christ sweet Jesus: your poor +unworthy daughter Catherine, servant and slave of the servants of Jesus +Christ, writes to your Holiness in His precious Blood, with desire to see +you so strong and persevering in your holy resolve that no contrary wind +can hinder you, neither devil nor creature. For it seems that your enemies +are disposed to come, as Our Saviour says in His holy gospel, in sheeps' +raiment, looking like lambs, while they are ravening wolves. Our Saviour +says that we should be on our guard against such. Apparently, sweet +father, they are beginning to approach you in writing; and beside writing, +they announce to you the coming of the author, saying that he will arrive +at your door when you know it not. The man sounds humble when he says, "If +it is open to me, I will enter and we will reason together"; but he puts +on the garment of humility only that he may be believed. And the virtue in +which pride cloaks itself is really boastful. + +So far as I have understood, this person has treated your Holiness in this +letter as the devil treats the soul, who often, under colour of virtue and +compassion, injects poison into it. And he uses this device especially +with the servants of God, because he sees that he could not deceive them +with open sin alone. So it seems to me that this incarnate demon is doing +who has written you under colour of compassion and in holy style, for the +letter purports to come from a holy and just man, and it does come from +wicked men, counsellors of the devil, who cripple the common good of the +Christian congregation and the reform of Holy Church, self-lovers, who +seek only their own private good. But you can soon discover, father, +whether it came from that just man or not. And it seems to me that, for +the honour of God, you must investigate. + +So far as I can understand, I do not think the man a servant of God, and +his language does not so present him--but the letter seems to me a +forgery. Nor does he who wrote it understand his trade very well. He ought +to put himself to school--he seems to have known less than a small child. + +Notice, now, most Holy Father: he has made his first appeal to the +tendency that he knows to be the chief frailty in man, and especially in +those who are very tender and pitiful in their natural affections, and +tender to their own bodies--for such men as these hold life dearer than +any others. So he fastened on this point from his first word. But I hope, +by the goodness of God, that you will pay more heed to His honour and the +safety of your own flock than to yourself, like a good shepherd, who ought +to lay down his life for his sheep. + +Next, this poisonous man seems on the one hand to commend your return to +Rome, calling it a good and holy thing; but, on the other hand, he says +that poison is prepared for you there; and he seems to advise you to send +trustworthy men to precede you, who will find the poison on the tables-- +that is, apparently, in bottles, ready to be administered by degrees, +either by the day, or the month, or the year. Now I quite agree with him +that poison can be found--for that matter, as well on the tables of +Avignon or other cities as on those of Rome: and prepared for +administration slowly, by the month, or the year, or in large quantities, +as may please the purchaser: it can be found everywhere. So he would think +it well for you to send, and delay your return for this purpose he +proposes that you wait till divine judgment fall by this means on those +wicked men who, it would seem, according to what he says, are seeking your +death. But were he wise, he would expect that judgment to fall on himself, +for he is sowing the worst poison that has been sown for a long time in +Holy Church, inasmuch as he wants to hinder you from following God's call +and doing your duty. Do you know how that poison would be sown? If you did +not go, but sent, as the good man advises you, scandal and rebellion, +spiritual and temporal, would be stirred up--men finding a lie in you, who +hold the Seat of Truth. For since you have decided on your return and +announced it, the scandal and bewilderment and disturbance in men's hearts +would be too great if they found that it did not happen. Assuredly he says +the truth: he is as prophetic as Caiphas when he said: "It is necessary +for one man to die that the people perish not." He did not know what he +was saying, but the Holy Spirit, who spoke the truth by his mouth, knew +very well--though the devil did not make him speak with this intention. So +this man is likely to be another Caiphas. He prophesies that if you send, +men will find poison. Truly so it is; for were your sins so great that you +stayed and they went, your confidants will find poison bottled in their +hearts and mouths, as was said. And not only enough for one day, but it +would last the month and the year before it was digested. Much I marvel at +the words of this man, who commends an act as good and holy and religious, +and then wants this holy act to be given up from bodily fear! It is not +the habit of the servants of God ever to be willing to give up a spiritual +act or work on account of bodily or temporal harm, even should life itself +be spent: for had they done thus, none of them would have reached his +goal. For the perseverance of holy and good desire into good works, is the +thing which is crowned, and which merits glory and not confusion. + +Therefore I said to you, Reverend Father, that I desired to see you firm +and stable in your good resolution (since on this will follow the +pacification of your rebellious sons and the reform of Holy Church) and +also to see you fulfil the desire felt by the servants of God, to behold +you raise the standard of the most holy Cross against the infidels. Then +can you minister the Blood of the Lamb to those wretched infidels: for you +are cupbearer of that Blood, and hold the keys of it. + +Alas, father, I beg you, by the love of Christ crucified, that you turn +your power to this swiftly, since without your power it cannot be done. +Yet I do not advise you, sweet father, to abandon those who are your +natural sons, who feed at the breasts of the Bride of Christ, for bastard +sons who are not yet made lawful by holy baptism. But I hope, by the +goodness of God, that if your legitimate sons walk with your authority, +and with the divine power of the sword of holy Writ, and with human force +and virtue, these others will turn to Holy Church the Mother, and you will +legalize them. It seems as if this would be honour to God, profit to +yourself, honour and exaltation to the sweet Bride of Christ Jesus, rather +than to follow the foolish advice of this just man, who propounds that it +would be better for you and for other ministers of the Church of God to +live among faithless Saracens than among the people of Rome and Italy. + +I am pleased by the commendable hunger that he has for the salvation of +the infidels, but I am not pleased that he wishes to take the father from +his lawful sons, and the shepherd from the sheep gathered in the fold. I +think he wants to treat you as the mother treats the child when she wants +to wean him: she puts something bitter on her bosom, that he may taste the +bitterness before the milk, so that he may abandon the sweet through fear +of the bitter; because a child is more easily deluded by bitterness than +by anything else. So this man wants to do to you, suggesting to you the +bitterness of poison and of great persecution, to delude the childishness +of your weak sensuous love, that you may leave the milk through fear: the +milk of grace, which follows on your sweet return. And I beg of you, on +behalf of Christ crucified, that you be not a timorous child, but manly. +Open your mouth, and swallow down the bitter for the sweet. It would not +befit your holiness to abandon the milk for the bitterness. I hope by the +infinite and inestimable goodness of God, that if you choose He will show +favour to both us and to you; and that you will be a firm and stable man, +unmoved by any wind or illusion of the devil, or counsel of devil +incarnate, but following the will of God and your good desire, and the +counsel of the servants of Jesus Christ crucified. + +I say no more. I conclude that the letter sent to you does not come from +that servant of God named to you, and that it was not written very far +away; but I believe that it comes from very near, and from the servants of +the devil, who have little fear of God. For in so far as I might believe +that it came from that man, I should not hold him a servant of God unless +I saw some other proof. Pardon me, father, my over-presumptuous speech. +Humbly I ask you to pardon me and give me your benediction. Remain in the +holy and sweet grace of God. I pray His infinite Goodness to grant me the +favour soon, for His honour, to see you put your feet beyond the threshold +in peace, repose, and quiet of soul and body. I beg you, sweet father, to +grant me audience when it shall please your Holiness, for I would find +myself in your presence before I depart. The time is short: therefore, +wherever it may please you, I wish that it might be soon. Sweet Jesus, +Jesus Love. + + + + +TO MONNA LAPA HER MOTHER +BEFORE SHE RETURNED FROM AVIGNON + + +Catherine succeeded in her great aim. In September, 1376, Gregory actually +started for Rome. Her mission being ended, Catherine set forth on her +homeward journey on the same day as the Pope, though by a different route. +But her progress was interrupted at Genoa, where, owing to illness among +her companions, she was detained for a month in the house of Madonna +Orietta Scotta. Her prolonged absence seems to have been too much for the +patience of Monna Lapa, who was always unable to understand in the least +the actions of her puzzling though beloved child. Catherine, though lifted +into the region of great anxieties and great triumphs, was yet always +tenderly mindful of the claims of home. Very daughterly, very gently wise, +is this little letter to the lonely and fretful mother, written when the +saint had just passed through those exciting and decisive months at the +Papal court. + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest mother in Christ sweet Jesus: Your poor, unworthy daughter +Catherine comforts you in the precious Blood of the Son of God. With +desire have I desired to see you a true mother, not only of my body but of +my soul; for I have reflected that if you are more the lover of my soul +than of my body, all disordinate tenderness will die in you, and it will +not be such a burden to you to long for my bodily presence; but it will +rather be a consolation to you, and you will wish, for the honour of God, +to endure every burden for me, provided that the honour of God be wrought. +Working for the honour of God, I am not without the increase of grace and +power in my soul. Yes, indeed, it is true that if you, sweetest mother, +love my soul better than my body, you will be consoled and not +disconsolate. I want you to learn from that sweet mother, Mary, who, for +the honour of God and for our salvation, gave us her Son, dead upon the +wood of the most holy Cross. And when Mary was left alone, after Christ +had ascended into Heaven, she stayed with the holy disciples; and although +Mary and the disciples had great consolation together, and to separate was +sorrow, nevertheless, for the glory and praise of her Son, for the good of +the whole universal world, she consented and chose that they should go +away. And she chose the burden of their departure rather than the +consolation of their remaining, solely through the love that she had for +the honour of God and for our salvation. Now, I want you to learn from +her, dearest mother. You know that it behoves me to follow the will of +God; and I know that you wish me to follow it. His will was that I should +go away; which going did not happen without mystery, nor without fruit of +great value. It was His will that I should come, and not the will of man; +and whoever might say the opposite, it is not the truth. And thus it will +behove me to go on, following His footsteps in what way and at what time +shall please His inestimable goodness. You, like a good, sweet mother, +must be content, and not disconsolate, enduring every burden for the +honour of God, and for your and my salvation. Remember that you did this +for the sake of temporal goods, when your sons left you to gain temporal +wealth; now, to gain eternal life, it seems to you such an affliction that +you say that you will go and run away if I do not reply to you soon. All +this happens to you because you love better that part which I derived from +you--that is, your flesh, with which you clothed me--than what I have +derived from God. Lift up, lift up your heart and mind a little to that +sweet and holiest Cross where all affliction ceases; be willing to bear a +little finite pain, to escape the infinite pain which we merit for our +sins. Now, comfort you, for the love of Christ crucified, and do not think +that you are abandoned either by God or by me. Yet shall you be comforted, +and receive full consolation; and the pain has not been so great that the +joy shall not be greater. We shall come soon, by the mercy of God; and we +should not have delayed our coming now, were it not for the obstacle we +have had in the serious illness of Neri. Also Master Giovanni and Fra +Bartolommeo have been ill.... I say no more. Commend us.... Remain in the +holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love! + + + + +TO MONNA GIOVANNA DI CORRADO MACONI + + +Monna Lapa was evidently not the only mother in Siena who fretted over the +long absence from home of Catherine and her spiritual children. Monna +Giovanna, of the noble family of the Maconi, longed for the presence of +Catherine's secretary, her beloved son Stefano. This is the second letter +which Catherine wrote in the effort to reconcile her. We cannot be +surprised if she murmured. Stefano had known Catherine for a few months +only when she bore him off with her to Avignon. Their relations dated from +January, 1376, when at his entreaty she healed a feud of long standing +between the Maconi and the rival house of the Tolomei. From this time he +attached himself to her person, and his devotion to her made him an object +of ridicule to his bewildered former friends. He was, by all accounts, a +singularly attractive and lovable young man--sunny, light-hearted, and +popular wherever he went. Catherine from the first loved him, as she avows +in this letter, with especial tenderness. She made him her trusted +intimate, and from now until shortly before her death he was in almost +constant attendance upon her, or when away was still occupied in her +affairs. Catherine was evidently on intimate and affectionate terms with +the rest of the Maconi family also; but it is not strange if Monna +Giovanna developed a little motherly jealousy, as she saw her brilliant +son not only absorbed by this new friendship, but borne away to distant +lands. Catherine's letter is as applicable to-day as then, to all parents +whose misguided tenderness would seek to hinder their children in a high +vocation. + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +To you, dearest sister and daughter in Christ Jesus: I Catherine, servant +and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write in His precious Blood, +with desire to see you clothed in the wedding garment. For I consider that +without this garment the soul cannot please its Creator, nor take its +place at the Marriage Feast in the enduring life. I wish you, therefore, +to be clothed in it; and in order that you may clothe you the better, I +wish you to divest yourself of all self-love according to nature and the +senses, which you feel for yourself, your children, and any other created +thing. You ought to love neither yourself nor anything else apart from +God; for it is impossible that a man can serve two masters; if he serve +the one, he does not give satisfaction to the other. And there is no one +who can serve both God and the world, for they have no harmony with each +other. The world seeks honour, rank, wealth, sons in high place, good +birth, sensuous pleasure and indulgence, all rooted in perverted pride; +but God seeks and wants exactly the opposite. He wants voluntary poverty, +a humbled heart, disparagement of self and of every worldly joy and grace; +that personal honour be not sought, but the honour of God and the +salvation of one's neighbour. Let a man seek only in what way he may +clothe him in the fire of most ardent charity with the ornament of sweet +and sincere virtue, with true and holy patience; let him take no revenge +on another for any injury his neighbour may show him, but endure all in +patience, seeking only to pass sentence on himself, because he sees that +he has wronged the Sweet Primal Truth. And what he loves, let him love in +God, and apart from God love nothing. + +And did you say to me, "In what way should I love?" I answer you that +children and everything else should be loved for love of Him who created +them, and not for love of one's self or the children; and that God should +never be wronged for their sake or any other. That is, do not love through +regard to any utility, nor as your own thing, but as a thing lent to you: +since whatever is given us in this life is given for use, as a loan, and +is left to us so long only as pleases the Divine Goodness which gave it +us. You should use everything, then, as a steward of Christ crucified, +spending your temporal substance so far as is possible to you for the +poor, who stand in the place of God; and so you ought to spend your +children, nourishing and educating them ever in the fear of God, and +wishing that they should die rather than wrong their Creator. Oh, make a +sacrifice of yourself and them to God! And if you see that God is calling +them, offer no resistance to His sweet will: but if they welcome it with +one hand, do you reach out both like a true loving mother, who loves their +salvation; do not desire to shape their lives to suit yourself--for this +would be a sign that you loved them apart from God--but with any state to +which God calls them, with that be you content. For a mother who loves her +children according to the wickedness of the world, says many a time: "It +pleases me well that my children should please God; they can serve Him in +the world as well as anywhere else." But it happens often to these simple +mothers, who want to plunge their children in the world, that later they +possess those children neither in the world nor in God. And it is a just +thing that they should be deprived of them, spirit and body, since such +ignorance and pride reigns in them that they want to lay down law and rule +to the Holy Spirit, who is calling them. Such people do not love their +children in God, but with sensuous self-love apart from God, for they love +their bodies more than their souls. Never, dearest sister and daughter in +Christ sweet Jesus, could he clothe himself in Christ crucified who had +not first divested him of this. I hope by the goodness of God that all +this will not apply to you, but that you will give yourself and them to +the honour and glory of the Name of God, like a true good mother, and so +shall you be clothed in the Wedding Garment. But in order that you may +clothe you the better, I want that you should lift your desire and heart +above the world and all its doings, and that you should open the eye of +the mind to know what love God bears to you, who has given you, for love, +the Word, His Only-Begotten Son; and the Son in burning love has given you +life, and has sacrificed His Body that He might cleanse us with His Blood. +Ignorant are we and wretched who nor know nor love so great a benefit! But +all this is because our eyes are closed; for were they open, and had they +fastened themselves on Christ crucified, they would not be ignorant nor +ungrateful in presence of so great grace. Therefore I say to you, keep +your eyes ever open, and fasten them fixedly on the Lamb that was slain, +in order that you may never fall into ignorance. + +Up, sweetest daughter, let us delay no more! Let us recover the time we +have lost, with true and perfect love; so that, clothing ourselves in this +life with the garment I spoke of, we may joy and exult at the Marriage +Feast in the enduring life--you and your husband and your children +together. And comfort you sweetly, and be patient, and do not grow +disturbed because I have kept Stefano so long: for I have taken good care +of him, for by love and tenderness I have become one thing with him, +therefore I have treated your things as if they were my own. I think you +have not taken this in bad part. I wish to do whatever I can for him and +for you, even to death. You, mother, bore him once; and I wish to bear him +and you and all your family, in tears and sweats, by continual prayers and +desire for your salvation. + +I say no more. Commend me to Currado, and bless all the rest of the +family, and especially my little new plant, that has just been planted +anew in the Garden of Holy Church. Be it commended to you, and do you +bring it up for me virtuously, so that it may shed fragrance among the +other flowers. God fill you with His most sweet favour. Remain in the holy +and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +TO MESSER RISTORO CANIGIANI + + +Apart from her relations with Religious seeking to follow the Counsels, +Catherine directed the life of a number of devout laymen. Among these was +Ristoro Canigiani, an honourable citizen of Florence, whose younger +brother, Barduccio, became one of her secretaries, and was with her at her +death. In the first letter to Ristoro here given, we see that he had +already become Catherine's disciple. He had evinced his sincerity by +forgiving his enemies--a feat more practical and difficult for most men in +those days than now--by withdrawing in a measure from society-- +(ecclesiastical, one notes, as well as secular)--and by embracing the +simple life, selling his superfluous possessions. In the second letter +given, he has evidently advanced in experience. Like many religious souls +since his day, he suffers from scruples lest he be unworthy to receive the +Holy Communion. Catherine handles his difficulties tenderly and wisely, in +words which all anxious souls would do well to take to heart. She has no +reproofs for this excellent man, only applause and encouragement. It is +noteworthy that neither in these letters nor in any others does she seek +to induct Ristoro into that region of ecstatic mystery where she herself +lived, and whither she was wont to expect--often in vain--certain of her +friends to follow her. The standard which she sets for this devout layman +could not be better summed up than in the familiar words: "A sober, godly, +and righteous life." + +In other letters to Ristoro she seeks to inspire him with a fervour of +charity by very beautiful meditations, in which she presents the love of +friends and family as sanctified and glorified by its relation to the all- +enfolding Love from which all pure human affection must proceed. In her +attitude toward the natural world and its claims, Catherine again recalls +St. Bernard, who, in naming the degrees of love, starts from an hypothesis +which sets forth natural things, not as evil and destroying, but good, and +waiting their transfiguration. Like poor Francesca, but with a conception +more pure, Catherine rings the changes on the words "amore," "amare." +"Perocche, condizione é del' amore d' amare quando si sente amare, d' +amare tutte le cose che ama colui ch' egli ama. E perņ, ą mano che l' +anima ha conosciuto l' amore del suo Creatore verso di lui, l' ama: e +amandolo, ama tutte quelle cose che Dio ama." "For it is of the nature of +love, to love when it feels itself loved, and to love all things loved of +its beloved. So when the soul has by degrees known the love of its Creator +toward it, it loves Him, and, loving Him, loves all things whatsoever that +God loves." ... As we read, we recognize once more how far is this great +Mystic from the cold asceticism that has sometimes been attributed to her. + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest brother in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and slave of +the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His precious Blood, with +desire to see you constant and persevering in virtue; for it is not he who +begins who is crowned, but only he who perseveres. For Perseverance is the +Queen who is crowned; she stands between Fortitude and true Patience, but +she alone receives a crown of glory. So I want you, dearest brother, to be +constant and persevering in virtue, that you may receive the reward of +your every labour. I hope in the great goodness of God that He will +fortify you in such wise that neither demon nor fellow-creature can make +you look back to your vomit. + +You seem, according to what you write me, to have made a good beginning, +in which I rejoice greatly for your salvation, seeing your holy desire. +First, you say that you have forgiven every man who had wronged you or +wished to wrong you. This is a thing which is very necessary, if you wish +to have God in your soul through grace, and to be at rest even according +to the world. For he who abides in hate is deprived of God and is in a +state of condemnation, and has in this life the foretaste of hell; for he +is always gnawing at himself, and hungers for vengeance, and abides in +fear. Believing to slay his enemy, he has first killed himself, for he has +slain his soul with the knife of hate. Such men as these, who think to +slay their enemy, slay themselves. He who truly forgives through the love +of Christ crucified, has peace and quiet, and suffers no perturbation; for +the wrath that perturbs is slain in his soul, and God the Rewarder of +every good gives him His grace and at the last eternal life. What joy the +soul, then, receives, and gladness and rest in its conscience, the tongue +could never tell. And even according to the world, very great honour is +given to the man who through love of virtue and magnanimity does not +greedily desire to wreak vengeance on his enemy. So I summon you and +comfort you, to persevere in this holy resolution. + +To demand and obtain your own in a reasonable way, this you can do with +good conscience; whoever wants to can do it: for a man is not bound to +abandon his possessions more than he chooses; but he who would choose to +abandon them would reach a much greater perfection. It is well and +excellent not to go to the Bishop's house nor to the palace, but to stay +peaceably at home. For if other people get excited, we are weak, and often +we find our own soul excited, and doing unjust and irrational things, one +to show that he knows more than another, and one from appetite for money. +Yes, it is better to keep away from the place. + +But I add one thing: that when such poor men and women as are clearly in +the right, and have no one to help them, show us the reason why they have +no money, it would be greatly to the honour of God for you to undertake +their cause, from the impulse of charity, like St. Ives, who in his time +was the lawyer of the poor. Consider that the deed of pity, and +ministering to the poor with those faculties which God has given you, is +very pleasing to God, and salvation to your soul. Therefore St. Gregory +says that it is impossible that a pitiful man should perish with an evil, +that is, an eternal death. This, then, pleases me much, and I beg you to +do it. + +In all your works put God before your eyes, saying to yourself when +intemperate appetite would lift its head against the resolution you have +made: "Consider, my soul, that the eye of God is upon thee, and sees the +secret of thy heart. Thou art mortal, for thou must die, and knowest not +when; and it shall befit thee to render account before the highest Judge +of what thou shalt do--a Judge who punishes every fault and rewards every +good deed." In this wise, if you put on the bit it will not slip off, +separating from the will of God. + +You ought to give satisfaction to your soul as soon as you can, and +unburden your conscience of what you feel it burdened with. Give it +satisfaction, either for the trouble it has felt in giving up temporal +possessions, or for the other annoyances that others have given it. And +have pardon asked fully from everyone, in order that you may always remain +in the joy of charity with your neighbour. As for selling the goods which +you have over and above, and the showy garments (which are very harmful, +dearest brother, and a means of penetrating the heart with vanity, and +nourishing it with pride, since they make a man seem to be more and bigger +than others, boasting of what one ought not to boast of; so it is great +shame to us, false Christians, to see our Head tormented, and to abide +ourselves in such luxuries: so St. Bernard says, that it is not fitting +for limbs to be delicate beneath a thorn-crowned Head),--I say that you do +very well to find a remedy for this. But clothe you as you need, modestly, +at no immoderate price, and you will greatly please God. And, so far as +you can, make your wife and your sons do the same; so that you may be to +them example and teacher, as the father should be, who should educate his +sons with the words and deeds of virtue. + +I add one thing; that you abide in the state of marriage, with fear of +God, and treat it with reverence as a sacrament, and not with intemperate +desire. Hold in due reverence the days ordered by Holy Church, like a +reasonable man, and not a brute beast. Then from yourself and her, like +good trees, you will bring forth good fruits. + +You will do very well to refuse offices; for a man seldom fails to give +offence in them. It ought to weary you simply to hear them mentioned. Let +the dead, then, bury themselves, and do you exert yourself, in liberty of +heart, to please God, loving Him above everything in the desire of virtue, +and your neighbour as yourself, fleeing the world and its delights. +Renounce your sins and your own fleshly instincts, ever bringing back to +memory the favours of God, and especially the favour of the Blood, shed +for us with such fire of love. + +Again, it is needful for you, if you wish your soul to preserve grace and +grow in virtue, to make your holy confession often for your joy, that you +may wash your soul's face in the Blood of Christ. At least once a month, +since indeed we soil it every day. If more, more; but less it seems to me +ought not to be done. And rejoice in hearing the Word of God. And when the +season shall come that we are reconciled with our Father, do you +communicate on the solemn Feasts, or at least once a year: rejoicing in +the Office, and hearing Mass every day; and if you cannot every day, at +least you must make an effort, just as far as you can, on the days which +are ordered by Holy Church, to which we are bound. + +Prayer must not be far from you. Nay, on the due and ordered hours, so far +as you can, seek to withdraw a little, to know yourself, and the wrongs +done to God, and the largess of His goodness, which has worked and is +working so sweetly in you; opening the eye of your mind in the light of +most holy faith, to behold how beyond measure God loves us; love which He +shows us through the means of His only-begotten Son. And I beg that, if +you are not saying it already, you should say every day the office of the +Virgin, that she may be your refreshment and your advocate before God. As +to ordering your life, I beg you to do it. Fast on Saturday, in reverence +for Mary. And never give up the days commanded by Holy Church, unless of +necessity. Avoid being at intemperate banquets, but live moderately, like +a man who does not want to make a god of his belly. But take food for +need, and not for the wretched pleasure it gives. For it is impossible +that any man who does not govern himself in eating should keep himself +innocent. + +But I am sure that the infinite goodness of God, as regards this and all +the rest, will make you yourself adopt that rule which will be needful for +your salvation. And I will pray, and will make others pray, that He grant +you perfect perseverance until death, and illumine you concerning that +which you have to do for your salvation. I say no more to you. Remain in +the holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest son in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and slave of the +servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His precious Blood: with desire +to see you free from every particle of self-love, so that you may not lose +the light and knowledge which come from seeing the unspeakable love which +God has for you. And because it is light which makes us know this, and +false love is what takes light from us, therefore I have very great desire +to see it quenched in you. Oh, how dangerous this self-love is to our +salvation! It deprives the soul of grace, for it takes from it the love of +God and of its neighbour, which makes us live in grace. It deprives us of +light, as we said, because it darkens the eye of the mind, and when the +light is taken away we walk in darkness, and do not know what we need. + +What do we need to know? The great goodness of God, and His unspeakable +love toward us; the perverse law which always fights against the Spirit, +and our own wretchedness. In this knowledge the soul begins to render His +due to God; that is, glory and praise to His Name, loving Him above +everything, and the neighbour as one's self, with eager desire for virtue; +and the soul bestows hate and displeasure on itself, hating in itself +vice, and its own sensuousness, which is the cause of every vice. The soul +wins all virtue and grace in the knowledge of itself, abiding therein with +light, as was said. Where shall the soul find the wealth of contrition for +its sins, and the abundance of God's mercy? In this House of Self- +Knowledge. + +Now let us see whether we find it in ourselves or not. Let us talk +somewhat about it. For, as you wrote me, you have a desire to feel +contrition for your sins, and not being able to feel it, you give up for +this reason Holy Communion. Now we shall see whether you ought to give it +up for this. + +You know that God is supremely good, and loved us before we were: and is +Eternal Wisdom, and His Power in virtue is immeasurable: so for this +reason we are sure that He has power, knowledge, and will to give us what +we need. Well we see, in proof, that He gives us more than we know how to +ask, and that which was not asked by us. Did we ever ask Him that He +should create us reasonable creatures, in His own image and likeness, +rather than brute beasts? No. Or that He should create us by Grace by the +Blood of the Word, His only-begotten Son, or that He should give us +Himself for food, perfect God and perfect Man, flesh and blood, body and +soul, united to Deity? Beyond these most high gifts, which are so great, +and show such fire of love toward us, that there is no heart so hard that +its hardness and coldness would not melt by considering them at all: +infinite are the gifts and graces which we receive from Him without +asking. + +Then, since He gives so much without our asking--how much the more will He +fulfil our desires when we shall desire a just thing of Him? Nay, who +makes us desire and ask it? Only He. Then, if He makes us ask it, it is a +sign that He means to fulfil it, and give us what we seek. + +But you will say to me: "I confess that He is what thou sayest. But how +comes it that many a time I ask, both contrition and other things, and +they seem not to be given me?" I answer you: It may be it is through a +defect in him who asks, asking imprudently, with words alone and not with +his whole heart--and of such as these Our Saviour said that they call Him +Lord, Lord, but shall not be known of Him--not that He does not know them, +but for their fault they shall not be known of His mercy. Or, the man who +prays asks for something which, if he had it, would be injurious to his +salvation. So that, when he does not have what he asks, he really has it, +because he asks for it thinking that it would be for his good; but if he +had it, it would be to his harm, and it is for his good not to have it; so +God has satisfied the intention with which he asked it. So that on God's +side we always have our prayer; but this is the case, that God knows the +secret and the open, and is aware of our imperfection; so He sees that if +He gave us the grace at once as we ask it, we should do like an unclean +creature, who, rising from the sweetest honey, does not mind afterwards +lighting on a fetid object. God sees that we do so many a time. For, +receiving His graces and benefits, sharing the sweetness of His charity, +we do not mind afterward alighting on miserable things, turning back to +the filth of the world. Therefore, God sometimes does not give us what we +ask as soon as we should like, to make us increase in the hunger of our +desire, because He rejoices and pleases Himself in seeing the hunger of +His creatures toward Him. + +Sometimes He will do us the grace by giving it to us in effect though not +in feeling. He uses this means with foresight, because He knows that if a +man felt himself to possess it, either he would slacken the pull of +desire, or would fall into presumption; therefore He withdraws the +feeling, but not the grace. There are others who both receive and feel, +according as it pleases the sweet goodness of our Physician to give to us +sick folk; and He gives to everyone in the way that our sickness needs. +You see, then, that in any case the yearning of the creature, with which +it asks of God, is always fulfilled. Now we see what we ought to seek, and +how prudently. + +It seems to me that the Sweet Primal Truth teaches us what we ought to +seek when in the holy Gospel, reproving man for the intemperate zeal which +he bestows on gaining and holding the honours and riches of the world, He +said: "Take no thought for the morrow. Its own care suffices for the day." +Here He shows us that we should consider prudently the shortness of time. +Then He adds: "Seek first the Kingdom of Heaven; for your heavenly Father +knows well that you have need of these lesser things." What is this +kingdom, and how is it sought? It is the kingdom of eternal life, and the +kingdom of our own soul, for this kingdom of the soul, unless it is +possessed through reason, never becomes part of the kingdom of God. With +what is it sought? Not only with words--we have already said that such as +these are not recognized by God--but with the yearning of true and real +virtues. Virtue is what seeks and possesses this kingdom of heaven; +virtue, which makes a man prudent, so that he works for the honour of God +and the salvation of himself and his neighbour, with prudence and +maturity. Prudently he endures his neighbour's faults; prudently he rules +the impulse of charity, loving God above everything, and his neighbour as +himself. This is the rule: that he hold him ready to give bodily life for +the salvation of souls, and temporal goods to help the body of his +neighbour. Such a rule is set by prudent charity. Were he imprudent, it +would be just the opposite as with many who use a foolish and crazy sort +of charity, who many a time, to help their neighbour--I speak not of his +soul, but of his body--are ready to betray their own souls, by publishing +abroad lies, giving false witness. Such men as these lose charity, because +it is not built upon prudence. + +We have seen that we must seek the kingdom of Heaven prudently: now I +answer you about the attitude we should hold toward the Holy Communion, +and how it befits us to take it. We should not use a foolish humility, as +do secular men of the world. I say, it befits us to receive that sweet +Sacrament, because it is the food of souls without which we cannot live in +grace. Therefore no bond is so great that it cannot and must not be +broken, that we may come to this sweet Sacrament. A man must do on his +part as much as he can, and that is enough. How ought we to receive it? +With the light of most holy faith, and with the mouth of holy desire. In +the light of faith you shall contemplate all God and all Man in that Host. +Then the impulse that follows the intellectual perception, receives with +tender love and holy meditation on its sins and faults, whence it arrives +at contrition, and considers the generosity of the immeasurable love of +God, who in so great love has given Himself for our food. Because one does +not seem to have that perfect contrition and disposition which he himself +would wish, he must not therefore turn away; for goodwill alone is +sufficient, and the disposition which on his part exists. + +Again I say, that it befits us to receive as was imaged in the Old +Testament, when it was commanded that the Lamb should be eaten roasted and +not seethed; whole and not in part; girded and standing, staff in hand; +and the blood of the Lamb should be placed on the stone of the threshold. +Thus it befits us to receive this Sacrament: to eat it roasted, and not +seethed; for were it seethed there would be interposed earth and water-- +that is, earthly affections and the water of self-love. Therefore it must +be roasted, so that there shall be nothing between. We take it so when we +receive it straight from the fire of divine charity. And we ought to be +girt with the girdle of conscience, for it would be very shocking that one +should advance to so great cleanliness and purity with mind or body +unclean. We ought to stand upright, that is, our heart and mind should be +wholly faithful and turned toward God; with the staff of the most holy +Cross, where we find the teaching of Christ crucified. This is the staff +on which we lean, which defends us from our foes, the world, the devil, +and the flesh. And it befits us eat it whole and not in part: that is, in +the light of faith, we should contemplate not only the Humanity in this +sacrament, but the body and soul of Christ crucified, wrought into unity +with Deity, all God and all Man. We must take the Blood of this Lamb and +put it upon our forehead--that is, confess it to every rational being, +and never deny it, for pain or for death. Thus sweetly it befits us to +receive this Lamb, prepared in the fire of charity upon the wood of the +Cross. Thus we shall be found signed with the seal of Tau, and shall never +be struck by the avenging angel. + +I said that it did not befit us, nor do I wish you, to do as many +imprudent laymen, who pass over what is commanded them by Holy Church, +saying: "I am not worthy of it." Thus they spend a long time in mortal sin +without the food of their souls. Oh, foolish humility! Who does not see +that thou art not worthy? At what time dost thou await worthiness? Do not +await it; for thou wilt be just as worthy at the end as at the beginning. +For with all our just deeds, we shall never be worthy of it. But God is He +who is worthy, and makes us worthy with His worth. His worth grows never +less. What ought we to do? Make us ready on our part, and observe His +sweet commandment. For did we not do so, giving up communion, in such wise +believing to flee from fault, we should fall into fault. + +Therefore I conclude, and will that such folly be not in you; but that you +make you ready, as a faithful Christian, to receive this Holy Communion as +I said. You will do it just as perfectly as you are in true knowledge of +yourself; not otherwise. For if you abide in that knowledge, you will see +everything clearly. Do not slacken your holy desire, for pain or loss, or +injury or ingratitude of those whom you have served; but manfully, with +true and long perseverance you shall persevere till death. Thus I beg you +to do by the love of Christ crucified. I say no more. Remain in the holy +and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +TO THE ANZIANI AND CONSULS AND GONFALONIERI OF BOLOGNA + + +Catherine lays down admirable political principles, for the fourteenth or +for the twentieth century. Yet times have changed, and we can hardly +imagine a modern city council giving serious welcome to such a letter as +this. It is a fair specimen of the letters which she was in the habit of +sending to the governments of the Italian towns--direct, simple, high- +minded presentations of the fundamental virtues on which the true +prosperity of a State must rest. She was capable, as she showed during the +Schism, of detailed political sagacity: but she never lost the womanly +conviction that moral generalizations would convict men of sin and point +them to the path of holiness. Nor was she wholly wrong. Her letters seem +to have been received with respect, and not to have failed in +effectiveness. On the present occasion, the authorities of Bologna have +evidently sent asking her prayers. These she promises gladly, but adds +that the Bolognese must not expect "the servants of God" to do all their +work for them. + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest brothers in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and slave of +the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His precious Blood: with +desire to see you divested of the old man and clothed with the new-- +divested, that is, of the world and the fleshly self-love which is the old +sin of Adam, and clothed with the new Christ sweet Jesus, and His tender +charity. When this charity is in the soul, it seeks not its own, but is +liberal and generous to render His due to God: to love Him above +everything else, and to hate its own lower nature; and to love itself for +God, rendering praise and glory to His Name: to render its neighbour +benevolence, with fraternal charity and well-ordered love. For charity +ought to be regulated: that is, a man must not wrong himself by sinning, +in order to rescue one soul--nay more, in order, were it possible, to save +the whole world; since it is not lawful to commit the least fault to +achieve a great virtue. And our body should not be sacrificed to rescue +the body of our neighbour; but we ought surely to sacrifice our bodily +life for the salvation of souls, and temporal possessions for the welfare +and life of our neighbour. So you see that this charity should be and is +regulated in the soul. + +But those who are deprived of charity and full of self-love do just the +opposite; and as they are extravagant in their affections, so they are in +all their works. Thus we see that men of the world serve and love their +neighbour without virtue, and in sin; and to serve and please them, they +do not mind disserving and displeasing God, and injuring their own souls. +This is that perverted love which often kills soul and body--robs us of +light and casts us into darkness, robs us of life and condemns us to +death, deprives us of the conversation of the Blessed and leads us to that +of Hell. And if a man does not correct himself while he has time, he +destroys the shining pearls of holy justice, and loses the warmth of true +charity and obedience. + +Now on whatever side we turn, we see every kind of rational creature +lacking in all virtue, and arrayed in this evil fleshly self-love. If we +turn to the prelates, they devote themselves so much to their own affairs +and live so luxuriously, that they do not seem to care when they see their +subjects in the hands of demons. As to the subjects, it is just the same, +they do not care to obey either the civil law or the divine, nor do they +care to serve one another unless for their own profit. And yet this kind +of love, and the union of those who are united by natural love and not by +true charity, does not suffice; such friendship suffices and lasts only so +long as pleasure and enjoyment lasts, and the personal profit derived from +it. + +So, when a man is lord, he fails in holy justice. And this is the reason: +that he fears to lose his dignity, and, so as not to excite annoyance, he +goes about cloaking and hiding men's faults, spreading ointment over a +wound at the time when it ought to be cauterized. Oh, miserable my soul! +When the man ought to apply the flame of divine charity, and burn out the +fault with holy punishment and correction inflicted by holy justice, he +flatters and pretends that he does not see. He behaves thus toward those +who he sees might impair his dignity; but as to the poor, who count for +little and whom he does not fear, he shows very great zeal for justice, +and without any mercy or pity imposes most severe punishment for a little +fault. What causes such injustice? Self-love. But the wretched men of the +world, because they are deprived of truth, do not recognize truth, either +as regards their salvation or as regards the true preservation of their +lordship. For did they know the truth, they would see that only living in +the fear of God preserves their state and the city in peace: they would +preserve holy justice, rendering his due to every subject, they would show +mercy on whoso deserved mercy, not by passionate impulse, but by regard +for truth; and justice they would show on whoso deserved it, built upon +mercy, and not on passionate wrath. Nor would they judge by hearsay, but +by holy and true justice; and they would heed the common good, and not any +private good, and would appoint officials and those who are to rule the +city, not by party or prejudice, not for flatteries or bribery, but with +virtue and reason alone; and they would choose men mature and excellent, +and not mere children--such as fear God and love the Commonwealth and not +their own particular advantage. Now in this way, their state and the city +is preserved in peace and unity. But unjust deeds, and living in cliques, +and the appointment to rule and government of men who do not know how to +rule themselves or their families--unjust and violent, passionate lovers +of themselves--these are the methods that make them lose both the state of +spiritual grace and their temporal state. To such as these it may be said: +"In vain thou dost labour to guard thy city if God guard it not: if thou +fear not God, and hold Him not before thee in thy works." + +So you see, dearest brothers and lords, that self-love ruins the city of +the soul, and ruins and overturns the cities of earth. I will that you +know that nothing has so divided the world into every kind of people as +self-love, from which injustice is for ever born. + +Apparently, dearest brothers, you have a desire to increase and preserve +the welfare of your city; and this desire moved you to write to me, poor +wretch that I am, full of faults. I heard and saw that letter with tender +love, and with wish to satisfy your desires, and to exert me, with what +grace God shall give me, to offer you and your city before God with +continual prayer. If you shall be just men, and carry on your government +as I said above, not in passion nor for self-love or your private good, +but for the universal good founded on the Rock Christ sweet Jesus, and if +you do all your works in His fear, then by means of prayer you shall +preserve the state, the peace and unity of your city. Therefore I beg you +by the love of Christ crucified--for there is no other way--that since you +have the help of the prayers of the servants of God, you should not fail +on your side in what is needful. For did you fail you might to be sure be +helped a little by the prayers, but not so much that it would not soon +come to nothing; because you ought to help, on your part, to bear this +weight. + +So, considering that if you were clothed in fleshly and personal love, you +could not help the servants of God, and that he who does not help himself +with virtue and holy zeal for justice, cannot help his brothers' city, I +say that it is needful for you to be clothed with the New Man, Christ +sweet Jesus, and His immeasurable charity. But we cannot be clothed +therein unless first we divest us--nor could I divest me unless I see how +harmful it is to me to hold my old sin, and how useful the new garment of +divine charity. For when man has seen his sin, he hates it, and strips it +off; and loves, and in love arrays him in the garment of virtue woven with +the love of the New Man. Now this is the Way. Therefore I said to you that +I desired to see you divested of the old man and clothed with the New Man, +Christ crucified; and in this way you shall win and keep the state of +grace and the state of your city, and you will never fail in the reverence +due to Holy Church, but with pleasing manner will render your due and keep +your state. I say no more. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. +Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +TO NICHOLAS OF OSIMO + + +Ardour is the first trait which one feels in approaching the character of +Catherine; but the second is fidelity. Neither the one nor the other +flagged till the hour of her death. In the grave and tranquil words of +this letter we can see, yet more clearly, perhaps, than in the fervid +utterances of hours of excitement or crisis, how profound was her +conception of the Church, how fixed her resolution to sacrifice herself +for "that sweet Bride." Gregory has returned to Italy, and Catherine is +knowing a brief respite from public responsibilities in the comparative +retirement of Siena. But peace is not yet made with Florence, nor is the +reform of the Church even begun. Her heart, however, refuses to harbour +discouragement, and seeking as ever to hold others to the same steady +pitch of faith and consecration which she herself maintained, she writes +to the secretary of the Pope. He appears to have been a holy man who +shared her aspirations, but he was evidently disheartened by the apparent +failure of his efforts and by the necessary absorption in external things +of a life dedicated to public affairs. Catherine's keen analysis leaves +Nicholas of Osimo no excuse for indolence. Her letter, especially in the +earlier portion, reads like a paraphrase of Newman's fine verses on +"Sensitiveness":-- + + "Time was, I shrank from what was right + For fear of what was wrong: + I would not mingle in the fight + Because the foe was strong: + + "But now I cast that finer sense + And sorer shame aside: + Such dread of sin was indolence, + Such aim at heaven was pride. + + "So, when my Saviour calls, I rise, + And calmly do my best, + Leaving to Him, with silent eyes + Of hope and fear, the rest. + + "I step, I mount, where He has led; + Men count my haltings o'er; + I know them; yet, though self I dread, + I love His precept more." + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest and most reverend father in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, +servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His +precious Blood: with desire to see you a firm pillar, that shall never +move, except in God; never avoiding or refusing the toils and labours laid +on you in the mystical body of Holy Church, the sweet Bride of Christ-- +neither for the ingratitude and ignorance you found among those who feed +in that garden, nor from the weariness that might afflict us from seeing +the affairs of the Church get into a disorderly state. For it often +happens that when a man is spending all his efforts on something, and it +does not come about in the way or to the end that he wants, his mind falls +into weariness and sadness, as if he reflected and said: "It is better for +thee to give up this enterprise which thou hast begun and worked on so +long, and it is not yet come to an end: and to seek peace and quiet in thy +own mind." Then the soul ought to reply boldly, hungering for the honour +of God and the salvation of souls, and decline personal consolation, and +say: "I will not avoid or flee from labour, for I am not worthy of peace +and quiet of mind. Nay, I wish to remain in that state which I have +chosen, and manfully to give honour to God with my labour, and my labour +to my neighbour." Yet sometimes the devil, to make our enterprises weary +us, when we feel little peace of mind, will make a suggestion to the man, +saying in his thought: "I am doing more harm in this thing than I am +deserving good. So I would gladly run away from it, not on account of the +labour, but because I do not want to do harm." Oh, dearest father, do not +yield either to yourself or the devil, nor believe him, when he puts such +thoughts into your heart and mind; but embrace your labour with gladness +and ardent desire, and without any servile fear. + +And do not be afraid to do wrong in this; for wrong is shown to us in a +disordered and perverse will. For when the will is not settled in God, +then one does wrong. The time of the soul is not lost because it may be +deprived of consolations, and of saying its office and many psalms, and +cannot say them at the right time or place, or with that peace of mind +which it would itself wish. Nay, it is occupied wholly for God. So it +ought not to feel pain in its mind--especially when it is labouring and +working for the Bride of Christ. For in whatever way or concerning +whatever matter we are labouring for her, it is so deserving and gives +such pleasure to God, that our intellect does not suffice to see or +imagine it. + +I recall, dearest father, a servant of God to whom it was shown how +pleasing this service is to Him; I tell this that you may be encouraged to +bear labours for Holy Church. This servant of God, as I understood, having +one time among others an intense desire to shed her blood and her life and +annihilate her very consciousness for Holy Church, the Bride of Christ, +lifted the eye of her mind to know that she had no being in herself, and +to know the goodness of God toward her--that is, to see how God through +love had given her being and all gifts and graces that follow from being. +So, seeing and tasting such love and such depths of mercy, she saw not how +she could respond to God except by love. But because she could be of no +use to Him, she could not show her love; therefore she gave herself to +considering whether she found anyone to love through Him, by whom she +might show love. So she saw that God loved supremely His rational +creatures, and she found the same love to all that was given to herself, +for all are loved of God. This was the means she found (which showed +whether she loved God or not) by which she could be of use. So then she +rose ardently, full of charity to her neighbours, and conceived such love +for their salvation that she would willingly have given her life for it. +So the service which she could not render to God she desired to render to +her neighbour. And when she had realized that it befitted her to respond +by means of her neighbour, and thus to render Him love for love--as God by +means of the Word, His Son, has shown us love and mercy--so, seeing that +by means of desire for the salvation of souls, giving honour to God and +labour to one's neighbour, God was well pleased--she looked then to see in +what garden and upon what table the neighbour might be enjoyed. + +Then Our Saviour showed her, saying: "Dearest daughter, it befits thee to +eat in the garden of my Bride, upon the table of the most holy Cross, +giving thy suffering, and crucified desire, and vigils and prayers, and +every activity that thou canst, without negligence. Know that thou canst +not have desire for the salvation of souls without having it for Holy +Church; for she is the universal body of all creatures who share the light +of holy faith, who can have no life if they are not obedient to My Bride. +Therefore, thou oughtest to desire to see thy Christian neighbours, and +the infidels and every rational creature, feeding in this garden, under +the yoke of holy obedience, clothed in the light of living faith, and with +good and holy works--for faith without works is dead. This is the common +hunger and desire of that whole body. But now I say and will that thou +grow yet more in hunger and desire, and hold thee ready to lay down thy +life, if need be, in especial, in the mystical body of Holy Church, for +the reform of My Bride. For when she is reformed, the profit of the whole +world will follow. How? Because through darkness, and ignorance, and self- +love, and impurities, and swollen pride, darkness and death are born in +the souls of her subjects. So I summon thee and my other servants to +labour in desire, in vigils, and prayer, and every other work, according +to the skill which I give you; for I tell thee that the labour and service +offered her are so pleasing to me, that not only they shall be rewarded in +My servants who have a sincere and holy intention, but also in the +servants of the world, who often serve her through self-love, though also +many a time through reverence for Holy Church. Wherefore I tell thee that +there is no one who serves her reverently--so good I hold this service-- +who shall not be rewarded; and I tell thee that such shall not see eternal +death. So, likewise, in those who wrong and serve ill and irreverently My +Bride, I shall not let that wrong go unpunished, by one way or another." + +Then, as she saw such greatness and generosity in the goodness of God, and +perceived what ought to be done to please Him more, the flame of desire so +increased that had it been possible for her to give her life for Holy +Church a thousand times a day, and from now till the final judgment day, +it seemed to her that it would be less than a drop of wine in the sea. And +so it really is. + +I wish you, then, and summon you, to labour for her as you have always +done; yea, you are a pillar, who have placed yourself to support and help +this Bride. So you ought to be, as I said--so that neither tribulation nor +consolation should ever stir you. Nor because many contrary winds are +blowing to hinder those who walk in the way of truth, ought we for any +reason to look back. Therefore I said that I desired to see you a firm +pillar. Up, then, dearest and sweetest father: because it is our hour to +give for that Bride honour to God and labour to her. I beg you, by the +love of Christ crucified, to pray the holy father that he adopt zealously, +without negligence, every remedy which can be found consistent to his +conscience for the reform of Holy Church and peace to this great war which +is damning so many souls, since for all negligence and lukewarmness God +will rebuke Him most severely, and will demand the souls who through this +are perishing. Commend me to him; and I ask him humbly for his +benediction. I say no more. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. +Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +TO MISSER LORENZO DEL PINO OF BOLOGNA, +DOCTOR IN DECRETALS (WRITTEN IN TRANCE) + + +The familiar but ever-noble theology with which this letter opens, leads +first to a severe description of the unworthy and mercenary man, which is +followed by a temperately wise discussion of the true use of worldly +pleasures and goods. "Whatever God has made is good and perfect," says +Catherine--"except sin, which was not made by Him, and so is not worthy of +love." The modern religious Epicureanism which would applaud this +sentiment would, however, be less contented with the sequel; for Catherine +never forgets the anti-modern position that, though possession be +legitimate to the Christian, it is, after all, "more perfect to renounce +than to possess," and that the man who has preserved true detachment of +mind towards this world's goods will, by inevitable logic, come to hunger, +sooner or later, for detachment in deed. + +It is a curiously tranquil letter to have been written in trance. Whatever +the mysterious condition may have been, it evidently did not rob Catherine +of her mental sanity and sobriety. The Doctor of Laws to whom it was +addressed was a person of considerable importance in the public and legal +life of his time. One cannot help suspecting a personal bearing in the +severe description of the hard man--evidently a lawyer--who makes the poor +wait before giving them counsel: yet, perhaps, the suspicion is +unwarranted, and the letter carried to Misser Lorenzo nothing more +searching than a general account of the temptations to which his +profession was subject. + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest brother and son in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and +slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His precious Blood: +with desire to see you a lover and follower of truth and a despiser of +falsehood. But this truth cannot be possessed or loved if it is not known. +Who is Truth? God is the Highest and Eternal Truth. In whom shall we know +Him? In Christ sweet Jesus, for He shows us with His Blood the truth of +the Eternal Father. His truth toward us is this, that He created us in His +image and likeness to give us life eternal, that we might share and enjoy +His Good. But through man's sin this truth was not fulfilled in him, and +therefore God gave us the Word His Son, and imposed this obedience on Him, +that He should restore man to grace through much endurance, purging the +sin of man in His own Person, and manifesting His truth in His Blood. So +man knows, by the unsearchable love which he finds shown to him through +the Blood of Christ crucified, that God nor seeks nor wills aught but our +sanctification. For this end we were created; and whatever God gives or +permits to us in this life, He gives that we may be sanctified in Him. He +who knows this truth never jars with it, but always follows and loves it, +walking in the footsteps of Christ crucified. And as this sweet loving +Word, for our example and teaching, despised the world and all delights, +and chose to endure hunger and thirst, shame and reproach, even to the +shameful death on the Cross, for the honour of the Father and our +salvation, so does he who is the lover of the truth which he knows in the +light of most holy faith, follow this way and these footsteps. For without +this light it could not be known; but when a man has the light, he knows +it, and knowing it, loves it, and becomes a lover of what God loves, and +hates what God hates. + +There is this difference between him who loves the truth and him who hates +it. He who hates the truth, lies in the darkness of mortal sin. He hates +what God loves, and loves what God hates. God hates sin, and the +inordinate joys and luxuries of the world, and such a man loves it all, +fattening himself on the world's wretched trifles, and corrupting himself +in every rank. If he has an office in which he ought to minister in some +way to his neighbour, he serves him only so far as he can get some good +for himself out of it, and no farther, and becomes a lover of himself. +Christ the Blessed gave His life for us, and such a man will not give one +word to serve his neighbour unless he sees it paid, and overpaid. If the +neighbour happens to be a poor man who cannot pay, he makes him wait +before telling him the truth, and often does not tell it to him at all, +but makes fun of him; and where he ought to be pitiful and a father of the +poor, he becomes cruel to his own soul because he wrongs the poor. But the +wretched man does not see that the Highest Judge will return to him +nothing else than what he receives from him, since every sin is justly +punished and every good rewarded. Christ embraced voluntary poverty and +was a lover of continence; the wretched man who has made himself a +follower and lover of falsehood does just the contrary; not only does he +fail to be content with what he has, or to refrain through love of virtue, +but he robs other people. Nor does he remain content in the state of +marriage, in which, if it is observed as it should be, a man can stay with +a good conscience; but he plunges into every wretchedness, like a brute +beast, without moderation, and as the pig rolls in filth, so does he in +the filth of impurity. + +But we might say: "What shall I do, who have riches, and am in the state +of marriage, if these things bring damnation to my soul?" Dearest brother, +a man can save his soul and receive the life of grace into himself, in +whatever condition he may be; but not while he abides in guilt of mortal +sin. For every condition is pleasing to God, and He is the acceptor, not +of men's conditions, but of holy desire. So we may hold to these things +when they are held with a temperate will; for whatever God has made is +good and perfect, except sin, which was not made by Him, and therefore is +not worthy of love. A man can hold to riches and worldly place if he +likes, and he does not wrong God nor his own soul; but it would be greater +perfection if he renounced them, because there is more perfection in +renunciation than in possession. If he does not wish to renounce them in +deed, he ought to renounce and abandon them with holy desire, and not to +place his chief affections upon them, but upon God alone; and let him keep +these things to serve his own needs and those of his family, like a thing +that is lent and not like his own. So doing, he will never suffer pain +from any created thing; for a thing that is not possessed with love is +never lost with sorrow. So we see that the servants of the world, lovers +of falsehood, endure very great sufferings in their life, and bitter +tortures to the very end. What is the reason? The inordinate love they +have for themselves and for created things, which they love apart from +God. For the Divine Goodness has permitted that every inordinate affection +should be unendurable to itself. + +Such a man as this always believes falsehood, because there is no +knowledge of truth in him. And he thinks to hold to the world and abide in +delights, to make a god of his body, and of the other things that he loves +immoderately a god, and he must leave them all. We see that either he +leaves them by dying, or God permits that they be taken from him first. +Every day we see it. For now a man is rich, and now poor; to-day he is +exalted in worldly state, and to-morrow he is cast down; now he is well, +and now ill. So all things are mutable, and are taken from us when we +think to clasp them firmly; or we are snatched away from them by death. + +So you see that all things pass. Then, seeing that they pass, they should +be possessed with moderation in the light of reason, loved in such wise as +they should be loved. And he who holds them thus will not hold them with +the help of sin, but with grace; with generosity of heart, and not with +avarice; in pity for the poor, and not in cruelty; in humility, not in +pride; in gratitude, not in ingratitude: and will recognize that his +possessions come from his Creator, and not himself. With this same +temperate love he will love his children, his friends, his relatives, and +all other rational beings. He will hold the condition of marriage as +ordained, and ordained as a Sacrament; and will have in respect the days +commanded by Holy Church. He will be and live like a man, and not a beast; +and will be, not indeed ascetic, but continent and self-controlled. Such a +man will be a fruitful tree, that will bear the fruits of virtue, and will +be fragrant, shedding perfume although planted in the earth; and the seed +that issues from him will be good and virtuous. + +So you see that you can have God in any condition; for the condition is +not what robs us of Him, but the evil will alone, which, when it is set on +loving falsehood, is ill-ordered and corrupts a man's every work. But if +he loves truth, he follows the footsteps of truth; so he hates what truth +hates and loves what truth loves, and then his every work is good and +perfect. Otherwise it would not be possible for him to share the life of +grace, nor would any work of his bear living fruit. + +So, knowing no other way, I said that I desired to see you a lover and +follower of truth and despiser of falsehood; hating the devil the father +of lies, and your own lower nature, that follows such a parent; and loving +Christ crucified, who is Way, Truth and Life. For He who walks in Him +reaches the Light, and is clothed in the shining garment of charity, +wherein are all virtues found. Which charity and love unspeakable, when it +is in the soul, holds itself not content in the common state, but desires +to advance further. Thus from mental poverty it desires to advance to +actual, and from mental continence to actual; to observe the Counsels as +well as the Commandments of Christ; for it begins to feel aversion for the +dunghill of the world. And because it sees the difficulty of being in +filth and not defiled, it longs with breathless desire and burning charity +to free itself by one act from the world so far as possible. If it is not +able to escape in deed, it studies to be perfect in its own place. At +least, it does not lack desire. + +Then, dearest brother, let us sleep no more, but awaken from slumber. Open +the eye of the mind in the light of faith, to know, to love, to follow +that truth which you shall know through the Blood of the humble and loving +Lamb. You shall know that Blood in the knowledge of yourself, that the +face of your soul may be washed therein. And it is ours, and none can take +it from us unless we choose. Then be negligent no more; but like a vase, +fill yourself with the Blood of Christ crucified. I say no more. Remain in +the holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +LETTERS WRITTEN FROM ROCCA D'ORCIA + + +These informal little notes were written probably in the autumn of 1377 +while Catherine was making a visit to the feudal stronghold of the +Salimbeni family, about twenty-three miles from Siena, among the foothills +of Monte Amiata. The young "populana" was admitted to the intimate +counsels of these great nobles, leaders of the opposition to the popular +government with which her own sympathies would naturally have lain. It +must have been a new experience to the town-bred girl--life in this +castle-eyrie among the hills, where mercenary troops and rude peasants +thronged the courtyard, and manners, one surmises, must have been at once +more artful and more brutal than among her bourgeois friends. We hear of +picturesque scenes, where men and women afflicted of demons are brought +writhing into her presence, to be welcomed, cared for, and healed. She had +the comfort of the company of several confessors; the first of these +letters shows them labouring with homely eagerness, quaintly expressed, +for the religious welfare of the wild soldiery. Absorbed, as ever, in the +inward life, Catherine was as tranquilly at home here in the mountains, +among the great ladies of the Salimbeni family, as in Siena or in the +papal court. + +Meantime, good Monna Lapa grumbled as of old over the separation from her +daughter; and evidently Catherine's sister mantellate were also +disconsolate. She writes them very gently, very simply, trying to +reconcile them by the reminder of like sorrows borne by that first group +of disciples to whom she and her friends loved to compare themselves. To +her beloved Alessa she expresses herself more freely, giving just the +details of health and mental state that intimate love would crave. These +were sad days in her private life; for she had parted from Fra Raimondo, +who had been called to other service. Her words to Alessa reflect her +sadness, and also her entire submission. It is noticeable that she +respects the secrets of her hosts with dignity, giving no hint on the +matters that occupied her beyond the reticent statement to her mother: "I +believe that if you knew the circumstances you yourself would send me +here." + +This is not the only time by any means that Catherine had to meet similar +complaints. Wherever she bore her strong vitality, limitless sympathy and +peculiar charm, new friends gathered around her and clung to her with an +unreasoning devotion that cried out in exacting hunger for her presence, +and often proved to her a real distress. For Catherine, swiftly responsive +as she was to individual affections, perfect in loyalty as she always +showed herself, moved, nevertheless, in a region where unswerving service +of a larger duty might at any moment force her to refuse to gratify, at +least in outward ways, the personal claim. This was very hard for her +friends to understand; one is sorry for them. At the same time, one feels +more than a little pathos in her efforts to bring these simpler minds into +understanding sympathy with that high sense of vocation which underlay all +her doings: "Know, dearest mother, that I, your poor little daughter, am +not put on earth for anything else than this; to this my Creator has +chosen me. I know you are content that I should obey Him." But Monna Lapa +never was quite content--not to the very end. + + + +TO MONNA LAPA HER MOTHER AND TO MONNA CECCA +IN THE MONASTERY OF SAINT AGNES AT MONTEPULCIANO, WHEN SHE WAS AT ROCCA + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest mother and daughter in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant +and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His precious +Blood: with desire to see you so clothed in the flames of divine charity +that you may bear all pain and torment, hunger and thirst, persecution and +injury, derision, outrage and insult, and everything else, with true +patience; learning from the Lamb suffering and slain, who ran with such +burning love to the shameful death of the Cross. Do you then keep in +companionship with sweetest Mother Mary, who, in order that the holy +disciples might seek the honour of God and the salvation of souls, +following the footsteps of her sweet Son, consents that they should leave +her presence, although she loved them supremely: and she stays as if +alone, a guest and a pilgrim. And the disciples, who loved her beyond +measure, yet leave her joyously, enduring every grief for the honour of +God, and go out among tyrants, enduring many persecutions. And if you ask +them: "Why do you carry yourselves so joyously, and you are going away +from Mary?" they would reply: "Because we have lost ourselves, and are +enamoured of the honour of God and the salvation of souls." Well, dearest +mother and daughter, I want you to do just so. If up to now you have not +been, I want you to be now, kindled in the fire of divine charity, seeking +always the honour of God and the salvation of souls. Otherwise you would +fall into the greatest grief and tribulation, and would drag me down into +them. Know, dearest mother, that I, your poor little daughter, am not put +on earth for anything else; to this my Creator has elected me. I know you +are content that I should obey Him. I beg you that if I seemed to stay +away longer than pleased your will, you will be contented; for I cannot do +otherwise. I believe that if you knew the circumstances you yourself would +send me here. I am staying to find help if I can for a great scandal. It +is no fault of the Countess, though; therefore do you all pray God and +that glorious Virgin to send us a good result. And do you, Cecca, and +Giustina, drown yourselves in the Blood of Christ crucified; for now is +the time to prove the virtue in your soul. God give His sweet and eternal +benediction to you all. I say no more. Remain in the holy and sweet grace +of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +TO MONNA CATARINA OF THE HOSPITAL AND TO GIOVANNA DI CAPO IN SIENA + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest daughters in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and slave of +the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His precious Blood: with +desire to see you obedient daughters, united in true and perfect charity. +This obedience and love will dissipate all your suffering and gloom; for +obedience removes the thing which gives us suffering, that is our own +perverse will, which is wholly destroyed in true holy obedience. Gloom is +scattered and consumed by the impulse of charity and unity, for God is +true charity and highest eternal light. He who has this true light for his +guide, cannot miss the road. Therefore, dearest daughters, I want, since +it is so necessary, that you should study to lose your own will and to +gain this light. + +This is the doctrine which I remember has always been given you, although +you have learned little of it. That which is not done, I beg you to do, +dearest daughters. If you did not, you would abide in continual +sufferings, and would drag poor me, who deserve every suffering, into them +too. + +We must do for the honour of God as the holy apostles did. When they had +received the Holy Spirit, they separated from one another, and from that +sweet mother Mary. Although it was their greatest delight to stay +together, yet they gave up their own delight, and sought the honour of God +and the salvation of souls. And although Mary sends them away from her, +they do not therefore hold that love is diminished, or that they are +deprived of the affection of Mary. This is the rule that we must take to +ourselves. I know that my presence is a great consolation to you. +Nevertheless, as truly obedient, you should not seek your own consolation, +for the honour of God and the salvation of souls: and do not give place to +the devil, who makes it look to you as if you were deprived of the love +and devotion which I bear to your souls and bodies. Were it otherwise, +true love would not be built on you. I assure you that I do not love you +otherwise than in God. Why do you fall into such unregulated suffering +over things which must necessarily be so? Oh, what shall we do when it +shall befit us to do great deeds if we fail so in the little ones? We +shall have to be together or separated according as things shall befall. +Just now our sweet Saviour wills and permits that we be separated for His +honour. + +You are in Siena, and Cecca and Grandma are in Montepulciano. Frate +Bartolomeo and Frate Matteo will be there and have been there. Alessa and +Monna Bruna are at Monte Giove, eighteen miles from Montepulciano; they +are with the Countess and Monna Lisa. Frate Raimondo and Frate Tommaso and +Monna Tomma and Lisa and I are at Rocca among the Free-lances. And so many +incarnate demons are being eaten up that Frate Tommaso says that his +stomach aches over it! With all this they cannot be satisfied, and they +are hungry for more, and find work here at a good price. Pray the Divine +Goodness to give them big, sweet and bitter mouthfuls! Think that the +honour of God and the salvation of souls is being sweetly seen. You ought +not to want or desire anything else. You could do nothing more pleasing to +the highest eternal will of God, and to mine, than feeling thus. Up, my +daughters, begin to sacrifice your own wills to God! Don't be ready always +to stay nurselings--for you should get the teeth of your desire ready to +bite hard and musty bread, if needs be. + +I say no more. Bind you in the sweet bands of love, so you will show that +you are daughters--not otherwise. Comfort you in Christ sweet Jesus, and +comfort all the other daughters. We will come back as soon as we can, +according as it shall please the Divine Goodness. Remain in the holy and +sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +TO MONNA ALESSA +CLOTHED WITH THE HABIT OF SAINT DOMINIC, WHEN SHE WAS AT ROCCA + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest daughter in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and slave of +the servants of Jesus Christ, write to thee in His precious Blood: with +desire to see thee follow the doctrine of the Spotless Lamb with a free +heart, divested of every creature-love, clothed only with the Creator, in +the light of most holy faith. For without the light thou couldst not walk +in the straight way of the Slain and Spotless Lamb. Therefore my soul +desires to see thee and the others clean and virile, and not blown about +by every wind that may befall. Beware of looking back, but go on steadily, +holding in mind the teaching that has been given thee. Be sure to enter +every day anew into the garden of thy soul with the light of faith to pull +up every thorn that might smother the seed of the teaching given thee, and +to turn over the earth; that is, every day do thou divest thy heart. It is +necessary to divest it over and over; for many a time I have seen people +who seemed to have divested themselves, whom I have found clothed in sin, +by evidence rather of deed than of words. The opposite might appear by +their words, but deeds showed their affections. I want, then, that thou +shouldst divest thy heart in truth, following Christ crucified. And let +silence abide on thy lips. I have taken note; for I believe that the other +woman holds to it very little. I am very sorry for that. If it is so, as +it seems to me, my Creator wills that I should bear it, and I am content +to do so: but I am not content with the wrong done to God. + +Thou didst write me that God seemed to constrain thee in thy orisons to +pray for me. Thanks be to the Divine Goodness, who shows such unspeakable +love to my poor soul! Thou didst tell me to write thee if I were suffering +and had my usual infirmities at this time. I reply that God has cared for +me marvellously, within and without. He has cared very much for my body +this Advent, causing the pains to be diverted by writing; it is true that, +by the goodness of God, they have been worse than they used to be. If He +made them worse, He saw to it that Lisa was cured as soon as Frate Santi +fell ill--for he has been at the point of death. Now, almost miraculously, +he has grown so much better that he can be called cured. But apparently my +Bridegroom, Eternal Truth, has wished to put me to a very sweet and +genuine test, inward and outward, in the things which are seen and those +which are not--the latter beyond count the greater. But while He was +testing us, He has cared for us so gently as tongue could not tell. +Therefore I wish pains to be food to me, tears my drink, sweat my +ointment. Let pains make me fat, let pains cure me, let pains give me +light, let pains give me wisdom, let pains clothe my nakedness, let pains +strip me of all self-love, spiritual and temporal. The pain of lacking +consolations from my fellow-creatures has called me to consider my own +lack of virtue, recognizing my imperfection, and the very perfect light of +Sweet Truth, who gives and receives, not material things, but holy +desires: Him who has not withdrawn His goodness toward me for my little +light or knowledge, but has had regard only to Himself, the One supremely +Good. + +I beg thee by the love of Jesus Christ crucified, dearest my daughter, do +not slacken in prayer: nay, redouble it--for I have greater need thereof +than thou seest--and do thou thank the Goodness of God for me. And pray +Him to give me grace that I may give my life for Him, and to take away, if +so please Him, the burden of my body. For my life is of very little use to +anyone else; rather is it painful and oppressive to every person, far and +near, by reason of my sins. May God by His mercy take from me such great +faults, and for the little time that I have to live, may He make me live +impassioned by the love of virtue! And may I in pain offer before Him my +dolorous and suffering desires for the salvation of all the world and the +reformation of Holy Church! Joy, joy in the Cross with me! So may the +Cross be a bed where the soul may rest: a table where may be tasted +heavenly food, the fruit of patience with quietness and assurance. + +Thou didst send to me saying ... I was consoled by this thing, both by her +life, hoping that she is correcting herself and living with less vanity of +heart than she has done till now, and also by the children's having been +brought to the light of Holy Baptism. May God give them His sweetest +grace, and grant them death if they are not to be good! Bless them, and +comfort her, in Christ sweet Jesus: and tell her to live in the holy and +sweet fear of God, and to recognize the grace she has received from God, +which has not been small but very great. Were she to be ungrateful, it +would much displease God, and perhaps He would not leave her unpunished. + +I commend to thee ... I have had no news at all of them, I do not know +why. The will of God be done! Our Saviour has put me on the Island, and +the winds beat from every side. Let everyone rejoice in Christ crucified, +however far one from the other. Shut thee into the house of self- +knowledge. I say no more. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet +Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +TO GREGORY XI + + +There is no evidence as to the date of this letter, but the tone is such +that Catherine's latest editor is probably right in placing it after the +return of the Pope to Italy. It suggests that a long relation is drawing +to a close, and closing, so far as Catherine is concerned, in +disappointment. Never, in her earlier relations with Gregory, would she +have gone such lengths as here, in her amazing hint that he would better +resign the Papacy if he finds himself unable to sustain the moral burdens +it imposes. The Pope is at Rome, but he has changed his sky and not his +mind. Catherine's letter is a brief and powerful summary of oft-reiterated +pleas. In the solemnity and authority of its adjurations, in the +distinctness of its accusations, it is surely one of the most surprising +epistles ever written by a devout and wholly faithful subject to her +acknowledged head. Such a letter proceeds, indeed, from a spiritual region +where all earthly distinctions--ecclesiastical as well as intellectual or +social--are lost to sight, and the illiterate daughter of the dyer can +rebuke and exhort as by her natural right him whom with unwavering faith +she believed to be the God-appointed father of all Christian people. +Catherine's patience, one feels, is near the breaking point: and heart- +break for her is in truth not many years away. + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Most holy and sweet father, your poor unworthy daughter Catherine in +Christ sweet Jesus, commends herself to you in His precious Blood: with +desire to see you a manly man, free from any fear or fleshly love toward +yourself, or toward any creature related to you in the flesh; since I +perceive in the sweet Presence of God that nothing so hinders your holy, +good desire and so serves to hinder the honour of God and the exaltation +and reform of Holy Church, as this. Therefore, my soul desires with +immeasurable love that God by His infinite mercy may take from you all +passion and lukewarmness of heart, and re-form you another man, by forming +in you anew a burning and ardent desire; for in no other way could you +fulfil the will of God and the desire of His servants. Alas, alas, +sweetest "Babbo" mine, pardon my presumption in what I have said to you +and am saying; I am constrained by the Sweet Primal Truth to say it. His +will, father, is this, and thus demands of you. It demands that you +execute justice on the abundance of many iniquities committed by those who +are fed and pastured in the garden of Holy Church; declaring that brutes +should not be fed with the food of men. Since He has given you authority +and you have assumed it, you should use your virtue and power: and if you +are not willing to use it, it would be better for you to resign what you +have assumed; more honour to God and health to your soul would it be. + +Another demand that His will makes is this: He wills that you make peace +with all Tuscany, with which you are at strife; securing from all your +wicked sons who have rebelled against you whatever is possible to secure +without war--but punishing them as a father ought to punish a son who has +wronged him. Moreover, the sweet goodness of God demands from you that you +give full authority to those who ask you to make ready for the Holy +Crusade--that thing which appears impossible to you, and possible to the +sweet goodness of God, who has ordained it, and wills that so it be. +Beware, as you hold your life dear, that you commit no negligence in this, +nor treat as jests the works of the Holy Spirit, which are demanded from +you because you can do them. If you want justice, you can execute it. You +can have peace, withdrawing from the perverse pomps and delights of the +world, preserving only the honour of God and the due of Holy Church. +Authority also you have to give peace to those who ask you for it. Then, +since you are not poor but rich--you who bear in your hand the keys of +Heaven, to whom you open it is open, and to whom you shut it is shut--if +you do not do this, you would be rebuked by God. I, if I were in your +place, should fear lest divine judgment come upon me. Therefore I beg you +most gently on behalf of Christ crucified to be obedient to the will of +God, for I know that you want and desire no other thing than to do His +will, that this sharp rebuke fall not upon you: "Cursed be thou, for the +time and the strength entrusted to thee thou hast not used." I believe, +father, by the goodness of God, and also taking hope from your holiness, +that you will so act that this will not fall upon you. + +I say no more. Pardon me, pardon me; for the great love which I bear to +your salvation, and my great grief when I see the contrary, makes me speak +so. Willingly would I have said it to your own person, fully to unburden +my conscience. When it shall please your Holiness that I come to you, I +will come willingly. So do that I may not appeal to Christ crucified from +you; for to no other can I appeal, for there is no greater on earth. +Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. I ask you humbly for your +benediction. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +TO RAIMONDO OF CAPUA +OF THE ORDER OF THE PREACHERS + + +This letter confirms what history elsewhere indicates--that Gregory, after +his return to Italy, turned against Catherine. She no longer addresses her +"dear Babbo" personally, with the old happy familiarity; rather, she sends +through Fra Raimondo formal and almost tremulous messages to "his +Holiness, the Vicar of Christ." Raimondo, apparently from his connection +with her, is evidently included in the papal displeasure. Catherine writes +to give him courage and comfort; in her touching advice as to the best way +of preparing one's self to meet contentions and injustice, we may +recognize the secret source of her own rare self-control. + +Catherine's attitude toward the angered Pope is a compound of contrition +and firmness. No words could express swifter readiness to accept rebuke or +a more passionate humility: none could more vigorously maintain the +unwelcome convictions which had given offence. There are various surmises +as to the exact occasion of the misunderstanding to which this letter +refers: were we to add one, we might suspect that the audacity of the +preceding letter had been too much, even for Gregory. But the general +situation speaks for itself. Gregory was strong enough, under her +inspiration, to make the great physical and moral effort of returning to +Italy: he was, as we have seen, not strong enough to cope with what he +found there. Enfeebled by ill-health, hampered by his lack of knowledge of +Italian, rendered desperate by the difficulties he encountered, it is +small wonder that, as many another weak nature would have done, he turned +in rage or cold displeasure against the instrument of his return. There is +a story that Gregory on his deathbed warned the bystanders against +Catherine, and whether it be true or not, it suggests the contemporary +impression as to his tone toward her during his last days. Here is sad +ending to a relation that during its earlier phases possessed a singular +beauty. How sorely Catherine must have been hurt we may well imagine. Her +brief triumph was all turned to bitterness: less, we may be sure, from her +personal loss of the Pope's confidence--though she was human enough to +feel this keenly--than from the utter failure of the hopes she had built +on his return. + +In this letter her genuine self-abasement before Gregory's displeasure +changes with dramatic suddenness to another tone. The accuser becomes the +judge once more, and speaks with the old authority: "God demands that you +do this--as you know that you were told." Her personal feeling for the man +breaks forth in the appeal: "To whom shall I have recourse should you +abandon me? Who would help me?" But in the same breath comes her +magnificent assurance, that though she may offend Christ's Vicar, the Head +of the Church, she may yet flee with confidence to Christ Himself, and +rest secure upon the bosom of His Bride. + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest and sweetest father in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant +and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His precious +Blood: with desire to see you a true combatant against the wiles and +vexations of the devil, and the malice and persecution of men, and against +your own fleshly self-love, which is an enemy that, unless a man drives it +away by virtue and holy hate, prevents him from ever being strong in the +other battles which we encounter every day. For self-love weakens us, and +therefore it is imperative that we drive it away with the strength of +virtue, which we shall gain in the unspeakable love that God has shown us, +through the Blood of His only-begotten Son. This love, drawn from the +divine love, gives us light and life; light, to know the truth when +necessary to our salvation and to win great perfection, and to endure with +true patience and fortitude and constancy until death--for by such +fortitude, won from the light that makes us know the truth, we win the +life of divine grace. Drink deep, then, in the Blood of the Spotless Lamb, +and be a faithful servant, not faithless, to your Creator. And fear not, +nor turn back, for any battle or gloom that may come upon you, but +persevere in faith till death; for well you know that perseverance will +give you the fruit of your labours. + +I have understood from a certain servant of God who holds you in continual +prayer before Him, that you have met very great battles, and that gloom +has fallen upon your mind through the crafts and wiles of the devil, who +wishes to make you see wrong as right and right as wrong; this he does in +order that you may fail in your going and not reach the goal. But comfort +you, for God has provided and shall provide, and His providence shall not +be lacking. Be sure that in all things you have recourse to Mary, +embracing the holy Cross, and never let yourself fall into confusion of +mind, but sail in a stormy sea in the ship of divine mercy. I understand: +if from men religious or secular, even in the mystical body of Holy +Church, you have suffered persecution or displeasure, or have been visited +with the indignation of the Vicar of Christ, either on your own account, +or if you have had something to bear on my account with all these people-- +you are not to resist, but bear it patiently, leaving at once, and going +into your cell, there to know yourself in holy meditation; reflecting that +God is making you worthy to endure for the love of truth, and to be +persecuted for His Name, deeming yourself in true humility worthy of +punishment and unworthy to gain results. And do all the things that you +have to do prudently, holding God before your eyes; do and say what you +have to say and do in the Presence of God and of your own thought with the +help of holy prayer. There shall you find the Master, the Holy Spirit, +rich in clemency, who shall pour upon you a light of wisdom that shall +make you discern and choose what shall be to his honour. This is the +doctrine given to us by the Sweet Primal Truth, caring for our need with +measureless love. + +If it happened, dearest father, that you found yourself in the presence of +his Holiness the Vicar of Christ, our very sweet and holy father, humbly +commend me to him. I hold myself in fault before his Holiness for much +ignorance and negligence which I have committed against God, and for +disobedience against my Creator, who summoned me to cry aloud with +passionate desire, and to cry before Him in prayer, and to put myself in +word and in bodily presence close to His Vicar. In all possible ways I +have committed measureless faults, on account of which, yes, on account of +my many iniquities, I believe that he has suffered many persecutions, he +and Holy Church. Wherefore if he complains of me he is right, and right in +punishing me for my defects. But tell him that up to the limits of my +power I shall strive to correct my faults, and to fulfil more perfectly +his obedience. So I trust by the divine goodness that He will turn the +eyes of His mercy upon the Bride of Christ and His Vicar, and upon me, +freeing me from my defects and ignorance; but upon His Bride, by giving +her the refreshment of peace and renewal, with much endurance (for in no +way without toils can be uprooted the many thorny faults that choke the +garden of Holy Church), and that God will give him grace in those parts +where he wants to be a manly man, and not to look back, for any toil or +persecution that may befall him from his wicked sons; constant and +persevering, let him not avoid weariness, but let him throw himself like a +lamb into the midst of the wolves, with hungry desire for the honour of +God and the salvation of souls, putting far from him care for temporal +things, and watching over spiritual things alone. If he does so, as divine +goodness demands of him, the lamb will lord it over the wolves, and the +wolves will turn into lambs; and thus we shall see the glory and praise of +the name of God, the good and peace of Holy Church. In no other way can +these be won; not through war, but through peace and benignity, and such +holy spiritual punishment as a father should inflict on a son who does +wrong. + +Alas, alas, alas, most holy father! The first day that you came to your +own place, you should have done so. I hope in the goodness of God and in +your holiness that what is not done you will do. In this way both +temporalities and spiritualities are won back. God demanded that you do +this--as you know that you were told--that you care for the reformation of +Holy Church, punishing its sins and establishing good shepherds; and that +you make holy peace with your wicked sons in the best way and most +pleasing to God that could be done; so that then you might see to +uplifting with your arms the standard of the most holy Cross against the +infidels. I believe that our negligence and our not doing what could be +done--not cruelly nor quarrelsomely, but in peace and benignity--(always +punishing a man who has done wrong, not in proportion to his deserts, for +he could not endure what he deserves, but in proportion to what the sick +man is in a condition to bear)--are, perhaps, the reason why such +disaster and loss and irreverence toward Holy Church and her ministers has +befallen. And I fear that unless a remedy is found by doing what has been +left undone, our sins may deserve so much that we shall see greater +misfortunes; such I say as would grieve us much more than to lose temporal +possessions. Of all these evils and sorrows, wretched I am the cause, +through my little virtue and my great disobedience. + +Most holy father, look in the light of reason and truth at your +displeasure against me, not as punishment, but as displeasure. To whom +shall I have recourse should you abandon me? Who would help me? To whom do +I flee, should you cast me out? My persecutors pursue me, and I flee to +you, and to the other sons and servants of God. Should you abandon me, +assuming displeasure and wrath against me, I will hide me in the wounds of +Christ crucified, whose Vicar you are: and I know that He will receive me, +for He wills not the death of a sinner. And, when I am received by Him, +you will not drive me out; nay, we shall abide in our own place to fight +manfully with the weapons of virtue for the sweet Bride of Christ. In her +I wish to end my life, with tears, with sweats, with sighs, giving my +blood and the marrow of my bones. And should all the world drive me out, I +will not care, reposing with plaints and great endurance on the breast of +that sweet Bride. Pardon, most holy father, all my ignorance, and the +wrong that I have done to God and to your Holiness. It is Truth that +excuses me and sets me free; Truth Eternal. Humbly I ask your benediction. + +To you, dearest father (Raimondo), I say: when it is possible to you, keep +a manly heart in the presence of his Holiness, without any pain or servile +fear; remain first a while in your cell, in the presence of Mary and of +the most holy Cross, in holy and humble prayer, in true knowledge of +yourself, with living faith and will to endure; and then go (to the Pope) +in security. And do what you can for the honour of God and the salvation +of souls, to the point of death. Announce to him what I write you in this +letter as the Holy Spirit shall guide you. I say no more. Remain in the +holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +TO URBAN VI + + +In March, 1378, Gregory died, and was succeeded by the Archbishop of Bari, +who took the name of Urban VI. The sensitive, cultured, vacillating +Frenchman gave place to a Neapolitan of coarse physique--a man personally +virtuous, but, as history shows us, extraordinarily harsh and violent in +disposition. "It seems," the Prior of the Island of Gorgona wrote with +alarming candour to Catherine, "that our new Christ on earth is a terrible +man." + +Catherine was at Florence at the time--having been sent thither by +Gregory, who, however alienated from her personally, seems till the end to +have valued her services. The following is the first letter from her to +Urban which we possess. It is evident that she has as yet little knowledge +of the new Pope at first hand. She writes to him in much the same strain +as that in which she was accustomed to address his predecessor; only the +sense of a new hearer inspires her, after the rather dull opening of the +letter, with fresh fervour in recapitulating the sins and woes of the +Church. Possibly, also, there is a little more insistence than usual on +the plea that mercy temper justice, in the case of the rebellious Tuscan +cities. The sensible policy for such a situation could hardly be better +summed up than in her concise phrase: "Receive from a sick man what he can +give you." + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Most holy and dear father in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and +slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His precious Blood: +with desire to see you founded upon true and perfect charity, so that, +like a good shepherd, you may lay down your life for your sheep. And +truly, most holy father, only he who is founded upon charity is ready to +die for the love of God and the salvation of souls: because he is free +from self-love. For he who abides in self-love is not ready to give his +life; and not to speak of his life, apparently he is not willing to bear +the least little pain: for he is always afraid for himself, lest he lose +his bodily life and his private consolations. So he does whatever he may +do imperfectly and corruptly, because his chief impulse, through which he +acts, is corrupt. In whatever state he may be, shepherd or subject, he +shows little virtue. But the shepherd who is established in true charity +does not do so; his every work is good and perfect, because his impulse is +absolutely one with the perfection of divine charity. Such a man as this +fears neither the devil nor his fellow-beings, but only his Creator; he +does not mind the detractions of the world, nor shames, nor insults, nor +jests, nor the criticisms of his subordinates; who take offence, and turn +to criticizing when they are reproved by their prelate. But like a manly +man, clothed in the fortitude of charity, he does not care. + +Nor, therefore, does he suppress the flame of holy desire, nor cast from +him the pearl of justice, lucid and one with mercy, which he bears upon +his breast. Were justice without mercy, it would abide in the shadows of +cruelty, and would turn into injustice. And mercy without justice toward +one's subordinate would be like ointment on a wound that ought to be +cauterized: if ointment is applied without cauterizing it rots more than +it heals. But when both are joined they give life to the prelate who uses +them, and health to the subject if he is not a member of the devil, +entirely unwilling to correct himself. However, if the subject failed to +correct himself a thousand times over, the prelate ought not to give up +correcting him, and his virtue will be none the less because that wicked +man does not profit by it. In this way works the pure and clean charity of +a soul that cares for itself not for its own sake, but for God, and seeks +God for the glory and praise of His name, in so far as it sees that He is +worthy of being loved for His infinite goodness--nor seeks its neighbour +for its own sake, but for God, wishing to render him that service which it +cannot render to God. For it recognizes that He is our God, who has no +need of us. Therefore it studies with great zeal to be useful to its +neighbour, and especially to the subjects committed to it. And it does not +draw back from pursuing the salvation of their souls and bodies for any +ingratitude found in them, nor for the threats or flatteries of man; but, +in truth, clothed in the wedding garment, follows the doctrine of the +Spotless Humble Lamb, that gentle and good Shepherd who, as one enamoured, +ran for our salvation to the shameful death of the most holy Cross. The +unspeakable love which the soul has conceived for Christ crucified does +all this. Most holy father, God has placed you as a shepherd over all His +sheep who belong to the whole Christian religion; He has placed you as the +minister of the Blood of Christ crucified, whose Vicar you are; and He +placed you in a time in which wickedness abounds more among your inferiors +than it has done for a long time, both in the body of Holy Church, and in +the universal body of the Christian religion. Therefore it is extremely +necessary for you to be established in perfect charity, wearing the pearl +of justice, as I said; that you may not mind the world, nor poor people +used to evil, nor any injuries of theirs; but manfully correct them, like +a true knight and just shepherd, uprooting vices and implanting virtues, +ready to lay down your life if needs be. Sweetest father, the world cannot +bear any more; vices are so abundant, especially among those who were put +in the garden of Holy Church to be fragrant flowers, shedding the +fragrance of virtue; and we see that they abound in wretched, hateful +vices, so that they make the whole world reek! Oh me! where is the purity +of heart and perfect charity which should make the incontinent continent +by contact with them? It is quite the contrary: many a time the continent +and the pure are led by their impurities to try incontinence. Oh me! where +is the generosity of charity, and the care of souls, and distribution to +the poor and to the good of the Church, and their necessities? You know +well that men do quite the contrary. Oh me miserable! With grief I say it +--your sons nourish themselves on the wealth they receive by ministering +the Blood of Christ, and are not ashamed of being as money-changers, +playing with those most sacred anointed hands of yours, you Vicar of +Christ: without speaking of the other wretched deeds which they commit. Oh +me! where is that deep humility with which to confound that pride of +sensuality of theirs, by which in their great avarice they commit +simonies, buying benefices with gifts, or flatteries, or money, dissolute +and vain adornments, not as clerics, but worse than seculars! Oh me, sweet +my Babbo, bring us a remedy! And give refreshment to the desperate desires +of the servants of God, who die and cannot die. They wait with great +desire that you as a true shepherd should put your hand to correcting +these things, not only with words but with deeds, while the pearl of +justice, joined to mercy, shines on your breast; correcting in truth, +without any servile fear, those who nourish them at the breast of the +sweet Bride of Christ, the ministers of the Blood. + +But truly, most holy father, I do not see how this can be well done if you +do not make over anew the garden of your Bride, stocking it with good +virtuous plants; taking pains to choose a troop of very holy men, in whom +you find virtue and no fear of death. Do not aim at grandeur, but let them +be shepherds who rule their flocks with zeal. And a troop of good +cardinals, who may be upright columns of yours, helping you to bear the +weight of many burdens, with divine help. Oh, how blessed will be my soul +then, when I shall see that which is hers given back to the Bride of +Christ, and those nourished at her breast regarding not their own good, +but the glory and praise of the Name of God, and feeding on the food of +souls at the table of the holy Cross. I have no question that then your +lay subjects will correct themselves--for they will not be able to help +it, constrained by the holy and pure life of the clergy. We are not, then, +to sleep over it, but manfully and without negligence to do what you can, +even unto death, for the glory and praise of the Name of God. + +Next I beg you, and constrain you by the love of Christ crucified, as to +those sheep who have left the fold--I believe, for my sins--that by the +love of that Blood of which you are made minister, you delay not to +receive them in mercy, and with your benignity and holiness force their +hardness; give them the good of bringing them back into the fold, and if +they do not ask it in true and perfect humility, let your Holiness fulfil +their imperfection. Receive from a sick man what he can give you. Oh me, +oh me, have mercy on so many souls that perish! Do not consider the +scandal which occurred in this city, in which surely the devils of hell +busied themselves, to hinder the peace and quiet of souls and bodies: but +Divine Goodness saw to it that no great harm came from the great evil, but +your sons pacified themselves, and now ask of you the oil of mercy. Grant +that it seems to you, most holy father, that they do not ask it in those +conciliatory ways nor with that heartfelt distaste for the sin they +committed which they should, as it would please your Holiness to have +them--yet, oh me, do not give up! For they will make better sons than +other people. Oh me, Babbo mine, I do not want to stay here any longer! Do +with me then what you will. Show me this grace and favour, poor wretch +that I am, knocking at your door. Do not deny me the easy little things +that I ask you for your sons; so that, having made peace, you may raise +the standard of the most holy Cross. For you see well that the infidels +have come to summon you. I hope by the sweet goodness of God that He will +fill you with His burning charity, so that you shall know the loss of +souls, and how much you are bound to love them: and so you shall increase +in eager zeal to set them free from the hands of the devil, and shall seek +to heal the mystical body of Holy Church, and the body of the universal +Christian religion; and especially to reconcile your sons, winning them +with benignity, with as much use of the rod of justice as they are fit to +bear, and no more. I am certain that unless we have the virtue of charity, +this will not be done; and therefore I said that I wished to see you +established in true and perfect charity. Not that I do not believe that +you are in charity, but because we can grow in the perfection of charity +since we are always pilgrims and strangers in this life, I said that I +wished this perfection in you, that you feed it constantly with the flame +of holy desire, and shed it upon your subjects, like a good shepherd. I +beg you to do so. And I will stay, and labour till I die, in prayer and in +whatever way I can, for the honour of God and for your peace and that of +your sons. + +I say no more to you. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. Pardon my +presumption, most holy father; but love and grief are my excuse before +your Holiness. I ask you humbly for your benediction. Sweet Jesus, Jesus +Love. + + + + +TO HER SPIRITUAL CHILDREN IN SIENA + + +Catherine turned without difficulty from public cares to the needs and +problems of the little group of disciples in the restricted life of Siena. +To her eyes, there was no great nor small; the one drama was as important +as the other, since both were God's appointed schools of character. She +was, as we have already seen, wise in the lore of Christian friendship. +How thoroughly she understood the tendencies likely to appear in a limited +group of good people, bound closely together in faith and life, these +letters, among others, bear witness. Not only in religious communities, +but wherever such a group exists, similar conditions arise. The life of +the affections becomes of leading importance; too often it is unregulated, +and runs to morbid extremes; on the other hand, the peculiarly provincial +temptation to carping mutual scrutiny as well as to overwrought +sensitiveness, is sure to be at play. All her life long Catherine combated +these dangers, in the strength at once of a large mind and of a gentle +heart. The first of these letters puts in beautiful form the ideal of a +truly consecrated affection. The second repeats her familiar warning +against a critical temper, and her favourite plea for that generous +tolerance which puts the highest possible construction on one's +neighbour's conduct. Tolerance, one surmises, was to her peculiarly swift +and lofty spirit one of the most difficult among the virtues. Yet, or +rather therefore, no one has ever presented more emphatically the relief +afforded by the great permission and command, "Judge not." + + + + +TO BROTHER WILLIAM AND TO MESSER MATTEO +OF THE MISERICORDIA + +AND TO BROTHER SANTI AND TO HER OTHER SONS + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest sons in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and slave of the +servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His precious Blood, with desire +to see you bound in the bands of charity, for I consider that without this +bond we cannot please God. This is the sweet sign by which the servants +and sons of Christ are recognized. But think, my sons, that this bond must +be clean, and not spotted by self-love. If thou lovest thy Creator, love +and serve Him in so far as He is highest and eternal good, worthy of being +loved, and not for thine own profit, for that would be a mercenary love, +like a miser who loves money because of his avarice. So let your love for +your neighbour be clean. Love, love one another; you are neighbours one of +the other. But be on your guard, for if your love were founded in your own +profit or in the private affection which you might have for one another, +it would not endure, but would fail, and your soul would find itself +empty. The love which is founded in God must be of such a sort that it has +to love with regard to virtue, and inasmuch as the friend is a creature +made in the image of God. For while delight in him whom I love, or profit +from him may grow less, if one abides in God love does not fail, because +one loves with regard to virtue and the honour of God, and not to one's +own personality. I say that if one abides in God, even if virtue should +fail in him who loves, yet love does not turn away. The love of the virtue +which is not there fails to be sure; but it does not fail in so far as a +man is a creature of God, His member, bound in the mystical body of the +Holy Church. Nay, there grows within one a love made up of great and true +compassion, and with desire he brings his friend to the birth, with tears +and sighs and continual prayers in the sweet Presence of God. Now this is +the affection which Christ left to His disciples, which never lessens or +grows languid, and is not impatient for any injury it receives; there is +no spirit of criticism in it nor displeasure, because it loves the friend, +not for himself, but for God. It does not judge nor want to judge the will +of men, but the will of its Creator, which seeks and wills naught but our +sanctification. And it joys in what God permits, of whatsoever kind it be, +since it seeks naught but the honour of its Creator and the salvation of +its neighbour. Truly may we say that such men are bound in the bond of +charity with the band which held God-and-Man fast and nailed on the wood +of the most holy and sweet Cross. + +But think, sons mine, that you would never reach this perfect union did +you not hold as your object Christ crucified, and follow His footsteps. +For in Him you will find this love, who has loved you by grace and not by +duty. And because He loves by grace, He has never grown languid in His +love, neither for our ingratitude nor ignorance nor pride nor vanity, but +ever persevering, even to the shameful death of the Cross, freeing us from +death and giving us life. Now so do you, my sons, learn--learn from Him. +Love, love one another, with pure and holy love, in Christ sweet Jesus. I +say no more, because I hope to see you again soon, when it shall please +the divine goodness. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet +Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +TO SANO DI MACO AND ALL HER OTHER SONS IN SIENA + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest sons in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and slave of the +servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His precious Blood: with desire +to see you strong and persevering till the end of your life. For I +consider that without perseverance no one can please God, or receive the +crown of reward. He who perseveres is always strong, and fortitude makes +him persevere. + +We have absolute need of the gift of fortitude, for we are besieged by +many foes. The world, with its delights and deceits; the devil, with many +vexing temptations, who lights upon the lips of men, making them say +insulting and critical things, and who often makes us lose our worldly +goods--and this he does solely to recall us from devoted charity to our +neighbour; the flesh, astir in our own senses, seeking to war against the +spirit. Yes, truly, all these foes of ours have besieged us; yet we need +feel no servile fear, because they are discomfited through the Blood of +the Spotless Lamb. We ought bravely to reply to the world and resist it, +disparaging its delights and honours, judging it to have in itself no +abiding stability whatever. It shows us long life, with youth a-blossom +and great riches; and they are all seen to be vanity, since from life we +come to death, from youth to age, from wealth to poverty; and thus we are +always running toward the goal of death. Therefore we need to open the eye +of the mind, to see how miserable he is who trusts in the world. In this +wise one will come to despise and hate what first he loved. To the wiles +of the devil we can reply manfully, seeing his weakness; for he can +conquer no one who does not wish to be conquered. One can reply to him +then with lively faith and hope, and with holy hatred of one's self. For +in such hate one will become patient toward every tempting vexation and +tribulation of the world, and will bear these things with true patience, +from what side soever they come, if one shall hate one's own fleshliness +and love to abide on the Cross with Christ crucified. + +From living faith one will derive a will in accord with that of God, and +will quench in heart and mind the human instinct of judging. The will of +God alone shall judge, which seeks and wills naught but our +sanctification. In this wise one is not shocked at his neighbour and does +not criticize him. Nor does he pass judgment on a man who talks against +him: he condemns himself alone, seeing that it is the will of God which +permits such men to vex him for his good. Ah, how blessed is the soul +which clothes itself in a judgment so gentle! He does not condemn the +servants of this world who do him injury; nor does he condemn the servants +of God, wishing to drive them in his own way, as many presumptuous, proud +men do, who under cloak of the honour of God and the salvation of souls, +are shocked by the servants of God, and assume a critical attitude under +cover of this cloak, saying: "Such words do not please me." And so a man +becomes disturbed in himself, and also makes others disturbed with his +tongue, claiming that he speaks through the force of love--and so he +thinks he does. But if he will open his eyes, he will find the serpent of +presumption under a false aspect, which plays the judge, judging in its +own fashion, and not according to the mysteries and the holy and diverse +ways in which God works with His creatures. Let human pride be ashamed, +and consent to see that in the House of the Eternal Father are many +mansions. Let it not seek to impose a rule upon the Holy Spirit: for He is +the Rule itself, Giver of the Rule: nor let it measure Him who cannot be +measured. The true servant of God, arrayed in His highest eternal will, +will not do thus; nay, he will hold in reverence the ways and deeds and +habits of God's servants, since he judges them fixed not by man, but by +God. For, just because things are not pleasing to us and do not go +according to our habits, we ought to be predisposed to believe that they +are pleasing to God. We ought not to judge anything at all, nor can we, +except what is manifest and open sin. And even this the soul enamoured of +God and lost to itself does not assume to judge, except in displeasure for +the sin and wrong done to God; and with great compassion for the soul of +him who sins, eagerly willing to give itself to any torture for the +salvation of that soul. + +Now I summon you to this perfection, dearest sons; do you study with true +and holy zeal to acquire it. And reflect that every stage in perfection +which you reach will advance you in this holy and true judgment, free from +offence or pain. So, on the contrary, false judgment betrays you into +every sort of pain, and fault-finding and ruinous faithlessness toward the +servants of God. All this proceeds from the personal passion and rooted +pride which impels us to judge the will of our fellow-man. So such a man +is always looking back, and does not persevere in gracious love of his +neighbour, and never has strong and persevering love. Nay, his is like the +imperfect love felt by the disciples of Christ before the Passion; for +they loved Him, rejoicing much in His presence; but because their love was +not founded in truth, but pleasure and self-indulgence were in it, it +failed when His presence was taken away; and they did not know how to bear +pain with Christ, but fled in fear. Beware, beware, lest this happen to +you. You rejoice much in the presence of a friend, and in absence you make +a fire of straw; for when the presence is taken away, every little wind +and rain quenches it, and nothing remains except the black smoke of a dark +conscience. All this happens because we have made ourselves judges of the +will of our fellows, and the habits and ways of the servants of God, not +according to His sweet will. Now no more thus, for love of Christ +crucified! but be faithful sons, strong and persevering in Christ sweet +Jesus. Thus shall you discomfit the temptation of the devil, and the words +which he says, lighting on the lips of men. + +Our last enemy--that is, our miserable flesh with its sense-appetites--is +overcome by the flesh of Christ, scourged and nailed on the wood of the +most holy Cross, by mastering it with fast and vigil and continuous +prayer, with burning sweet and loving desire. Thus sweetly shall we +conquer and discomfit our foes by the power of the Blood of Christ. Thus +shall you fulfil His will and my desire, which grieves when it beholds +your imperfection. I hope by His infinite goodness that He will console my +desire in you. Therefore I beg that you be not negligent, but zealous; do +not shift about in the wind like a leaf, but be firm, stable, and +constant; loving one another with true brotherly charity, bearing one +another's faults. By this I shall perceive whether you love God and me, +who desire naught but to see you in true unity. Drown you in the Blood of +Christ crucified and hide you in His sweetest Wounds. I say no more. + +Let the convent of Santa Maria degli Angeli be commended to you. And never +mind because I am not there, for good sons do more when the mother is not +present than when she is, because they want to show the love they have for +her, and to enter more fully into her favour. + +I beg you, Sano, to read this letter to all the children. And do you all +pray God for us, that He grant us to complete what is begun to His honour +and the salvation of souls; for we wish no other desire nor work, in +despite of any who may wish to hinder it. Remain in the holy and sweet +grace of God. May God fill you with His sweetest favour. Sweet Jesus, +Jesus Love. + + + + +TO BROTHER RAIMONDO OF CAPUA +OF THE ORDER OF THE PREACHERS + + +With all her longing to suffer for her faith, Catherine was only once, so +far as we know, exposed to physical violence. This was on the occasion of +which she is here speaking. She is still in Florence, faithful under the +new Pope as under the old to her efforts to bring about the passionately +desired peace. In a tumult in the disordered city, it came to pass that +her life was threatened, and she took refuge with her "famiglia," in a +garden without the walls. Hither her enemies pursued her, but as they drew +near, fell back of a sudden, awestruck, as she herself here tells us, by +her words and bearing. The danger was averted, and Catherine had met one +of the disappointments of her life. [Footnote: As she herself expresses +it, "The Eternal Bridegroom played a great joke on me."] There is an +almost childlike simplicity in her account of the inner side of the +experience. Nothing could be more genuine than her grief that the crown of +martyrdom was not granted her--few things more lovely than her confiding +account of the fine joys which the mere hope of martyrdom, brief and +frustrated though it were, awakened in her spirit. Nor can she know even +so supremely isolated an experience without insisting that it be shared by +those she loves, and returning thanks for the great mercy which her "dear +sons and daughters" have received. + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest father in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and slave of +the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His precious Blood: with +desire to see you a faithful servant and bridegroom of truth, and of sweet +Mary, that we may never look back for any reason in the world, nor for any +tribulations which God might send you: but with firm hope, with the light +of most holy faith, pass through this stormy sea in all truthfulness; and +let us rejoice in endurance, not seeking our own glory, but the glory of +God and the salvation of souls, as the glorious martyrs did, who for the +sake of truth made them ready for death and for all torments, so that with +their blood, shed for love of the Blood, they built the walls of Holy +Church. Ah, sweet Blood, that dost raise the dead! Thou givest life, thou +dost dissolve the shadows that darken the minds of reasonable creatures, +and dost give us light! Sweet Blood, thou dost unite those who strive, +thou dost clothe the naked, thou dost feed the hungry and give to drink to +those who thirst for thee, and with the milk of thy sweetness thou dost +nourish the little ones who have made themselves small by true humility, +and innocent by true purity. Oh, holy Blood, who shall receive thee amiss? +The lovers of themselves, because they do not perceive thy fragrance. + +So, dearest and sweetest father, let us divest us and clothe us in truth, +so we shall be faithful lovers. I tell you that today I will to begin +again, in order that my sins may not hold me back from such a good as it +is to give one's life for Christ crucified. For I see that in the past, +through my faults, this has been denied me. I had desired very much, with +a new intensity, increased in me beyond all custom, to endure without +fault for the honour of God and the salvation of souls and the reformation +and good of Holy Church, so that my heart was melting from the love and +desire I had to lay down my life. This desire was blessed and grievous; +blessed it was for the union that I felt with truth, and grievous it was +for the oppression which I felt from the wrong against God, and the +multitude of demons who overshadowed all the city, dimming the eye of the +mind in human beings. Almost it seemed that God was letting them have +their way, through justice and divine discipline. Therefore my life could +not but dissolve in weeping, fearful for the great evil which seemed on +the point of coming, and because peace was hindered for this reason. But +in this great evil, God, who despises not the desire of His servants, and +that sweet mother Mary, whose name was invoked with pained and dolorous +and loving desires, granted that in all the tumult and the great upheaval +that occurred, we may almost say that there were no human deaths, except +those which justice inflicted. So the desire I had that God would show His +providence and destroy the power of the demons that they might not do so +much harm as they were ready to do, was fulfilled; but my desire to give +my life for the Truth and the sweet Bride of Christ was not fulfilled. But +the Eternal Bridegroom played a great joke on me, as Christopher will tell +you more fully by word of mouth. So I have reason to weep, because the +multitude of my iniquities was so great that I did not deserve that my +blood should give life, or illumine darkened minds, or reconcile the sons +with the father, or cement a stone in the mystical body of Holy Church. +Nay, it seemed that the hands of him who wanted to kill me were bound. My +words, "I am she. Take me, and let this family be," were a sword that +pierced straight through his heart. O Babbo mine, feel a wonderful joy in +yourself, for I never experienced in myself such mysteries, with so great +joy! There was the sweetness of truth in it, the gladness of a clean and +pure conscience; there was the fragrance of the sweet providence of God; +there was the savour of the times of new martyrs, foretold as you know by +the Eternal Truth. Tongue would not suffice to tell how great the good is +that my soul feels. I seem to be so bound to my Creator that if I gave my +body to be burned I could not satisfy the great mercy which I and my +cherished sons and daughters have received. + +All this I tell you that you may not conceive bitterness; but may feel an +unspeakable delight, with softest gladness; and that you and I may begin +to sorrow over my imperfection, because so great a good was hindered by my +sin. How blessed my soul would have been had I given my blood for the +sweet Bride, and for love of the Blood and the salvation of souls! Now let +us rejoice and be faithful lovers. + +I will not say more on this subject; I let Christopher tell this and other +things. Only I want to say this: do you pray Christ on earth not to delay +the peace because of what has happened, but make it all the more promptly, +so that then the other great deeds may be wrought which he has to do for +the honour of God and the reformation of Holy Church. For the condition of +things has not been changed by this--nay, for the present the city is +pacified suitably enough. Pray him to act swiftly; and I ask him this in +mercy, for infinite wrongs against God which happen through the situation +will thus be put an end to. Tell him to have pity and compassion on these +souls which are in great darkness: and tell him to release me from prison +swiftly; for unless peace is made it does not seem as if I could get out; +and I would wish then to come where you are, to taste the blood of the +martyrs, and to visit his Holiness, and to find myself with you once more, +telling of the admirable mysteries which God has wrought at this time; +with gladness of mind, and joyousness of heart, and increase of hope, in +the light of most holy faith. I say no more to you. Remain in the holy and +sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +TO URBAN VI + + +By this time Catherine has evidently more than an inkling of the character +of the man she is addressing. Gregory had been, if anything, only too +susceptible to influences from varying quarters: Urban's arbitrary and +headstrong nature resented any interference. He was making extraordinary +blunders in tact and policy; but woe to the audacious person who sought to +point them out! + +Catherine's letters to this new Pope, if less familiarly affectionate than +those to the old, show the same amazing combination of candour and +reverence. True to her constant principles in the interpretation of +character, she insists on putting the best possible construction on his +actions, ascribing his impatient vehemence and bad temper to a noble and +partially impersonal cause. One suspects that Urban had lost his temper +with poor Fra Bartolomeo because the friar had used too great freedom of +speech rather than too little, as Catherine suggests. Despite her +generosity, however, she can rebuke pungently enough, as this letter +shows. On another occasion, we find her sending to Urban a tangible +allegory in the form of bitter oranges, candied within and gilded without, +doubtless by her own hands, with a pretty letter to point the moral. And +again she wrote: "Mitigate a little, for the love of Christ crucified, +those sudden impulses which nature forces on you. In holy virtue, throw +nature aside. As God has given you a great heart naturally, so I beg and +want you to make it great supernaturally: with zealous desire for virtue +and the reform of Holy Church, do you establish the manly heart you have +gained in true humility. In this way you will have both natural and +supernatural gifts--for the one without the other would avail little, but +would rather inspire us with wrath and pride: and when it came to +correcting our intimates it would slacken its pace and become cowardly." + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Most holy and sweet father in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and +slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His precious Blood: +with desire to see you a true and royal ruler of your flock, whom you have +to nourish with the Blood of Christ crucified. Your Holiness has to see to +it with great diligence to whom you administer that Blood, and by what +means it is given; that is, I say, most holy father, that when shepherds +are to be appointed in the garden of Holy Church, let them be people who +seek God, and not benefices: and let the means of asking for the post be +such as act openly in the truth and not in falsehood. + +Most holy father, have patience when you are talked to about these things. +For they are only said to you for the honour of God and for your +salvation, as a son ought to speak who loves his father tenderly, and +cannot bear that anything should be done which should turn to the loss or +shame of his father; but watches constantly, with intent earnestness, +because he sees well that his father, who has to rule a large family, can +see no more than one man sees. So if his lawful sons were not earnest in +caring for his honour and welfare, he would be deceived many a time and +oft. So it stands, most holy father. You are father and lord of the +universal body of the Christian religion; we are all under the wings of +your Holiness: as to authority, you can do everything, but as to seeing, +you can do no more than one man; so your sons must of necessity watch and +care with clean hearts and without any servile fear over what may be for +the honour of God and the safety and honour of you and the flocks that are +beneath your crook. And I know that your Holiness is very desirous of +having people to help you; but you must be patient in listening to them. + +I am certain that two things must give you pain and make your mind angry, +and I am not in the least surprised. The one is that when you hear that +sins are committed, it hurts you that God should be wronged, for the wrong +and the faults displease you, and you experience a piercing of your heart. +In this case we ought not to be patient, or to refrain from grieving over +the wrongs that are shown to God. No; for so it would seem as if we +conformed us to these same vices. The other thing that might hurt you is +when the son who comes to tell you what he feels to be turning into wrong +against God and loss to souls and little honour to your holiness, commits +such ignorance that he conscientiously obliges himself, in the presence of +your Holiness, not to tell you clearly the absolute truth as it is; for +nothing should be secret nor hidden from you. + +I beg you, holy father, that when your ignorant son offends in this point, +your pain should be without any excitement on your part: correct him in +his ignorance. I say this, because according to what Master Giovanni told +me of Brother Bartolomeo, he annoyed you and made you angry by his faults +and his scrupulous conscience; for which he and I have been extremely +sorry, since he thought that he had offended your Holiness. I beg you, by +the love of Christ crucified, to punish in me every pain that he may have +given you; I am ready for any discipline and correction which shall please +your Holiness. I believe that my sins were the reason why he showed +himself so ignorant, therefore I ought to bear the penalty; and he is very +desirous to come penitently to you wherever it might please your Holiness. +Have patience to bear his faults and mine. Bathe you in the Blood of +Christ crucified; comfort you in the sweet flame of His charity. Pardon my +ignorance. + +I ask you humbly for your benediction. I thank the Divine Goodness and +your Holiness for the favour that you granted me on the day of St. John. +Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +TO DON GIOVANNI OF THE CELLS OF VALLOMBROSA + + +Catherine has missed her chance at martyrdom. Schism is threatening, and +she knows it: "I seem to have heard that discord is arising yonder between +Christ on earth and his disciples: from which thing I receive an +intolerable grief.... For everything else, like war, dishonour, and other +tribulations, would seem less than a straw or a shadow in comparison with +this. Think! For I tremble only to think of it ... I tell you, it seemed +as if my heart and life would leave their body through grief." So she +writes, out of trance, to the Cardinal Pietro di Luna--himself destined to +become later the antipope Benedict XIII. + +The present sorrowful letter is to a hermit who had sinned violently in +youth, and repented passionately through many years of strictest +discipline. Catherine pours out her heart to him. The words in which +Shelley's Fury drives home to the agonizing Prometheus the apparent +tragedy of existence were fulfilled before her eyes: + + "Hypocrisy and custom make their minds + The fanes of many a worship now outworn: + * * * * + The good want power but to weep barren tears, + The powerful goodness want--worse need for them: + The wise want love; and those who love want wisdom; + And all best things are thus confused to ill." + +With unflinching clear-sightedness she presents the situation, turning in +vain to every quarter whence help might come. To the whole body of the +priesthood; to the timid monastic orders; to pious laymen honestly devout, +yet touched by no flame of sacrificial passion such as she felt might +bring salvation. It is never the sins of the world that most torture +Catherine: always, as here, the sins of the Church. She does not pause +till she comes to the terrible climax: "I see the Christian religion lying +like a dead man, and I neither mourn nor weep over him." It is the very +light of most holy faith that has confused the vision of men. And again we +hear the familiar refrain, "I believe that my iniquities are the cause of +it." + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest father in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and slave of +the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His precious Blood: with +desire to see you an hungered for souls, on the table of the most holy +Cross, in company with the humble and immaculate Lamb. I do not see, +father, that this sweet food can be eaten anywhere else. Why not? Because +we cannot eat it truly without enduring much; it must be eaten with the +teeth of true patience and the lips of holy desire, on the Cross of many +tribulations, from whatsoever side they may come--complaints, or the +scandals in the world; and we must endure all things till death. Now is +the time, dearest father, to show whether we are lovers of Christ +crucified and rejoice in this food or not. It is time to give honour to +God and our toils to our neighbour: toils, I say, of the body, with much +endurance, and toils of the mind, with grief and bitterness offering tears +and sweats, humble and continual prayer, and suffering desire, before God. +For I do not see that in any other way the wrath of God may be pacified +toward us, and His mercy inclined, and through His mercy the many sheep +recovered who are perishing in the hands of devils, unless in the way I +said, through great grief and compassion of heart, and the very greatest +devotion in prayer. + +Therefore I invite you, dearest father, on behalf of Christ crucified, to +begin anew with me to lose ourselves, and to seek only the honour of God +in the salvation of souls, without any slavish fear: never to slacken our +steps either on account of our sufferings, or in order to please our +fellow-creatures, or because we might have to bear death, or for any other +reason; but let us run, as inebriate with love and grief over the +persecution that is wrought upon the Blood of Christ crucified. For on +whatever side we turn we see it persecuted. If I turn me toward ourselves, +rotten members that we are, we are persecuting it with our many faults, +and such stench of mortal sins and empoisoned self-love as poisons the +whole world. And if I turn me to the ministers of the Blood of the sweet +and humble Lamb, my tongue cannot even narrate their faults and sins. If I +turn me to the ministers who are under the yoke of obedience, I see them +so imperfect--the accursed root of self-love not being yet dead in them-- +that not one has come to the point of wishing to give his life for Christ +crucified; but they have encouraged fear of death and pain rather than +holy fear of God and reverence for the Blood. And if I turn me to the +secular people who have already released their affections from the world, +they have not exercised virtue enough to leave the place where they were, +or suffer death rather than to do that which ought not to be done. They +have behaved so through imperfection, or else they are doing so through +prudence. If I had to teach them prudence, I should advise them that if +they wanted to reach perfection they should rather choose death, and if +they felt themselves weak, they should flee the place and cause of sin, +just as far as we can. This same counsel, if any chance came in your way, +I should think that you and every servant of God ought to give. For you +know that it is never lawful for us to commit a little sin in any way, +surely not for fear of suffering or death, since not even for +accomplishing some great good. So, then, on whatever side we turn us, we +find nothing but faults. For I do not doubt that if one single person had +had perfection enough to give his life, during the events which have +happened and are happening every day, the Blood would have called for +mercy, and bound the hands of divine justice, and broken those Pharaoh- +hearts which are hard as diamond stone; and I see no way in which they can +break other than through blood. + +Ah me, ah me, misfortunate my soul! I see the Christian religion lying a +dead man, and I neither weep nor mourn over him. I see darkness invading +the light, for by the very light of most holy faith, received in the Blood +of Christ, I see men's sight become confused and the pupil of their eye +dried up; so that we see them fall as blind men into the ditch, into the +mouth of the wolf of Hell, stripped of virtue and dead by cold; being +stripped of the love of God and their neighbour, and released from the +bond of love, and lost to all reverence for God and for the Blood. Ah me! +I believe that my iniquities have been the cause of it. + +So I beg you, dearest father, to pray God for me, that He take from me so +great iniquities, and that I be not the cause of so great ill: or may He +give me death. And I beg you to lift these sons of ours as dead up to the +table of the most holy Cross, and there do you eat this food, bathed in +the Blood of Christ crucified. I tell you that if you and the other +servants of God, and all of us, do not persuade ourselves with many +prayers, and others, to correct themselves of evils so great, divine +judgment will come, and divine justice will draw forth its rod. Indeed, if +we open our eyes, one of the greatest judgments that we can know in this +life is already befallen--that is, that we are deprived of light, and do +not see the loss and ill of soul and body. He who does not see cannot +correct himself, because he does not hate evil or love true good. So, not +correcting himself, he falls from bad to worse. So it seems to me that we +are doing, and we are at a worse point now than the first day. It is +essential, then, that we should never stop, if we are true servants of +God, in our much endurance and true patience, and in giving our toils to +our neighbour, and honour to God, with many prayers and grieving desire; +let sighs be food to us and tears our drink, upon the table of the Cross; +for another way I do not see. Therefore I said to you that I desired to +see you an hungered for souls upon the table of the most holy Cross. + +I beg that your and my dearest sons be commended to you--those yonder, and +those here. Nourish them and make them grow in great perfection, so far as +your power goes. And let us strive to run, dead to all self-will, +spiritual and temporal; that is, not seeking our own spiritual +consolations, but only the food of souls, rejoicing in the Cross with +Christ crucified and giving our life, if need be, for the glory and +praise of His Name. I for my part die and cannot die, hearing and seeing +the insults to my Lord and Creator; therefore I ask an alms from you, that +you pray God for me, you and the others. I say no more to you. Remain in +the holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +LETTERS ANNOUNCING PEACE + + +Amid the horrors which darkened Europe during her last years, one episode +of pure joy was vouchsafed to Catherine. The decisiveness of Urban brought +to an end the vacillating negotiations of the Papal See with the +Florentines, and peace was proclaimed at last. + +The first of these notes announces the first step toward a satisfactory +end--the observance of the Interdict, placed by Gregory upon the city, and +contumaciously broken by the rebels. In the second, the news of the +establishment of peace has just been brought. Catherine's first impulse is +to bid the friends at home rejoice with her in news great in itself, and +greater because it may clear the way for the realization of wider hopes. +It is noteworthy that the instant the end for which she has long been +straining is achieved, her loyal and aspiring spirit reverts to her old +dreams, and summons her companions to resume prayer for a Crusade. + +The arrival of the olive of peace, of which Catherine sends a portion to +her friends, is the fit close to the long drama which had opened when +Christ placed the Cross on her shoulder and the olive in her hand, and +sent her to bear His command of reconciliation "to one and to the other +people." + + + + +TO MONNA ALESSA +WHEN THE SAINT WAS AT FLORENCE + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest daughter in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and slave of +the servants of Jesus Christ, write to thee in His precious Blood: with +desire to see thee and the others brides and faithful servants of Christ +crucified, that you may constantly renew your wailing for the honour of +God, the salvation of souls, and the reform of Holy Church. Now is the +time for you to shut yourselves within self-knowledge, with continual +vigil and prayer that the sun may soon rise; for the aurora has begun to +dawn. The aurora has come in that the dusk of great mortal sins which were +committed in the office being said and heard publicly, is now scattered, +despite whoso would have hindered: and the interdict is observed. Thanks, +thanks be to our sweet Saviour, who despises not humble prayer, nor the +tears and burning desires of His servants! Since, then, He despises them +not, nay, but accepts them, I summon you to pray and to have prayer +offered to the Divine Goodness that He send us peace swiftly; that God may +be glorified and so great an evil ended, and that we may find ourselves +united, to tell the wonderful things of God. + +Up! And sleep no more! Awaken, all of you, from the sleep of negligence! +Have special prayers offered at such and such monasteries, and tell our +Prioress to have all those daughters of hers offer special prayers for +peace, that God may show mercy on us, and that I may not return without +it. And for me, her poor daughter, that God will give me grace ever to +love and to proclaim the truth, and that for that truth I may die. I say +no more. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus +Love. + + + + +TO SANO DI MACO AND TO THE OTHER SONS IN CHRIST +WHILE SHE WAS IN FLORENCE + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest sons in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and slave of the +servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His precious Blood: with desire +to see you true sons, really serving our sweet Saviour, that you may give +more zealously thanks and praise to His name. + +Oh, dearest sons, God has heard the cry of His servants, who for so long +have cried aloud before His face, and the lamentable cry which they have +raised so long over the sons who were dead. Now are they risen again--from +death they have come to life, and from blindness to light. Dearest sons, +the lame walk, and the deaf hear, the blind eye sees and the dumb speak, +crying aloud with a loud voice: "Peace, peace, peace!" with great +gladness--seeing themselves return as sons into the obedience and favour +of their father, their minds being reconciled. As people who now begin to +see, they say: "Thanks be to Thee, Lord, who hast reconciled us with our +holy father." Now the Lamb of God, sweet Christ on earth, is called holy, +while before he was called a heretic and a Patarin. Now they receive him +for a father, where before they refused him. I do not wonder, for the +cloud is passed, and fair weather has come. Rejoice, rejoice, dearest +sons, with very sweet weeping for thanksgiving, before the Highest Eternal +Father, not calling yourselves content with this, but praying Him that +soon may be raised the gonfalon of the most holy Cross. Rejoice, exult, in +Christ sweet Jesus; let our hearts break, seeing the largess of the +infinite goodness of God. Now peace is made, despite him who would hinder +it. Discomfited is the devil of hell. + +Saturday evening one olive came at one o'clock at night; and to-day at +vespers came the other. And Saturday evening that friend of ours was +caught with a companion, so that at one time heresy was thoroughly put an +end to and peace came; now he is in prison. Pray God for him, that He give +him true light and knowledge. Drown you and bathe you in the Blood of +Christ crucified. Love, love one another. I send you some of the olive of +peace. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +TO THREE ITALIAN CARDINALS + + +Catherine had ardently wished to see in the Seat of Peter a reformer, who +should have courage to apply surgery to the festering wounds of the +Church. She had her desire; Urban began at once a drastic policy of Church +reform. But his domineering asperity proved unbearable to the College of +Cardinals, and schism broke upon a horrified world. + +This was the situation:--After the death of Gregory, the cardinals, of +whom a large majority were French, when assembled in conclave in what was +to them the barbarous city of Rome, had been terrified by the shouts of +the populace demanding a Roman, or at least an Italian, for Pope. +Resorting to stratagem, they reported as their choice the old Roman +cardinal of San Pietro, who repudiated the false rumour with distress. +Meantime, agreeing on compromise and finding a "dark horse," the Sacred +College elected with all due solemnity the Archbishop of Bari, and by the +usual formalities notified the Christian world of the election. They soon, +as has been said, rebelled against the man of their choice, and, +announcing that the election had been invalid because occasioned by fear, +proceeded to appoint an antipope--Robert of Geneva, a man of personal +charm but of evil life, known in history as Clement VII. The impudence of +the reasons alleged by the cardinals for their action is well pointed out +by Catherine. But Europe became divided in its allegiance, and war of +words was soon followed by war of swords. + +Catherine rose to the occasion. The rest of her tempestuous life was spent +in the desperate defence of the cause of Urban--a man whom she rightly +believed to be the lawful successor of Peter, yet concerning whose +unlovely character she was, as we have already seen, under no illusions. +The many letters which she wrote with the aim of convincing important +personages of the validity of Urban's claims, are historical documents of +high value. One feels in them all the amazement with which a woman whose +native air was the mystical conception of an infallible Church, faced the +realities of the ecclesiastical machine. But loyalty stood the test, and +while never leaving the highest ground, Catherine proved herself capable +of a statesmanlike treatment of the actual situation. The present letter +is addressed to the three Italian members of the Sacred College, who, +after holding at first by their countryman, were induced by the Frenchmen +to betray him: it is a tissue of telling and convincing representations, +interwoven with indignant rebuke and eloquent pleadings. + +This was not the first time that a great Italian patriot had remonstrated +with the churchmen of Italy. Catherine's letter invites inevitable +comparison with that noble letter to Italian cardinals written by Dante on +the occasion of the impending papal election that followed the death of +Clement V. Dante, like Catherine, appealed to the cardinals on behalf of +Rome and Italy: his plea, that they put an end to the Babylonian Captivity +in Avignon and return to the Seat of Peter. That letter marked an early +stage in the disgraceful abandonment of the Holy City; this of Catherine +treats of the outcome of that great wrong. "Yet the wound will be healed," +wrote Dante; "(though it cannot be otherwise than that the scar and brand +of infamy will have burned with fire upon the Apostolic See and will +disfigure her for whom heaven and earth had been reserved)--if ye who were +the authors of this transgression will all with one accord fight manfully +for the Bride of Christ, for the Throne of the Bride which is Rome, for +our Italy, and that I may speak more fully, for the whole commonwealth of +pilgrims upon this earth...." Over sixty years had passed since Dante +wrote thus; they had been years of sin and shame. The words of Catherine, +as she confronts a situation yet darker than he had faced, breathe a less +assured courage. But her patriotism and her Christianity are of like +temper with his own. + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest brothers and fathers in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant +and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His precious +Blood: with desire to see you turn back to the true and most perfect +light, leaving the deep shadows of blindness into which you are fallen. +Then you shall be fathers to me; otherwise not. Yes, indeed, I call you +fathers in so far as you shall leave death and turn back to life (for, as +things go now, you are parted from the life of grace, limbs cut off from +your head from which you drew life), when you shall stand united in faith, +and in that perfect obedience to Pope Urban VI., in which those abide who +have the light, and in light know the truth, and knowing it love it. For +the thing that is not seen cannot be known, and he who knows not loves +not, and he who loves not and fears not his Creator loves himself with +fleshly love, and whatever he loves, joys or honours and dignities of the +world, he loves according to the flesh. Since man is created through love, +he cannot live without love; either he loves God, or he loves himself and +the world with the love that kills, fastening the eye of his mind darkened +by self-love on those transitory things that pass like the wind. In this +state he can recognize no truth nor goodness; he recognizes naught but +falsehood, because he has not light. For truly had he the light, he would +recognize that from such a love as this naught can result but pain and +eternal death. It gives him a foretaste of hell in this life; for he who +immoderately loves himself and the things of this world, becomes +unendurable to himself. + +Oh, human blindness! Seest thou not, unfortunate man, that thou thinkest +to love things firm and stable, joyous things, good and fair? and they are +mutable, the sum of wretchedness, hideous, and without any goodness; not +as they are created things in themselves, since all are created by God, +who is perfectly good, but through the nature of him who possesses them +intemperately. How mutable are the riches and honours of the world in him +who possesses them without God, without the fear of Him! for to-day is he +rich and great, and to-day he is poor. How hideous is our bodily life, +that living we shed stench from every part of our body! Simply a sack of +dung, the food for worms, the food of death! Our life and the beauty of +youth pass by, like the beauty of the flower when it is gathered from the +plant. There is none who can save this beauty, none who can preserve it, +that it be not taken, when it shall please the highest Judge to gather +this flower of life by death; and none knows when. + +Oh, wretched man, the darkness of self-love does not let thee know this +truth. For didst thou know it, thou wouldst choose any pain rather than +guide thy life in this way; thou wouldst give thee to loving and desiring +Him who Is; thou wouldst enjoy His truth in firmness, and wouldst not move +about like a leaf in the wind; thou wouldst serve thy Creator, and wouldst +love everything in Him, and apart from Him nothing. Oh, how will this +blindness be reproved at the last moment in every rational being, and much +the more in those whom God has taken from the filth of the world, and +assigned to the greatest excellence that can be, having made them +ministers of the Blood of the humble and spotless Lamb! Oh me, oh me! what +have you come to by not having followed up your dignities with virtue? You +were placed to nourish you at the breasts of Holy Church; you were flowers +planted to breathe forth the fragrance of virtue in that garden; you were +placed as masts to strengthen this ship, and the Vicar of Christ on earth; +you were placed as lights in a candlestick, to give light to faithful +Christians, and to spread the faith. Well you know if you have done that +for which you were created. Surely no; for self-love has prevented you +from knowing that in truth alone, to fortify men and give a shining +example of good and holy life, you were put in this garden. Had you known +this you would have loved it, and clothed you in that sweet truth. Where +is the gratitude which you ought to have for the Bride who has nourished +you at her breast? I see in us naught but such ingratitude as dries up the +fountain of pity. What shows me that you are ungrateful, coarse, and +mercenary? The persecution which you, together with others, are inflicting +on that sweet Bride, at a time when you ought to be shields, to ward off +the blows of heresy. In spite of which, you clearly know the truth, that +Pope Urban VI. is truly Pope, the highest Pontiff, chosen in orderly +election, not influenced by fear, truly rather by divine inspiration than +by your human industry. And so you announced it to us, which was the +truth. Now you have turned your backs, like poor mean knights; your shadow +has made you afraid. You have divided you from the truth which strengthens +us, and drawn close to falsehood, which weakens soul and body, depriving +you of temporal and spiritual grace. What made you do this? The poison of +self-love, which has infected the world. That is what has made you pillars +lighter than straw. Flowers you who shed no perfume, but stench that makes +the whole world reek! No lights you placed in a candlestick, that you +might spread the faith; but, having hidden your light under the bushel of +pride, and become not extenders, but contaminators of the faith, you shed +darkness over yourselves and others. You should have been angels on earth, +placed to release us from the devils of hell, and performing the office of +angels, by bringing back the sheep into the obedience of Holy Church, and +you have taken the office of devils. That evil which you have in +yourselves you wish to infect us with, withdrawing us from obedience to +Christ on earth, and leading us into obedience to antichrist, a member of +the devil, as you are too, so long as you shall abide in this heresy. + +This is not the kind of blindness that springs from ignorance. It has not +happened to you because people have reported one thing to you while +another is so. No, for you know what the truth is: it was you who +announced it to us, and not we to you. Oh, how mad you are! For you told +us the truth, and you want yourselves to taste a lie! Now you want to +corrupt this truth, and make us see the opposite, saying that you chose +Pope Urban from fear, which is not so; but anyone who says it--speaking to +you without reverence, because you have deprived yourselves of reverence-- +lies up to his eyes. For it is evident to anyone who wished to see, who it +is that you presented as your choice through fear--that was Messer di +Santo Pietro. You might say to me, "Why do you not believe us? We know the +truth as to whom we chose better than you." And I reply, that you +yourselves have shown me that you deserted the truth in many ways, so that +I ought not to believe you, that Pope Urban VI. is not the true Pope. If I +turn to the beginnings of your life, I do not recognize in you so good and +holy a life that you would shrink from a lie for conscience' sake. What +shows me that your life is badly governed? The poison of heresy. If I turn +to the election ordained by your lips, we knew that you chose him +canonically and not through fear. We have already said that he whom you +presented to the people through fear was Messer di Santo Pietro. What +proves to me the regular election with which you chose Messer Bartolommeo, +Archbishop of Bari, who to-day is made in truth Pope Urban VI.? In the +solemnity with which his coronation was observed, this truth is clear to +us. That the solemnity was carried out in good faith is shown by the +reverence which you gave him and the favours asked from him, which you +have used in all sorts of ways. You cannot deny this truth except with +plain lies. + +Ah, foolish men, worthy of a thousand deaths! As blind, you do not see +your own wrong, and have fallen into such confusion that you make of your +own selves liars and idolaters. For even were it true (which it is not; +nay, I assert again that Pope Urban VI. is the true Pope), but were it +true what you say, would you not have lied to us when you told us that he +was the highest pontiff, as he is? And would you not falsely have shown +him reverence, adoring him for Christ on earth? And would you not have +practised simony, in trying for favours and using them unlawfully? Yes, +indeed. Now they, and you with them, have made an antipope, as far as your +action and outward appearance go, since you consented to remain on the +spot, when the incarnate demons chose the demon! + +You might say to me: "No, we did not choose him." I do not know how I can +believe that. For I do not believe that you could have borne to stay there +otherwise, had you given your life for it; at least the fact that you +suppressed the truth, and did not burst out with it--for this would not +have been within your power--makes me inclined to think so. Although, +perhaps, you did less wrong than the others in your intention, yet you did +do wrong with all the rest. What can I say? I can say that he who is not +for the truth is against the truth; he who was not at that time for Christ +on earth, Pope Urban VI., was against him. Therefore I tell you that you +did wrong, with the antipope: and I may say that he was chosen a member of +the devil; for had he been a member of Christ, he would have chosen death +rather than consent to so great an evil, for he well knows the truth, and +cannot excuse himself through ignorance. Now you have committed all these +faults in regard to this devil: that is, to confess him as Pope, which he +surely is not, and to show reverence to whom you should not. You have +deserted the light, and gone into darkness: the truth, and joined you to a +lie. On what side soever, I find nothing but lies. You are worthy of +torture, which, I tell you in truth and unburden my conscience thereof, +unless you return to obedience with true humility, will fall upon you. + +O misery upon misery, and blindness upon blindness, which does not let its +wrong be seen nor the loss to soul and body! For had you seen it, you +would not have deserted the truth so lightly, in servile fear, passionate +all, like proud people and arbitrary, accustomed to pleasant and soft +dealings from men! You could not endure, not only an actual correction +indeed, but even a harsh word of reproof made you lift up rebellious +heads. This is the reason why you changed. And it clearly reveals the +truth to us; for, before Christ on earth began to sting you, you confessed +him and reverenced him as the Vicar of Christ that he is. But this last +fruit that you bear, which brings forth death, shows what kind of trees +you are; and that your tree is planted in the earth of pride, which +springs from the self-love that robs you of the light of reason. + +Oh me, no more thus for the love of God! Take refuge in humbling you +beneath the mighty hand of God, in obedience to His Vicar, while you have +time; for when the time is passed there will be no more help for us. +Recognize your faults, that you may be humble, and know the infinite +goodness of God, who has not commanded the earth to swallow you up, nor +beasts to devour you; nay, but has given you time, that you may correct +your soul. But if you shall not recognize this, what He has given you as a +grace shall turn to your great judgment. But if you will return to the +fold, and feed in truth at the breast of the Bride of Christ, you shall be +received in mercy, by Christ in heaven and by Christ on earth, despite the +iniquity you have wrought. I beg that you delay no more, nor kick against +the prick of conscience that I know is perpetually stabbing you. And let +not confusion of mind, over the evil that you have wrought, so overcome +you, that you abandon your salvation in weariness and despair, as seeming +unable to find help. Not so must you do; but in living faith, hold firm +hope in your Creator, and return humbly to your yoke; for the last sin of +obstinacy and despair would be the worst, and most hateful to God and the +world. Arise, then, into the light! For without light you would walk in +darkness, as you have done up to now. + +My soul considering this, that we can neither know nor love the truth +without light, I said and say that I desire intensely to see you arisen +from darkness, and one with the light. This desire reaches out to all +rational beings, but much more to you three, concerning whom I have had +the greatest sorrow, and marvel more at your fault than at all the others +who have shared it. For did all desert their father, you should have been +such sons as strengthened the father, showing the truth. Notwithstanding +that the father might have treated you with nothing but reproof, you ought +not therefore to have assumed the lead, denying his holiness in any way. +Speaking entirely in the natural sense--for according to virtue we ought +all to be equal--speaking humanly, Christ on earth being an Italian, and +you Italian, I see no reason but self-love why passion for your country +could not move you as it did the Ultramontanes. Cast it to earth now, and +do not wait for time, since time does not wait for you--trampling such +selfishness underfoot, with hate of vice and love of virtue. + +Return, return, and wait not for the rod of justice, since we cannot +escape the hands of God! We are in His hands either by justice or by +mercy; better it is for us to recognize our faults and to abide in the +hands of mercy, than to remain in fault and in the hands of justice. For +our faults do not pass unpunished, especially those that are wrought +against Holy Church. But I wish to bind myself to bear you before God with +tears and continual prayer, and to bear with you your penitence, provided +that you choose to return to your father, who like a true father awaits +you with the open wings of mercy. Oh me, oh me, avoid and flee it not, but +humbly receive it, and do not believe evil counsellors who have given you +over to death! Oh me, sweet brothers! Sweet brothers and fathers you shall +be to me, in so far as you draw close to truth. Make no more resistance to +the tears and sweats which the servants of God shed for you, but wash you +in them from head to foot. For did you despise them, and the eager sweet +and grieving desires which are offered by them for you, you would receive +much greater rebuke. Fear God, and His true judgment. I hope by His +infinite goodness that He will fulfil in you the desire of His servants. + +Let it not seem hard to you if I pierce you with the words which the love +of your salvation has made me write: rather would I pierce you with my +living voice, did God permit me. His will be done. And yet you deserve +rather deeds than words. I come to an end, and say no more; for did I +follow my will I should not yet pause, so full is my soul of grief and +sorrow to see such blindness in those who were placed for a light: no +lambs they, who feed on the food of the honour of God and the salvation of +souls, and the reform of Holy Church; but as thieves they steal the honour +which they ought to give to God, and give it to themselves, and as wolves +they devour the sheep, so that I have great bitterness. I beg you by love +of that precious Blood shed with such fiery love for you, that you give +refreshment to my soul, which seeks your salvation. I say no more to you. +Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God: bathe you in the Blood of the +Spotless Lamb, where you shall lose all servile fear, and enlightened, you +shall abide in holy fear. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +TO GIOVANNA QUEEN OF NAPLES + + +Giovanna of Naples was one of the most depraved, as well as one of the +most romantic, figures of her time. In fascination, as in evil, she +anticipates the type of the women of the renascence. Her many crimes had +never prevented Catherine Benincasa from yearning over her with a peculiar +tenderness, and we have many letters written by the daughter of the dyer +of Siena to the great Neapolitan queen. Some of the earlier among these +letters seem, curiously enough, not to have been without effect; for +Giovanna not only replied to them, but gave her promise to join in a +Crusade. + +Now that the Great Schism had broken forth, the adhesion of Giovanna to +the cause of Urban, who was politically her subject, was of prime +importance; and Catherine wrote her about the matter, not once, but many +times. In her varied correspondence at this period, these letters have a +peculiar interest, from the passionate personal feeling which pervades +them. It is not only for the sake of the truth that Catherine pleads and +argues, but for the sake of Giovanna's salvation; one would think that +even the hardened old Queen must have been touched with the intense and +tender solicitude of the following letter, even if she were not convinced +by its irrefutable reasoning. As a matter of fact, Giovanna, after having +for a time sided with Clement, did temporarily change her base and espouse +the cause of Urban. Soon, however, she reverted to her former position. It +is probable that for her, as for many European sovereigns, the matter was +decided by considerations with which the naif question of the legitimacy +of a papal election had little or nothing to do. + + +Dearest mother in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and slave of +the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His precious Blood: with +desire to see you grounded in the truth which we must know and love for +our salvation. He who shall be grounded in the knowledge of the Truth, +Christ sweet Jesus, shall win and enjoy peace and quiet of soul, in the +ardour of that charity which receives the soul into this knowledge. + +We should know this truth in two chief ways--although it befits us to know +it in everything--that is, everything which exists should love itself in +God and through God, who is Truth itself, and there is nothing without +Him; otherwise it would escape from truth and would walk in falsehood, +following the devil, who is the father thereof. I was saying that we ought +to recognize truth especially in two ways. The first is, we should +recognise the truth about God. He loves us unspeakably, and loved us +before we were; nay, by love He created us--this was and is the truth--in +order that we might have life eternal and enjoy His highest eternal good. +What shows us that this is truly so? The Blood, shed for us with such fire +of love. In the sweet Blood of the Word, the Son of God, we shall know the +truth of His doctrine, which gives life and light, scattering every shadow +of fleshly love and human self-indulgence, but knowing and following with +pure heart the doctrine of Christ crucified, which is grounded in the +truth. The second and last way is, that we ought to recognize the truth +about our neighbour, whether he be great or humble, subject or lord. That +is, when we see that men are doing some deed in which we might invite our +neighbour to join, we ought to perceive whether it is grounded in truth or +not, and what foundation he has who is impelled to do this deed. He who +does not do this, acts as one mad and blind, who follows a blind guide, +grounded in falsehood, and shows that he has no truth in himself, and +therefore seeks not the truth. Sometimes it happens that people are so +insane and brutal that they see themselves lose through such a deed the +life of soul and body and their temporal possessions; and they do not +care, for they are blinded, and do not know what they ought to know; they +walk in darkness, with a feminine nature that lacks any firmness or +stability. + +Dearest mother,--in so far as you are a lover of truth and obedient to +Holy Church I call you mother, but in no otherwise, nor do I speak to you +with reverence, because I see a great change in your person. You who were +a lady have made yourself a servant, and slave of that which is not, +having submitted yourself to falsehood, and to the devil, who is its +father; abandoning the counsels of the Holy Spirit and accepting the +counsels of incarnate demons. You who were a branch of the true vine, have +cut yourself off from it with the knife of self-love. You who were a +legitimate daughter, tenderly beloved of her father, the Vicar of Christ +on earth, Pope Urban VI., who is really the Pope the highest pontiff, have +divided yourself from the bosom of your mother, Holy Church, where for so +long a time you have been nourished. Oh me! oh me! one can mourn over you +as over a dead woman, cast off from the life of grace; dead in soul and +dead in body, if you do not escape from such an error. It appears that you +have not known God's truth in the way I spoke of; for had you known it, +you would have chosen death rather than to offend God mortally. Nor have +you known truth about your neighbour; but in great ignorance, moved by +your own passion, you have followed the most miserable and insulting +counsel--having acted according to it--that I ever heard of. What greater +shame can be incurred than that one who was a Christian, held to be a +Catholic and virtuous woman, should act like a Christian who denies her +faith, and depart from good and holy customs and the due reverence she has +observed? Oh me! open the eye of your mind, and sleep no more in so great +misery. Do not await the moment of death--after which it will not help you +to make excuses, nor to say: "I thought to do good." For you know that you +do ill, but like a sick and passionate woman, you let yourself be guided +by your passions. + +I am quite sure that the counsel came from someone beside yourself. Will, +will to know the truth; who those men are, and why they make you see +falsehood for truth, saying that Pope Urban VI. is not true Pope, and +making you consider that the antipope, who is simply an antichrist, member +of the devil, is Christ on earth. With what truth can they say that to +you? Not with any; but they say it with entire falsity, lying over their +heads. What can those iniquitous men say?--not men, but incarnate demons +--since, on whatever side they turn, they must see that they have done +nothing but ill. Even were it true--as it is not--that Pope Urban VI. was +not the Pope, they would merit a thousand deaths for this alone, as liars +discovered in their untruth; for had they chosen him through fear in the +beginning, and not honestly with a regular election, and had presented him +to us as a true Pope, see! they would have shown us a lie for truth, +making us, and themselves at the same time, obey and reverence him whom we +ought not. For they did do him reverence, and asked favours from him, and +profited by them, as if they came from the highest pontiff, as they did. I +say, that were it true that he was not the Pope--(which is not the case, +by the great goodness of God, who has had mercy upon us)--for this reason +alone they could not be too severely disciplined; but they deserve a +thousand thousand deaths to pretend that they elected the Pope through +fear, when it was not so. But they cannot speak the truth, being men +founded in falsehood, for they cannot so hide it that its darkness and +stench cannot be seen and felt. What they pretended is perfectly true: +they did elect a Pope through fear after they had elected the true Pope, +Messer Bartolomeo, Archbishop of Bari, who to-day is Pope Urban VI.: that +was, Messer di Santo Pietro. But he, like a good man and just, confessed +that he was not the Pope, but Messer Bartolomeo, Archbishop of Bari, who +to-day is called Pope Urban VI., and revered by faithful Christians as +highest pontiff and most just man, despite wicked men--not Christians, for +they bear the name of Christ neither on their lips nor on their heart--but +infidels who have deserted the faith and obedience of Holy Church and the +Vicar of Christ on earth, branches cut off from the True Vine, sowers of +schism and of greatest heresy. + +Open, open the eye of your mind, and sleep no more in such blindness. You +should not be so ignorant nor so separated from the true light as not to +know the wicked life, with no fear of God, of those who have led you into +so great heresy: for the fruits which they bear show you what kinds of +trees they are. Their life shows you that they do not tell the truth; so +do the counsellors they have about them, without and within, who may be +men of knowledge, but they are not men of virtue, nor men whose life is +praiseworthy, but rather to be blamed for many faults. Where is the just +man whom they have chosen for antipope, if indeed our highest pontiff, +Pope Urban VI., were not the true Vicar of Christ? What man have they +chosen? A man of holy life? No, but an iniquitous man, a demon--and +therefore he does the works of demons. The devil exerts himself to +withdraw us from the truth, and he does the very same thing. Why did they +not choose a just man? Because they knew well enough that a just man would +have chosen death rather than to have accepted the papacy, since he would +have seen no colour of truth in them. Therefore the demons took the demon, +and the liars the lie. All these things show that Pope Urban VI. is truly +Pope, and that they are without truth, lovers of the lie. + +If you said to me, "My mind is not clear as to all these things," why do +you not at least stay neutral? although it is as clear as can possibly be +said. And if you are not willing to help the Pope with your temporal +substance until you have more illumination--(help which you are in duty +bound to give, because the sons ought to help the father when he is in +need)--at least obey him in spiritual things, and in other things remain +neutral. But you are behaving like a passionate woman; and hate, and +spite, and the fear of losing him of whom you deprived yourself, which you +caught from a cursed teller of tales, has robbed us of light and +knowledge; for you do not know the truth, obstinately persevering in this +evil; and in this obstinacy you do not see the judgment which is coming +upon you. + +Oh me! I say these words with heartfelt grief, because I tenderly love +your salvation. If you do not change your ways, and correct your life, by +abandoning this great error, and in regard to everything else, the highest +Judge, who does not let sins pass unpunished unless the soul purifies them +with contrition of heart and confession and satisfaction, will give you +such a punishment that you will become a signal instance to cause anyone +to tremble who should ever lift his head against the Holy Church. Wait not +for this rod; for it will be hard for you to kick against the divine +justice. You are to die, and know not when. Not riches, nor position, +however great, nor worldly dignity, nor barons, nor people who are your +subjects as to the body, shall be able to defend you before the highest +Judge, nor hinder the divine justice. But sometimes God works through +rascally men, in order that they may execute justice on His enemy. You +have invited and invite the people and all your subjects to be rather +against you than with you; for they have found little truth in your +character--not the quality of a man with virile heart, but that of a woman +without any firmness or stability, a woman who changes like a leaf in the +wind. + +They have well in mind that when Pope Urban VI., true Pope, was created by +a great and true election, and crowned with great solemnity, you held a +great and high festival, as the child should do over the exaltation of the +father, and the mother over that of the son. For he was both son and +father to you; father, through his dignity to which he had come, son +because he was your subject--that is to say, of your kingdom. Therefore +you did well. Further, you commanded everyone to obey his Holiness as the +highest pontiff. Now I see that you have turned about, like a woman who +has no decision, and you will them to do the contrary. Oh, miserable +passion! That evil which you have in yourself you wish to impart to them. +How do you suppose that they can love you and be faithful to you, when +they see that you are responsible for separating them from life and +leading them into death, and casting them from truth into falsehood? You +separate them from Christ in heaven and from Christ on earth, and seek to +bind them to the devil, and to antichrist--lover and prophet of lies that +he is, he and you and the others who follow him. + +No more thus for the love of Christ crucified! You are in every way +calling down the divine judgment. I grieve for it. If you do not hinder +the ruin that is coming upon you, you cannot escape from the hands of God. +Either by justice or by mercy, you are in His hands. Correct your life, +that you may escape the hands of justice, and remain in those of mercy. +And do not wait for the time, for an hour comes when you shall wish and +cannot. O sheep, return to your fold; let you be governed by the Shepherd: +else the wolf of hell shall devour you! Take back for your guards the +servants of God, who love you in truth more than you yourself, and good, +mature and discreet counsellors. For the counsel of incarnate demons, with +the inordinate fear into which they have thrown you through terror of +losing your temporal state--(which passes like the wind with no +permanence, for either it leaves us, or we it through death)--has brought +you where you are. You shall yet weep, if you change not your ways, +saying: "Alas, alas! I am one who has robbed herself, on account of the +fear into which I was thrown by villainous counsellors!" But there is yet +time, dearest mother, to avert the judgment of God. Return to the +obedience of Holy Church: know the ill that you have wrought: humble you +under the mighty hand of God; and God, who has regard to the humility of +His handmaid, shall show mercy upon us: He will placate His wrath over +your faults; through the mediation of the Blood of Christ, you shall be +grafted and bound in Him with the chain of that charity in which you shall +know and love the truth. The truth shall set you free from lie: it shall +scatter all shadows, giving you light and knowledge in the mercy of God. +In this truth you shall be freed; in other wise, never. + +And because the truth sets us free, I, having desire for your salvation, +said that I desired to see you established in the truth, that it be not +wronged by falsehood. I beg you, fulfil in yourself the will of God and +the desire of my soul, for with all the depth and all the strength of my +soul I desire your salvation. And, therefore, constrained by the Divine +Goodness which loves you unspeakably, I have moved me to write to you with +great sorrow. Another time, also, I wrote you on this same matter. Have +patience if I burden you too much with words, and if I speak with you +boldly, irreverently. The love which I bear to you makes me speak with +boldness: the fault which you have committed makes me depart from due +reverence, and speak irreverently. I could wish far rather to tell you the +truth by speech than by writing, for your salvation, and chiefly for the +honour of God; and I would far rather deal in deeds than in words with him +who is to blame for it all, although the blame and the reason is in +yourself, since there is no one, neither demon nor creature, who can force +you to the least fault unless you choose. Therefore I said to you that you +are the cause of it. Bathe you in the Blood of Christ crucified. There are +scattered the clouds of self-love and servile fear, and the poison of hate +and self-scorn. I say no more to you. Remain in the holy and sweet grace +of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +TO SISTER DANIELLA OF ORVIETO + + +Sister Daniella has found herself in straits again; constrained, it would +seem, by the Spirit, to action not endorsed by her religious superiors. +Possibly she wished, following the example of Catherine, to leave her +cloister and take part in the public life of her time. Catherine herself +had been in like straits during much of her early life. Well she knew, as +St. Francis knew before her, the suffering of that inward conflict, when +the Voice of God summons one way, and the voices of men, reinforced by +that instinct of humility and obedience which the middle ages held so +dear, insist upon another. She writes to her friend with comprehending +sympathy. Daniella, as we have already seen, was a woman who understood +her and whom she understood. And it must have been a relief to Catherine, +at this point in her career, for once to encourage ardour instead of +rebuking sin or seeking to inspire timidity. Our saint is so constantly on +the side of obedience, when, as not infrequently happens, some weak +brother or sister is restless under the yoke of vows, that we are sure she +must know her woman when she writes: "Fear and serve God, disregarding +yourself; and then do not care what people say unless it is to feel +compassion for them." + +We see at the end of the letter that Catherine is on the point of going to +Rome. In fact, Urban had summoned her thither, being evidently alive to +the advantages of the support of one so famed for sanctity. In Rome the +remainder of her life was to be passed. + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest daughter in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and slave of +the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His precious Blood: with +desire to see thee in true and very perfect light, that thou mayest know +the truth in perfection. Oh, how necessary this light is to us, dearest +daughter! For without it we cannot walk in the Way of Christ crucified, a +shining Way that brings us to life; without it we shall walk among shadows +and abide in great storm and bitterness. But, if I consider aright, it +behoves us to possess two orders of this light. There is a general light, +that every rational creature ought to have, for recognizing whom he ought +to love and obey--perceiving in the light of his mind by the pupil of most +holy faith, that he is bound to love and serve his Creator, loving Him +directly, with all his heart and mind, and obeying the commandments of the +law to love God above everything, and our neighbour as ourselves. These +are the principles by which all men beside ourselves are held. This is a +general light, which we are all bound by; and without it we shall die, and +shall follow, deprived of the life of grace, the darkened way of the +devil. But there is another light, which is not apart from this, but one +with it--nay, by this first, one attains to the second. There are those +who, observing the commandments of God, grow into another most perfect +light; these rise from imperfection with great and holy desire, and attain +unto perfection, observing both commandments and counsels in thought and +deed. One should use this light with hungry desire for the honour of God +and the salvation of souls, gazing therewith into the light of the sweet +and loving Word, where the soul tastes the ineffable love which God has to +His creatures, shown to us through that Word, who ran as enamoured to the +shameful death of the Cross, for the honour of the Father and for our +salvation. + +When the soul has known this truth in the perfect light, it rises above +itself, above its natural instincts; with intense, sweet and loving +desires, it runs, following the footsteps of Christ crucified, bearing +pains, bearing shame, ridicule and insult with much persecution, from the +world, and often from the servants of God under pretext of virtue. +Hungrily it seeks the honour of God and the salvation of souls; and so +much does it delight in this glorious food, that it despises itself and +everything else: this alone it seeks, and abandons itself. In this perfect +light lived the glorious virgins and the other saints, who delighted only +in receiving this food with their Bridegroom, on the table of the Cross. +Now to us, dearest daughter and sweet my sister in Christ sweet Jesus, He +has shown such grace and mercy that He has placed us in the number of +those who have advanced from the general light to the particular--that is, +He has made us choose the perfect state of the Counsels: therefore we +ought to follow that sweet and straight way perfectly, in true light, not +looking back for any reason whatever; not walking in our own fashion but +in the fashion of God, enduring sufferings without fault even unto death, +rescuing the soul from the hands of devils. For this is the Way and the +Rule that the Eternal Truth has given thee; and He wrote it on His body, +not with ink, but with His Blood, in letters so big that no one is of such +low intelligence as to be excused from reading. Well thou seest the +initials of that Book, how great they are; and all show the truth of the +Eternal Father, the ineffable love with which we were created--this is the +truth--only that we might share His highest and eternal good. This our +Master is lifted up on high upon the pulpit of the Cross, in order that we +may better study it, and should not deceive ourselves, saying: "He teaches +this to me on earth, and not on high." Not so: for He ascended upon the +Cross, and uplifted there in pain, He seeks to exalt the honour of the +Father, and to restore the beauty of souls. Then let us read heartfelt +love, founded in truth, in this Book of Life. Lose thyself wholly; and the +more thou shalt lose the more thou shalt find; and God will not despise +thy desire. Nay, He will direct thee, and show thee what thou shouldst do; +and will enlighten him to whom thou mightest be subject, if thou dost +according to His counsel. For the soul that prays ought to have a holy +jealousy, and let it always rejoice to do whatever it does with the help +of prayer and counsel. + +Thou didst write me, and as I understood from thy letter it seems that +thou art troubled in heart. And this is not a slight feeling; nay, it is +mighty, stronger than any other, when on the one side thou dost feel +thyself called by God in new ways, and His servants put themselves on the +contrary side, saying that this is not well. I have a very great +compassion for thee; for I know not what burden is like that, from the +jealousy the soul has for itself; for it cannot offer resistance to God, +and it would also fulfil the will of His servants, trusting more in their +light and knowledge than in its own; and yet it does not seem able to. Now +I reply to thee simply according to my low and poor sight. Do not make up +thy mind obstinately, but as thou feelest thyself called without thine own +doing, so respond. So, if thou dost see souls in danger, and thou canst +help them, do not close thine eyes, but exert thyself with perfect zeal to +help them, even to death. And never mind about thy past resolutions to +silence or anything else--lest it be said to thee later: "Cursed be thou, +that thou wast silent." Our every principle and foundation is in the love +of God and our neighbour alone; all our other activities are instruments +and buildings placed on this foundation. Therefore thou shouldst not, for +pleasure in the instrument or the building, desert the principal +foundation in the honour of God and the love of our neighbour. Work, then, +my daughter, in that field where thou seest that God calls thee to work; +and do not get distressed or anxious in mind over what I have said to +thee, but endure manfully. Fear and serve God, with no regard to thyself; +and then do not care for what people may say, except to have compassion on +them. + +As to the desire thou hast to leave thy house and go to Rome, throw it +upon the will of thy Bridegroom, and if it shall be for His honour and thy +salvation, He will send thee means and the way when thou art thinking +nothing about it, in a way that thou wouldst never have imagined. Let Him +alone, and lose thyself; and beware that thou lose thee nowhere but on the +Cross, and there thou shalt find thyself most perfectly. But this thou +couldst not do without the perfect light; and therefore I said to thee +that I desired to see thee in the true and most perfect light, beyond the +common light we talked of. + +Let us sleep no more! Let us wake from the slumber of negligence, groaning +with humble continual prayers, over the mystical Body of Holy Church, and +over the Vicar of Christ! Cease not to pray for him, that Christ may give +him light and fortitude to resist the strokes of incarnate demons, lovers +of themselves, who seek to contaminate our faith. It is a time for +weeping. + +As to my coming thy way, pray the highest eternal Goodness of God to do +what may be for His honour and the salvation of the soul, and pray +especially, for I am on the point of going to Rome, to fulfil the will of +Christ crucified and of His Vicar. I do not know what way I shall take. +Pray Christ sweet Jesus to send us by that way which is most to His +honour, in peace and quiet of our souls. I say no more to thee. Remain in +the holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +TO STEFANO MACONI + + +"To Stefano di Corrado Maconi, her ignorant and most ungrateful son": "To +Stefano Maconi, her most ungrateful and unworthy son, when she was at +Rome": so run the superscriptions to these letters. Doubtless, they headed +copies made by the hand of Stefano himself. We have seen in connection +with Catherine's letters to his mother how constantly after their first +meeting this young disciple had been with her. Long before this, he had +become the best-beloved of the "Famiglia," and next to herself its most +important member. He did not, however, for some reason, accompany her to +Rome, and Catherine's heart yearned over him during the last weary months. +From the first, she had perceived in his frank and joyous temperament the +germs of high spiritual perfection, and had sought to draw him to the +monastic life. "Cut the bonds that hold thee, and do not merely loosen +them," she wrote in one of the first letters to Stefano that we possess: +"Resist no longer the Holy Spirit that is calling thee--for it will be +hard for thee to kick against Him. Do not let thyself be withheld by thine +own lukewarm heart, or by a womanish tenderness for thyself, but be a man, +and enter the battlefield manfully." Stefano, however, despite his +personal devotion to Catherine, felt for a long time no vocation for the +cloister. She continued, as we see in these letters, to urge him with +increasing insistence: but his hesitation was ended only by her death. He +hastened to Rome at the last, urgently summoned, in time to see her living +and to receive her last words. Her dying request did what her entreaties +during life had failed to do; the brilliant young noble became a +Carthusian monk. At a later time he was made General of the Order. +Devotion to the memory of Catherine was the inspiration of his life after +she left him. + +The letters in this group were all written after Catherine had reached +Rome. They form a strong contrast to the more formal and elaborate +documents which she was at this time despatching to dignitaries, +concerning the ecclesiastical situation. Their serene spiritual fervour +bears witness to the "central peace" subsisting at the heart of the +"endless agitation" of her active life. In their intimate messages, +moreover, to home friends and disciples, they throw a charming light on +what may be called the domestic side of her character. + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest son in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and slave of the +servants of Jesus Christ, write to thee in His precious Blood: with desire +to see thee a true guardian of the city of thy soul. Oh, dearest son, this +city has many gates! They are three--Memory, Intellect, and Will, and our +Creator allows all of them to be battered, and sometimes opened by +violence, except one--that is, Will. So it happens at times that the +intellect sees nothing but shadows; the memory is occupied with vain and +transitory things, with many and varied reflections and impure thoughts; +and likewise all the sensations of the body are ill-regulated and +ravaging. So it is perfectly clear that no one of these gates is in our +own free possession, except only the Gate of Will. This belongs to our +liberties, and has for its Watch Free-will. And this gate is so strong +that nor demon nor creature can open it if the watch does not consent. And +while this gate is not open--that is, while it does not consent to what +Memory and Intellect and the other gates experience--our city keeps its +free privileges for ever. Let us, then, recognize, my son, let us +recognize so excellent a benefit and so unmeasured a largess of charity as +we have received from the Divine Goodness, that has put us in free +possession of so noble a city. + +Let us strive to hold good and zealous watch, keeping at the side of our +Watch Free-will, the dog Conscience, who when anyone comes at the gate +must awake Reason by its barking, that she may discern whether it be +friend or foe: so that the watch may let friends enter, ordering good and +holy inspirations to do their work, and may drive away the foes, locking +the Gate of Will, that it consent not to admit the evil thoughts that come +to the gate every day. And when thy city shall be demanded of thee by the +Lord, thou canst give it up, sound, and adorned with true and royal +virtues, thanks to His grace. I say no more here. + +As I wrote on the first day of the month to all the sons in common, we +arrived here on the first Sunday in Advent with much peace. Remain in the +holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest son in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and slave of the +servants of Jesus Christ, write to thee in His precious Blood: with desire +to see thee risen above childishness, and become a manly man; risen from +enjoying the milk of consolations, mental and actual, and set to eat the +hard musty bread of many tribulations in mind and body, of conflicts with +devils and injuries from thy fellows, and of any other kind that God might +be pleased to grant thee. I desire to see thee rejoicing in such, and +hasting to meet them with kindling desire and sweet gratitude to the +divine goodness, when it may please Him to show thee such great gifts-- +which will be whenever He shall see thee fit to receive them. Rouse thee, +my son, rouse thee from thy lukewarmness of heart; steep it in the Blood, +that it may burn in the furnace of divine charity, so that it may attain +to abominate all childish deeds, and be on fire to be all manful, to enter +on the battlefield to do great works for Christ crucified, fighting +manfully. For Paul says that none shall be crowned save such as have +manfully fought. So he who sees himself abide away from the Field has +cause for weeping. Now I say no more here. + +I had thy letter, and saw it gladly. Concerning the affair of the +Proposal, I reply that thy disposition pleases me much; and we must be +glad of the sweet games that our sweet God plays with His creatures, to +persuade them to the end for which we were all created: so that when the +sweet medicine and ointment of consolations does not help, He sends us +tribulations, cauterizing the wound that it may not suppurate. I will +willingly take pains about thy affair, for the love of God and thy +salvation, as soon as these festivals and holy days are past. + +I will try to obtain the Indulgences that thou askest me for with the +first I shall demand. I do not know when--for I have worn out the clerks +of the court. One must hold one's self a little back. + +I am writing a letter to Matteo: give it to him. And comfort him, and go +to find him sometimes, to warm him up to the enterprise that is begun. I +have heard of the illness which God has sent ... and, considering his +need, I beg and constrain thee as much as I can that thou and thy brothers +bring it about that the Company of the Virgin Mary give him aid, as much +as thou canst get. Catarina is very much to be pitied, to find herself +alone and poor without any refuge; so be zealous to show this charity. I +am writing of this to Pietro, too. Let me perceive that you have not shown +any negligence. + +I say no more to thee. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. All this +family comfort thee in Christ, and be the negligent and ungrateful writer +commended to thee. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest son in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and slave of the +servants of Jesus Christ, write to thee in His precious Blood: with desire +to see thee cut thy bonds, and not simply set thyself to loosening them, +for it takes some time to loosen, and this thou art not sure of having, so +swiftly it passes from thee. It is better, then, to cut them thoroughly, +with a true and holy zeal. Oh, how blessed my soul will be when I shall +see that thou hast cut thyself off from the world in deed and thought, and +from thy own fleshly instincts, and hast united thyself to life eternal: a +union that is of such joy and sweetness and suavity that it quenches all +bitterness and renders light every heavy weight! Who, then, shall hold us +from drawing the sword of hate and love, and cutting self from self with +the hand of free will? As soon as this sword has cut, it is of such virtue +that it unites. But thou wilt say to me, dearest son: "Where is this sword +found and wrought?" I reply to thee, Thou findest it in the cell of self- +knowledge, where thou dost conceive hatred of thine own sin and frailty, +and love of thy Creator and thy neighbour, with true and sincere virtues. +Where is it wrought? In the fire of divine charity, on the anvil of the +Body of the sweet and loving Word, the Son of God. Then ignorant indeed, +and worthy of great rebuke, is he who has weapons in his possession to +defend himself with, and who throws them away. + +I do not want thee to be of these ignorant people, but I want thee to +hasten in thy whole manhood, and respond to Mary, who calls thee with +greatest love. The blood of these glorious martyrs, buried here in Rome as +to the body, who gave blood and life with so fiery love for the love of +Life, is hot with longing, summoning thee and the others that you come to +suffer, for glory and praise of the Name of God and Holy Church, and for +the trial of your virtues. For to this Holy Land, wherein God revealed His +dignity, calling it His garden, He has called His servants, saying: "Now +is the time for them to come, to test the gold of virtue." Now let us not +play the deaf man. Were our ears stopped by cold, let us cleanse us in the +Blood, hot because it is mingled with fire, and all deafness shall be +taken away. Hide thee in the Wounds of Christ crucified; flee before the +world, leave thy father's house; flee into the refuge of the Side of +Christ crucified, that thou mayest come to the Land of Promise. This same +thing I say also to Pietro. Place you at the table of the Cross, and +there, refreshed by the Blood, take the food of souls, enduring pains and +shames, insults, ridicule, hunger, thirst, and nakedness: glorying, with +that sweet Paul the Chosen Vessel, in the shame of Christ crucified. If +thou shalt cut thee free, as I said, endurance shall be thy glory, +otherwise not, but it shall be a pain to thee, and thy shadow will make +thee afraid. + +My soul, considering this, as an hungered for thy salvation. I desire to +see thee cut thyself free, and not set thyself to loosen, that thou mayest +run thee more swiftly. Clothe thee in the Blood of Christ crucified. I say +no more to thee. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. + +I had thy letters, and had great consolation from them, over Battista's +being healed, because I have hope that he will yet be a good plant, and +for the compassion I felt for Monna Giovanna. But I rejoiced very much +more that God has sent thee a way of extricating thyself from the world, +and also over the good disposition of which thou writest me, that the +Lords and our other citizens have toward our sweet "Babbo," Pope Urban VI. +May God by His infinite mercy preserve it, and increase ever their +reverence and obedience toward him. While thou and the others shall be +there, be zealous to sow the truth and confound falsehood as far as your +power extends. + +Commend me closely to Monna Giovanna and Currado. Comfort also Battista +and the rest of the family. Comfort all those sons of mine, and tell them +also particularly to pardon me if I do not write to them, because it seems +somewhat difficult. Comfort Messer Matteo: tell him to send us word of +what he wants, first, because I have forgotten it, and Fra Raimondo went +away so soon that we could not get it from him. Then I will zealously do +all I can. And tell Frate Tommaso that I do not write to him because I do +not know whether he is there, but if he is there, comfort him, and tell +him to give me his blessing. Our Lisa and all the family commend +themselves to thee. Neri does not write thee because he has been at the +point of death; but now he is cured. + +May God give thee His sweet eternal blessing. Tell Pietro to come here if +he can, for something that is of importance. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love! + +Give all these letters, or have them given. And pray God for us. As to +these few letters bound by themselves, give them just as they are to Monna +Catarina di Giovanni, and let her distribute them. + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest son in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and slave of the +servants of Jesus Christ, write to thee in His precious Blood: with desire +to see thee arise from the lukewarmness of thy heart, lest thou be spewed +from the mouth of God, hearing this rebuke, "Cursed are ye, the lukewarm! +Would you had at least been ice-cold!" This lukewarmness proceeds from +ingratitude, which comes from a faint light that does not let us see the +agonizing and utter love of Christ crucified, and the infinite benefits +received from Him. For in truth, did we see them, our heart would burn +with the flame of love, and we should be famished for time, using it with +great zeal for the honour of God and the salvation of souls. To this zeal +I summon thee, dearest son, that now we begin to work anew. + +I send thee a letter that I am writing to the Lords, and one to the +Company of the Virgin Mary. See and understand them, and then give them; +and then ... And talk to them fully concerning this matter that is +contained in the letters, begging each of them, on behalf of Christ +crucified and me, that they deal zealously, just so far as they can, with +the Lords and whoever has to do with it, that the right thing may be done +in regard to Holy Church, and the Vicar of Christ, Urban VI. It weighs +upon me very much, for my part, that it should please them to have +confidence in this matter, for the honour of God, and the spiritual and +temporal profit of the city. Do thou be fervent and not tepid in this +activity, and in quickening thy brothers and elders of the Company to do +all they may in the affair of which I write. If you are what you ought to +be, you will set fire to all Italy, and not only yonder. + +I say no more to thee. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. Comfort +... all these, thy brothers, and thy sister, comfort thee in Christ, and +all are waiting for thee. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +TO CERTAIN HOLY HERMITS +WHO HAD BEEN INVITED TO ROME BY THE POPE + + +From early years, Catherine had cherished the simple-hearted desire that +the affairs of Christ's people be put in the hands of His truest +followers. Now, in this last period of her life, surrounded by the +corruption and intrigue of the papal court, her thoughts turned more and +more wistfully to the reserves of spiritual passion and insight that +lingered in the hearts of obscure "servants of God" living in monasteries +or in hermits' cells. + +To invite these holy men to Rome--to gather them around Urban, and so show +by triumphant witness of those in nearest fellowship with God on which +side lay God's truth--was doubtless the political idea of a very unworldly +saint. Nevertheless, it commended itself to the Pope. At his request, +then, though probably by her own suggestion, Catherine wrote to sundry of +those eremites with whom she had long held spiritual converse, summoning +them to the Holy City. Her letters were a thrilling call to the champions +of Christ, to cast off timidity and indolence, and betake them swiftly to +the field where difficulties and troubles, and it might be a martyr's +death, was waiting them. + +In the third of the letters that follow, Catherine gives a touching +picture of two bewildered hermits--Dominican "dogs of the lord" from the +gentle Umbrian plain--who obeyed the call. "Old men, and far from well, +who have lived such a long time in their peace," they have made the +laborious journey, and are now valiantly suppressing their homesickness, +and unsaying their involuntary complaints. But not all the hermits +summoned were equally docile. Visionary raptures could hardly be looked +for in the streets of the metropolis: dear was the seclusion of wood and +cell. Father William Flete, whom Catherine had always persisted in +admiring, despite his failings, flatly declined to stir; so did his +comrade, Brother Antonio. The Abbot of St. Antimo, another person for whom +she had always entertained a deep respect, although he came, appears from +her letters to have played the part of a coward. + +We cannot be surprised if peaceable Religious who had lived their long +days in unbroken quiet objected to enter the unpleasant whirlpool of Roman +politics. A similar attitude on the part of eremites of culture is not +unknown to-day. But their refusal was a blow to Catherine. She could +hardly have drawn the natural conclusion that a recluse life unfitted men +to fight for practical righteousness, but she did feel deeply troubled. +From early youth she had been, as we have repeatedly seen, alive to the +dangers of selfishness and indolence peculiarly incident to the +contemplative life; at the same time she had firmly believed that, did the +flame of intercession only burn bright enough, this life might be +profoundly sacrificial. Now her best-beloved recluses did not stand the +test in the hour of trial, and their naif egotism disappointed her +unspeakably. Her grief, her amaze, her all but scathing contempt for a +religion that declined to forego its inward comforts even at the dramatic +summons of a crisis in the Church, find expression in these letters. +Doubtless the "great refusal" thus offered by men whom she had trusted +helped to darken her last months. Not even in the hearts of her intimates, +not even among the elect of God, was Catherine to find here on earth a +continuing city. + + + + +TO BROTHER WILLIAM OF ENGLAND AND BROTHER ANTONIO OF NIZZA +AT LECCETO + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest sons in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and slave of the +servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His precious Blood: with desire +to see you so lose yourselves that you shall seek nor peace nor quiet +elsewhere than in Christ crucified, becoming an-hungered upon the table of +the Cross, for the honour of God, the salvation of souls, and the +reformation of Holy Church, whom to-day we see in so great need that to +help her one must come out from one's wood and renounce one's self. If one +sees that he can bear fruit in her, it is no time to stay still nor to +say, "I should forfeit my peace." For now that God has given us the grace +of providing Holy Church with a good and just shepherd, who delights in +the servants of God, and wishes them near him, and expects to be able to +purify the Church and uproot vices and plant virtues, without any fear of +man, since he bears himself like a just and manly man, we others ought to +help him. I shall perceive whether we have in truth conceived love for the +reformation of Holy Church; for if it is really so, you will follow the +will of God and of His Vicar, will come out of your wood, and make haste +to enter the battlefield. But if you do not do it, you will be in discord +with the will of God. Therefore I pray you, by the love of Christ +crucified, that you respond swiftly without delay to the request that the +Holy Father makes of you. And do not hesitate because of not having a +wood, for there are woods and forests here. Up, dearest sons, and sleep no +more, for it is time to watch! I say no more to you. Remain in the holy +and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love! In Rome, on the fifteenth +day of December, 1378. + + + +TO BROTHER ANDREA OF LUCCA TO BROTHER BALDO AND TO BROTHER LANDO +SERVANTS OF GOD IN SPOLETO, WHEN THEY WERE SUMMONED BY THE HOLY FATHER + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest fathers in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and slave of +the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His precious Blood: with +desire to see you eager and ready to do the will of God, in obedience to +His Vicar, Pope Urban VI., in order that by you and the other servants of +God help may be brought to His sweet Bride. For we see her in such bitter +straits that she is attacked on every side by contrary winds; and you see +that she is especially attacked by wicked men, lovers of themselves, by +the perilous and evil wind of heresy and schism, which can contaminate our +faith. Was she ever in so great a need as now, when those who ought to +help her have attacked her, and darkness is shed abroad by those whose +task it is to enlighten? They should nourish us with the food of souls, +ministering the Blood of Christ crucified which gives the life of grace; +and they drag it from men's mouths, ministering eternal death, like wolves +who feed not the flock, but devour them. And what shall the dogs do--the +servants of God, who are placed in the world as guardians, that they may +bark when they see the wolf come, to awaken the chief shepherd? What are +they to bark with? With humble and continual prayer, and with the living +voice. In this way they shall terrify the demons, visible and invisible, +and the heart and mind of our chief Shepherd, Pope Urban VI., shall +awaken; and when he shall be wakened, we do not doubt that the mystical +body of Holy Church and the universal body of the Christian religion shall +be helped, and the flock recovered, and saved from the hands of devils. +You ought not to draw back for any reason: not for suffering that you +expected, nor for shames nor persecution, nor ridicule that might be cast +at you; not for hunger, thirst, or death a thousand times were it +possible; not for desire of quiet, nor of your consolations, saying: "I +wish my soul's peace, and I can cry out in prayer before the face of God +(without going to Rome)"; nay, by the love of Christ crucified. For it is +not now the hour to seek one's self for one's self, nor to flee pains in +order to possess consolations; nay, it is the hour to lose one's self, +since the Infinite Goodness and Mercy of God has seen to the necessity of +Holy Church, and given her a just and good shepherd, who wishes to have +these dogs around him, which shall bark constantly for the honour of God; +fearing lest he sleep, and not trusting in his vigil, unless they are +always ready to bark to waken him. You are among those whom he has chosen. +Therefore I beg and constrain you in Christ sweet Jesus, that you come +swiftly, to fulfil the will of God, who wills thus, and the holy will of +the Vicar of Christ, that is calling you and the others. + +You need not be afraid of luxuries or of great consolations; for you are +coming to endure, and not to enjoy yourselves, except with the joy of the +Cross. Lean your head out, and come forth into the Field, to fight +genuinely for truth; holding before the eye of your mind the persecution +wrought to the Blood of Christ, and the damnation of souls; in order that +we may be more inspired for the battle, so that we may look back for no +possible cause. Come, come! and do not linger, waiting for the hour, for +the hour does not wait us. I am sure that the Infinite Goodness of God +will make you know the truth. And yet I know that many, even among those +who are servants of God, will go to you and oppose this holy and good +work, thinking to speak well, in saying: "You will go, and nothing will be +done." And I, like a presumptuous woman, say that something will be done; +if our principal desire is not now to be fulfilled, at least the way will +be cleared. And even if nothing at all should be done, we have shown in +the sight of God and our fellow-men that we have done what we could; our +own conscience has been aroused and unburdened. So that it is well in any +case. The more opposition you shall have, the clearer sign it is to you +that this is a good and holy work; since as we have seen, and continue to +see constantly, great, holy, and good works meet more opposition than +little ones, because they have larger results; and therefore the devil +hinders them in every way he can, especially by means of the servants of +God, through obscure deceits, under colour of virtue. I have said this to +you in order that you should not give up coming for any reason, but should +present yourselves with prompt obedience at the feet of his Holiness. + +Drown you in the Blood of Christ, and may our own will die in all things. +I say no more to you. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. Commend +me to all the servants of God near you, that they may pray the Divine +Goodness to give me grace to lay down my life for His Truth. Sweet Jesus, +Jesus Love. + + + + +TO BROTHER ANTONIO OF NIZZA +OF THE HERMIT BROTHERS OF SAINT AUGUSTINE AT THE CONVENT OF LECCETO +NEAR SIENA + + +In the name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest son in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and slave of the +servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His precious Blood: with desire +to see you founded upon the Living Rock, Christ sweet Jesus, so that the +building you shall raise on it may never be overthrown by any contrary +wind that may strike you, but may endure wholly solid, firm, and stable, +even till your death upon the Way of Truth. Oh, how we need this true and +royal foundation--not known of my ignorance! for did I truly know it, I +should not build upon myself, who am worse than sand, but upon that Living +Rock I spoke of. Following Christ upon the way of shame and outrage and +insult, I should deprive me of every consolation from whatever source, +within or without, to conform myself with Him. I would not seek myself for +my own sake, but would care only for the honour of God, the salvation of +souls, and the reform of Holy Church, whom I see in so great need! Me +miserable, who am doing quite the contrary! But though I do wrong, dearest +son, I would not that you and the others did; nay, I desire to see you +founded on this Rock. Now the hour is come that proves who is a servant of +God, and whether men shall seek themselves for their own sake, and God for +the private consolation they find in Him, and their neighbours for their +own sake in so far as they see consolations in them--yes, or no, and +whether we are to believe that God may be found only in one place and not +in another. I do not see that this is so--but find that to the true +servant of God every place is the right place and every time is the right +time. So when the time comes to abandon his own consolations and embrace +labours for the honour of God, he does it; and when the time comes to flee +the wood for need of the honour of God, he does it, and betakes him to +public places, as did the blessed St. Antony, who although he supremely +loved solitude, yet deserted it many times to comfort the Christians. And +so I might tell of many other saints. This has always been the habit of +the true servants of God, to emerge in time of need and adversity, but not +in the time of prosperity--nay, that they flee. There is no need to flee +just now, through fear lest our great prosperity make our hearts sail away +in the wind of pride and vainglory; for there is no one who can glory now +otherwise than in labours. But light seems to be failing us, dazzled as we +are by our consolations and the hope we place in special revelations-- +things which do not let us know the truth rightly, though we act in good +faith. But God, who is highest and eternal Goodness, gives us perfect and +true light. I enlarge no more on this matter. + +It appears, from the letter which Brother William has sent me, that +neither he nor you is coming here. I do not intend to reply to this +letter: but I grieve much over his simplicity, for little honour to God or +edification to his neighbour results from it. For if he is unwilling to +come from humility and fear of forfeiting his peace, he ought to exercise +the virtue of humility, by asking permission from the Vicar of Christ +humbly and with gentleness, entreating his Holiness graciously to permit +him to stay in his wood, for his greater peace, nevertheless, as one truly +obedient, submitting the matter to his will. Thus he would be more +pleasing to God, and would secure his own good. But he seems to have done +just the contrary, alleging that a person who is bound to divine obedience +ought not to obey his fellow-creatures. As to other people, I should care +very little; but that he should include the Vicar of Christ, this does +grieve me much, to see him so discordant with truth. For divine obedience +never prevents us from obedience to the Holy Father: nay, the more perfect +the one, the more perfect is the other. And we ought always to be subject +to his commands and obedient unto death. However indiscreet obedience to +him might seem, and however it should deprive us of mental peace and +consolation, we ought to obey; and I consider that to do the opposite is a +great imperfection, and deceit of the devil. It appears from what he +writes that two servants of God have had a great revelation, to the effect +that Christ on earth, and whoever advised him to send for these servants +of God, followed human and not divine counsel, and that it was rather the +instigation of the devil than the inspiration of God that made them wish +to drag their servants from their peace and consolations: adding that if +you and the others came you would lose your spiritual life, and thus would +be of no help in prayer, and unable to stand by the Holy Father in spirit. +Now really, the spiritual life is quite too lightly held if it is lost by +change of place. Apparently God is an acceptor of places, and is found +only in a wood, and not elsewhere in time of need! Then what shall we say +--we who, on the one hand, wish that the Church of God be reformed, the +thorns uprooted, and the fragrant flowers the servants of God planted +there; and, on the other hand, we are told that to send for them, and drag +them from their mental peace and quiet in order that they may come to help +that little Ship is a wile of the devil? At least, let a man speak for +himself, and not speak of the other servants of God--for among the +servants of the world we are not to count ourselves. Not thus have done +Brother Andrea of Lucca, nor Brother Paolina, those great servants of God, +old men and far from well, who have lived such a long time in their peace: +but at once, with all their weariness and disabilities they put themselves +on the road, and have come, and fulfilled their obedience: and although +desire constrains them to return to their cells, they are not therefore +willing to throw off the yoke, but say: "What I have said, be it unsaid!" +--disregarding their self-will and their personal consolations. One comes +here to endure: not for honours, but for the dignity of many labours, with +tears, vigils and continual prayers; thus should one do. Now let us not +weigh ourselves down with more words. May God by His mercy send us clear +vision, and guide us in the way of truth, and give us true and perfect +light, that we may never walk among shadows. I beg you, you and the +Bachellor, and the other servants of God, to pray the Humble Lamb that He +make me walk in His Way. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet +Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + +TO QUEEN GIOVANNA OF NAPLES +(WRITTEN IN TRANCE) + + +Giovanna, recalcitrant, has failed to respond to the entreaties of +Catherine. Her temporary espousal of the cause of Urban has made only more +painful her reversion to the side of Clement. "You see your subjects +pitted against each other like beasts through this unhappy division," +writes Catherine in another letter. "Oh me! how is it that your heart does +not burst, to endure that they should be divided by you, and one hold to +the white rose and one the red, one to truth and one to falsehood? +Misfortunate my soul! Do you not see that they are all created in that +very pure rose, the eternal will of God, and re-created by grace in that +very burning rose, crimson with the Blood of Christ, in which we were +washed from sin in Baptism? Consider that nor you nor another ever so +bathed them or gave them that glorious rose, but only our Mother, Holy +Church, through the highest Pontiff who holds the keys, Pope Urban VI. How +can your soul bear to take from them that which you cannot give? If this +does not move you, are you not at least moved by the shame into which you +are fallen in the sight of the world? This much more since your change +than before; for lately you confessed the truth and your wrong, and showed +yourself willing to throw yourself like a daughter upon the mercy of your +father; and since then you have wrought worse than ever, whether because +your heart was not pure, and feigned what was not there, or because +justice willed that I should anew do penance for my ancient sins, that I +do not merit to see you in peace and quiet, feeding at the breasts of Holy +Church. It is such a pain to me, that I cannot bear a greater cross in +this life, when I consider the letter which I received from you, in which +you confessed that Pope Urban was the true highest father and priest, and +said that you were willing to be obedient to him, and now I find the +contrary." + +In the present letter Catherine pours forth to the yet living woman a +sorrowful elegy over the dead soul. She argues no longer; the political +aspect of the situation is for the time being overshadowed by the grief +with which she contemplates the hardened sin and coming doom of the woman +to whom her heart had from her youth up gone out with an especial +tenderness, and in whom she had hoped at one time to see a true Defender +of the Faith. It will be noticed that she writes in trance. Whatever may +have been the nature of that mysterious state, we may be sure that +thoughts then uttered came from the depths of her being which lie below +consciousness, and we may so gain an additional evidence of the intensity +of her feeling concerning Giovanna. + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest mother in Christ sweet Jesus: I, Catherine, servant and slave of +the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His precious Blood, with +desire to see you compassionate to your own soul and body. For if we are +not merciful to our own souls, the mercy and pity of others would avail us +little. The soul treats itself with great cruelty when of its own accord +it puts the knife with which it can be killed in the hands of its foe. For +our foes have no weapons with which they can hurt us. They would be very +glad to, but they cannot, because will alone can hurt us; and as for the +will, neither demon nor creature can move it, nor force it to one least +fault more than it chooses. So the perverse will which consents to the +malice of our foes is a knife which kills the soul that gives it into the +hand of these foes with its own free choice. Which shall we call the more +cruel--the foes or the very person who receives the blow? It is we who are +more cruel, for we consent to our own death. + +We have three chief foes. First, the devil, who is weak if I do not make +him strong by consenting to his malice. He loses his strength in the power +of the Blood of the humble and spotless Lamb. The world with all its +honours and delights, which is our foe, is also weak, save in so far as we +strengthen it to hurt us by possessing these things with intemperate love. +In the gentleness, humility, poverty, in the shame and disgrace of Christ +crucified, this tyrant the world is destroyed. Our third foe, our own +frailty, was made weak; but reason strengthens it by the union which God +has made with our humanity, arraying the Word with our humanity, and by +the death of that sweet and loving Word, Christ crucified. So we are +strong, and our foes are weak. + +It is very true, then, that we are more cruel to ourselves than our foes +are. For without our help they cannot kill nor hurt us, since God has not +given them to us that we might be vanquished, but that we might vanquish +them. Then our fortitude and constancy are proved. But I do not see that +we can avoid such cruelty and become merciful without the light of most +holy faith, opening the eye of the mind to behold how displeasing it is to +God and harmful to soul and body, and how pleasing to God and useful to +our salvation is mercy. + +Dearest mother--mother I say in so far as I see you to be a faithful +daughter of Holy Church--it seems to me that you have no mercy on +yourself. Oh me! oh me! because I love you I grieve over the evil state of +your soul and body. I would willingly lay down my life to prevent this +cruelty. Many times I have written you in compassion, showing you that +what is shown you for truth is a lie; and the rod of divine justice, which +is ready for you if you do not flee so great wrong. It is a human thing to +sin, but perseverance in sin is a thing of the devil. Oh me! there is none +who tells you the truth, nor do you seek among the servants of God those +who might tell it you, that you should not stay in a state of +condemnation. Oh, how blessed my soul would be could I come into your +parts, and lay down my life to restore to you the good of heaven and the +good of earth; to take from you the knife of cruelty, with which you have +killed yourself, and help to give you that of mercy, which kills vice; so +that you should clothe you in the holy fear of God and love of truth, and +bind you in His sweet will! + +Oh me, do not await the time which you are not sure of having! Do not +choose that my eyes should have to shed rivers of tears over your wretched +soul and body--a soul which I hold as my own! If I consider that soul, I +see that it is dead, because separated from its body; it persecutes, not +Pope Urban VI., but our truth and faith. I expected, mother and daughter +mine, as you used to write to me, that through you these should be spread +among the infidels by means of divine grace, and declared and helped among +us, defended when we should see a taint appear, from those who have been +or were contaminated. Now I see quite the contrary appear in you, through +the evil counsel which has been given you for my sins. You have received +it as one merciless toward your salvation; and I see that there will be no +human creature who can restore your loss, but you yourself must render +this account before the highest Judge. You did not offend through +ignorance, not knowing the right, for the truth was shown to you; but you +do not know how to turn back from that which you have begun, because the +knife of perverse and selfish will destroys knowledge and choice, making +you hold that as shame which is your greatest honour. For perseverance in +fault and in such an evil is greatest disgrace, and displays one as a sign +of shame before the eyes of one's fellow-creatures; but to escape from +them is greatest honour; and by honour and the odour of virtue, shame is +escaped and the stench of vice extinguished. + +And if I consider your condition as to those temporal and transitory goods +that pass like the wind--you yourself have deprived yourself of them by +right. You have only to receive the last sentence of being deprived of +them by deed, and published a heretic. My heart breaks and cannot break, +from the fear that I have lest the devil so obscure the eye of your mind +that you endure that loss, and such shame and confusion as I should repute +greater than the loss that you would suffer. And you cannot hide it with +saying, "This would be done to me unjustly, and the thing which is +unjustly inflicted casts no shame." That cannot be said; for it would be +done justly, both because of the fault you have committed, and because he +can do it as highest and true pontiff that he is, chosen by the Truth in +truth. For were he not so, you would not have offended. So that it would +be just. But he has refrained from doing this through love, as a benignant +father who waits for his son to correct himself. Yet I fear that he may do +it, constrained by justice, and by your long perseverance in evil. And I +do not say this as one who does not know what she is saying. + +And if you said to me, "I do not care about this, for I am strong and +mighty, and I have other lords who will help me, and I know that he is +weak"--I reply to you that he wearies himself in vain who will guard the +city with force and with great zeal, if God guard it not. And can you say +that you have God with you? We cannot say it, for you have put Him against +you for putting yourself against truth; you have put you against Him, and +it is truth that sets him free who holds thereto, and none there is who +can confound it. Therefore you have reason to fear, and not to trust in +your strength and power, had you yet more of them than you have. And he +has reason to comfort his weakness in Christ sweet Jesus, whose place he +holds, trusting in His strength and aid, who shall send him aid from such +a side as we cannot imagine. And you know that if God is for you, none +shall be against you. + +Then let us fear God, and tremble beneath the rod of His justice. Let us +correct us, and advance no further. Be merciful to yourself, and you shall +call down the mercy of God upon you. Have compassion on the many souls who +are perishing through you; of whom you will have to render account before +God at the last extremity of death. There is yet healing for us, and time +wherein we can return; and He will receive you with great benignity. I am +sure that if you will be merciful and not cruel to your soul and also to +your body, you will do this, and will have pity upon your subjects: in +otherwise, no. Therefore I said that I desired to see you merciful and not +cruel to your soul. And thus I pray you, through the love of Christ +crucified, that at least you hold and will to be held, the truth which was +announced to you and to the other lords of the world. And if you should +say, "It is still doubtful to me," stay neutral till it is made clear to +you, and do not do what you should not. Desire illumination and counsel +from those whom you see to fear God, and not from members of the devil, +who would counsel you ill in that which they do not hold for themselves. +Fear, fear God, and place Him before your eyes, and think that God sees +you, and His eye is upon you, and His justice wills that every fault be +punished and every good rewarded. Be merciful, ah, be merciful to +yourself! I say naught else to you. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of +God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +TO BROTHER RAIMONDO +OF THE PREACHING ORDER WHEN HE WAS IN GENOA + + +In more grievous ways than any yet noted, Catherine was to be wounded in +the house of her friends. The letters already given have shown us how +tenderly intimate, on the human as well as on the spiritual side, were her +relations with the father of her soul, "given her by that sweet mother, +Mary." One shares her affection for good Father Raimondo as one reads the +legend. His figure might well have belonged to the trecento rather than to +the more strenuous age that followed. He was the simplest, the most modest +of men--albeit by no means lacking in homely shrewdness; he was also one +of the least heroic. Catherine, like most uplifted natures, demanded +heroism from those dear to her, as a matter of course. Others wish for +their beloved ease, delights, the gratification of ambition and desire; +Catherine sought for them sorrow, hardships, the opportunity to offer +their lives in exalted sacrifice for the sins of the Church and the world. +She craved for them only less passionately than for herself, the crowning +grace of martyrdom. Now Fra Raimondo had no affinity whatever for +martyrdom. His chance at it came, in the fortunes of those stern times, +and was promptly rejected. Urban, perhaps at Catherine's instigation, had +despatched him to the King of France, and Raimondo had bidden his +spiritual daughter and mother a solemn farewell, surmising doubtless that +he was to see her face no more. He proceeded to the port of Genoa, +planning thence to set sail for France. But the galleys of the antipope +sought to debar the passage; and Raimondo, accepting the obstacle (one +imagines with much ease), allowed himself to give up the expedition. + +Catherine wrote him two letters on the matter. The first is brief, and +half-playful in tone: "Oh my naughty father" (_cativello padre mio_) she +says, "How blessed your soul and mine would have been could you have +sealed with your blood a stone in Holy Church! I do wish I could see you +risen above your childishness--see you shed your milk teeth and eat bread, +the mustier the better!" Evidently Raimondo had answered this letter, +writing, one imagines, in a deprecating tone, fearing lest Catherine may +love him the less for his failure, yet after all assuming--so strong is +our expectation of finding our own attitude in our friends--that she will +rejoice in his escape. In this her reply she tells her whole heart. +Surely, few more pathetic revelations of disappointed yet faithful +affection have drifted to us on the tide of the ages. Catherine was at +this time far advanced upon her own Via Dolorosa. One of the stations of +her sorrow had been the parting with her friend: "And you have left me +here, and have gone away with God." Here was another station, marked by a +deeper pain: "Faithful obedience would have done more in the sight of God +and men than all human prudence; my sins have prevented me from seeing it +in you." With a glad suffering she had given Raimondo up to the service of +God; with a suffering that was bitterly shamed, she saw him false to his +calling. She utters no vain reproaches. In her own way she begins with +earnest self-accusations, and proceeds to comfort the weakness of the man +who should have been her guide with tender and subtly-reasoned assurances +of her unchanged affection. At the same time she does not flinch from +uncondoning, scathing statement of his sin and of her disillusion. +Considerate, delicate, even courteous to a degree, the letter yet reveals +in every line the sense of solitude which the action of Raimondo had +caused her. There is no rebellion in her spirit: "I hold me none the less +in peace, because I am certain that nothing happens without mystery," she +sighs. But we grieve with a new, awestruck perception of the loneliness of +her great soul, as we realize that to Raimondo was to be given perforce +her deepest confidence in the passion upon which she was even now +entering. + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest father in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and slave of +the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His precious Blood: with +desire to see in you the light of most holy faith. This is a light which +shows us the way of truth, and without it no activity, or desire, or work +of ours would come to fruition, or to the end for which we began it; but +everything would become imperfect--slow we should be in the love of God +and of our neighbour. This is the reason: seemingly love is as great as +faith, and faith is as great as love. He who loves is always faithful to +him whom he loves, and faithfully serves him till death. By this I +perceive that in truth I do not love God, nor the creatures through God: +for if in truth I loved Him, I should be faithful in such wise that I +should give myself to death a thousand times a day, were it needful and +possible, for the glory and praise of His Name, and faith would not fail +me, since for the love of God and of virtue and of Holy Church I should +set myself to endure. So I should believe that God was my help and my +defender, as He was of those glorious martyrs who went with gladness to +the place of martyrdom. Were I faithful I should not fear, but I should +hold for sure that the same God is for me who was for them; and His power +to provide for my necessities is not weakened as to capacity, knowledge, +or will. But because I do not love, I do not really trust myself to Him, +but the sensuous fear in me shows me that love is lukewarm, and the light +of faith is darkened by faithlessness toward my Creator, and by trusting +in myself. I confess and deny not that this root of evil is not yet +uprooted from my soul, and therefore those works are hindered which God +wants to do or puts in my way, so that they do not reach the lucid and +fruitful end for which God had them begun. Ah me, ah me, my Lord! Woe to +me miserable! And shall I find myself thus every time, in every place, and +in every state? Shall I always close with my faithlessness the way to Thy +providence? Yes, truly, if indeed Thou by Thy mercy do not unmake me, and +make me anew. Then, Lord, unmake me, and break the hardness of my heart, +that I be not a tool which spoils Thy works! + +And I beg you, dearest father, to pray earnestly that I and you both +together may drown ourselves in the Blood of the humble Lamb, which will +make us strong and faithful. We shall feel the fire of the divine charity: +we shall be co-workers with His grace, and not undoers or spoilers of it. +So we shall show that we are faithful to God, and trust in His help, and +not in our knowledge nor in that of men. + +With this same faith we shall love the creature; for as love of the +neighbour proceeds from love of God, so with faith, in general and in +particular; as there is a general faith corresponding to the love which we +ought to feel in general to every creature, so there is a special faith +belonging to those who love one another more intimately: like this, which +beyond the common love has established between us two a close particular +love, a love which faith manifests. So much love does it manifest that it +cannot believe nor imagine that one of us wishes anything else than the +other's good; and it believes earnestly, for it seeks this with great +insistence in the sight of God and men, seeking ever in the other the +glory of the name of God and the profit of his soul; constraining Divine +Help, that as it adds burdens it may add fortitude and long perseverance. +Such faith bears he who loves, and never lessens it for any reason, +neither for speech of man nor illusion of the devil, nor change of place. +If anyone does otherwise, it is a sign that he loves God and his neighbour +imperfectly. + +Apparently, as I understood by your letter, many diverse battles befell +you, and troubled reflections, through the deceit of the devil and through +your own sensuous passion, it seeming to you that a burden was imposed on +you greater than you can bear. You did not seem to yourself strong enough +for me to measure you with my measure, and on this account you were in +doubt lest my affection and love to you were diminished. But you did not +see aright, and it was you who showed that I had grown to love more, and +you less; for with the love with which I love myself, with that I love +you, in the lively faith that all which is lacking on your part, God will +complete by His goodness. But this is not done yet, for you have known how +to find ways to throw your load down to earth. You present us many scraps +of excuses to cover up your faithless frailty, but not in such wise that I +do not see it quite enough now, and good it will seem to me if it is not +perceived by anyone but me. Yes, yes, I show you a love increased in me +toward you, and not waning. But what shall I say? How could your ignorance +give place to one of the least of those thoughts? Could you ever believe +that I wished anything else than the life of your soul? Where is the faith +that you always used to have and ought to have, and the certainty that you +have had, that before a thing is done, it is seen and determined in the +sight of God--not only this, which is so great a deed, but every least +thing? Had you been faithful, you would not have gone about vacillating +so, nor fallen into fear toward God and toward me; but like a faithful +son, ready for obedience, you would have gone and done what you could. And +if you could not have gone upright, you would have gone on all fours; if +you could not have gone as a Frate, you would have gone as a pilgrim; if +there is no money for us, one would have gone begging. This faithful +obedience would have accomplished more in the sight of God and in the +hearts of men than all human prudences. My sins have prevented me from +seeing it in you. + +Nevertheless I am quite sure, that although selfish passion was there, you +yet had and have holy and good regard to fulfil better the will of God and +that of Christ on earth, Pope Urban VI. Not that I would have had you +stay, though; nay, but take to the road at once, in whatever fashion and +by whatever way had been open to you. Day and night I was constrained by +God concerning many other things also; which, through the carelessness of +him who has to do them, but chiefly through my sins which hinder every +good, are all coming to nothing. And thus, ah me! we see ourselves +drowning, and offences against God increasing, with many torments; and I +live in an agony of delay. May God, in His mercy, soon take me from this +life of shadows! + +We see in the kingdom of Naples that this last disaster is worse than the +first; and so many evils are likely to happen there, that may God remedy +them! But He in His pity showed the disaster, and the remedies that ought +to be applied. But, as I said, the abundance of my faults hinders all +good. I shall have a great deal to say to you about these matters, should +I not receive the greatest grace, that of release from earth before I see +you again. + +Yes, as I say, I do entirely wish that you had gone. Nevertheless I hold +me in peace, because I am certain that nothing happens without mystery; +and also because I unburdened my conscience, doing what I could that a +messenger should be sent to the King of France. May the clemency of the +Holy Spirit achieve it! For we by ourselves are bad workmen. + +As for going quickly to the King of Hungary, it is clear that the Holy +Father would be well enough pleased, and he had planned that you should go +with other companions. Now, I do not know why, he has changed his mind, +and wishes you to stay where you are, and do what good you can. I beg you +to be zealous about it. + +Abandon yourself, and every personal pleasure and consolation; and let +turfs be thrown upon those who are dead, and with the cords of humble +desire and holy prayer let the hands of divine justice be bound, the +devil, and fleshly appetite. We are offered dead in the garden of Holy +Church, and to Christ on earth, the lord of that garden. Then let us do +the works of the dead. The dead man does not see nor hear nor feel. Be +strong to slay yourself with the knife of hate and love, that you may not +hear the derision, the insults, the reproaches of the world, which the +persecutors of Holy Church would offer you. Let not your eyes see things +as impossible to do, nor the torment that may follow; but let them see +with the light of faith that through Christ crucified you can do all +things, and that God will not impose a greater burden than can be borne. +Why, we are to rejoice in great burdens, because then God gives us the +gift of fortitude. With the love of endurance, fleshly sensitiveness is +lost; and thus dead, dead, we may nourish ourselves in this garden. When I +see this, I shall account my soul as blessed. I tell you, sweetest father, +that whether we will or no, the times to-day summon us to die. Then be no +more alive! End pains in pain, and increase the joy of holy desire in the +pain; that our life may pass no otherwise than in crucified desire, and +that we may give our bodies willingly to be eaten by beasts; that is, for +the love of virtue let us willingly fling ourselves upon the tongues and +hands of bestial men, as did those others who have worked, dead, in this +sweet garden, and watered it with their blood, but first with their tears +and sweats. And I--(grievous my life!)--because I have not given enough +water to it, was refused permission to give it my blood. I will it to be +no more thus, but be our life renewed and the fire of desire increased! + +You ask me to pray the Divine Goodness to give you the fire of Vincent, of +Lawrence, and of sweet Paul, and that of the charming John--saying that +then you will do great things. And so I shall be glad. Surely I say the +truth, that without this fire you would not do anything, neither little +nor big, nor should I be glad in you. + +Therefore, considering that it is so, and that I have seen it proved, an +impulse has grown in me, with great zeal in the sweet sight of God. Were +you near me in the body, truly I would show you that it is so, and would +give you other than words. I rejoice, and I want you to rejoice; for, +since this desire grows, He will fulfil it in you and me, because He +accepts holy and true desires; provided that you open the eye of your mind +in the light of holiest faith, that you may know the truth of the will of +God. Knowing it you will love it, and loving it you will be faithful, and +your heart will not be overshadowed by any wile of the devil. Being +faithful, you will do every great thing in God: what He puts into your +hands will be fulfilled perfectly; that is, it will not be hindered on +your part from coming to perfection. With this light you will be cautious, +modest, and weighty in speech and conversation and in all your works and +way; but without it you would do quite the contrary in your ways and +habits, and everything else would turn out contrary for you. + +So, knowing that this is the case, I desired to see in you the light of +most holy faith; and so I want you to have it. And because I want this, +and love you immeasurably for your salvation, and desire with great desire +to see you in the state of the perfect, therefore I pray you with many +words--but I would do so more willingly in deed; and I use reproaches with +you, in order that you may return continually to yourself. I have done my +best, and I shall do so, to make you assume the burden of the perfect for +the honour of God, and ask His goodness to make you reach the last state +of perfection; that is, to shed your blood for Holy Church, whether your +servant the flesh will it or no. Lose you in the Blood of Christ +crucified, and bear my faults and words with good patience. And whenever +your faults may be shown you, rejoice, and thank the Divine Goodness, +which has assigned someone to labour over you, who watches for you in His +sight. + +As to what you write me, that antichrist and his members seek diligently +to have you, do not fear; for God is strong to take away their light and +their force, that they may not fulfil their desires. Beside, you ought to +think that you are not worthy of so great a good, and so you need not +fear. Take confidence; for sweet Mary and the Truth will be for you +always. + +I, vile slave, who am placed in the Field, where blood was shed for the +love of Blood--(and you have left me here, and gone away with God)--shall +never pause from working for you. I beg you so to do that you give me no +matter for mourning, nor for shaming me in the sight of God. As you are a +man in promising the will to do and bear for the honour of God, do not +then turn into a woman when we come to the shutting of the lock; for I +should appeal against you to Christ crucified and to Mary. Beware lest it +happen later to you as to the abbot of St. Antimo, who, through fear and +under colour of not tempting God, left Siena and came to Rome, supposing +that he had escaped his prison and was safe; and he was thrown into +prison, with the punishment that you know. So are pusillanimous hearts +cured. Be, then, be all a man: that death may be granted you. + +I beg you to pardon me whatever I might have said that was not honour to +God and due reverence to yourself: let love excuse it. I say no more to +you. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. I ask your benediction. +Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love! + + + + +TO URBAN VI + + +This is the last letter to Urban that we possess. If, as seems likely, it +is also the last that Catherine wrote to him, it must have been written on +the Monday after Sexagesima, 1380, under circumstances which she describes +for us in the next letter to be given. She had already at the time entered +upon the mystical agony which preceded her _transitus_. + +The letter alludes to historic details of which we have no knowledge and +for which we do not care. Yet it has rare interest. That exquisite +sweetness which often blends in so unique a way with Catherine's +authoritative tone, was never more evident. Urban's impetuous +inconsistencies, and the irrational gusts of anger which were by this time +alienating even his friends, could not be more clearly nor more gently +rebuked. One's heart aches at the thought of what manner of man he was to +whom this sensitive and high-minded woman was forced by her faith to give +not only allegiance but championship. Not once during Catherine's active +life was she allowed to fight in a clear cause, or at least in a cause in +which sympathies could be undivided; the pathos of the situation is +evident in the meek and patient firmness of her tone. But the letter has a +deeper interest, if it is really the last she wrote to him. Knowing the +circumstances of its composition, we must be amazed at the lucidity of her +thought and words, at the steady and definite wisdom with which she +discusses the movement of events in the outer world. It is surely +significant to the psychologist that a woman in the throes of such an +experience as the next letters present, could write in such a strain. The +whole life of Catherine, indeed, refutes the popular opinion that mystics +cannot be trusted to sane judgment or sustained wisdom of action in the +confused affairs of this world. + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest and sweetest father in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, your poor +unworthy daughter, write to you with great desire to see a prudence and +sweet light of truth in you, in such wise that I may see you follow the +glorious St. Gregory, and govern Holy Church with such prudence that it +may never be necessary to take back anything which may be ordered or done +by your Holiness; even the least word; so that your firmness grounded in +the truth may be evident in the sight of God and men, as ought to be the +case with the true holy High Priest. I pray the inestimable charity of God +that He clothe your soul in this; for it seems to me that light and +prudence are very necessary indeed to us, and especially to your Holiness +and to anyone else who might be in your place; most chiefly in these +current times. Because I know that you have a desire to find these in +yourself, I remind you of them, showing you the desire of your own soul. + +I have heard, holy father, of the reply which the violence of the Prefect +made; surely in violence of wrath and irreverence toward the Roman +ambassadors. On which reply it seems that they are to hold a General +Council, and then the heads of the wards and certain other good men are to +come to you. I beg you, most holy father, that as you have begun so you +will continue to meet with them often, and to bind them prudently with the +bands of love. So I beg you that now, as to what they will say to you when +the Council is held, you will receive them with as much gentleness as you +can, showing them what your Holiness thinks must be done. Pardon me--for +love makes me say what perhaps there is no need of saying, since I know +that you must understand the temperament of your Roman sons, who are drawn +and held more with gentleness than with any force or asperity of words; +and also you recognize the great necessity in which you are, and Holy +Church, to keep this people in obedience and reverence toward your +Holiness; because the head and beginning of our faith is here. And I +humbly beg you, that you will aim prudently always to promise that which +it ought to be possible to you fully to perform, so that loss, shame, and +confusion may not follow later. Pardon me, most sweet and holy father, for +saying these words to you. I am confident that your humility and benignity +are content that they should be said, and will not feel distaste or scorn +for them because they come from the mouth of a most despicable woman; for +the humble man does not consider who speaks to him, but pays note to the +honour of God, and to truth and his own salvation. + +Comfort you, and do not fear on account of any bad reply which this rebel +against your Holiness may have made or may make, for God will care for +this and for everything else, as Ruler and Helper of the ship of Holy +Church, and of your Holiness. Be you manful for me, in the holy fear of +God; wholly exemplary in your words, your habits, and all your deeds. Let +all shine clear in the sight of God and men; as a light placed in the +candlestick of Holy Church, to which looks and should look all the +Christian people. + +Also I beg you that you should bring us some help for what Leo told you; +for this scandal grows greater every day, not only through the thing that +was done to the Sienese ambassador, but also through the other things +which are seen day by day, which are enough to provoke to wrath the feeble +hearts of men. You do not need this person now, but someone who shall be a +means of peace, and not of war. Although he may act with a good zeal for +justice, there are many who do so with such disorder and such impulse of +wrath that they depart from all reason and measure. Therefore I earnestly +beg your Holiness to condescend to the infirmity of men, and provide a +physician who shall know how to cure the infirmity better than he. And do +not wait so long that death shall follow: for I tell you that if no other +help is found, the infirmity will grow. + +Then recall to yourself the disaster that fell upon all Italy, because bad +rulers were not guarded against, who governed in such wise that they were +the cause of the Church of God being despoiled. I know that you are aware +of this: now let your Holiness see what is to be done. Comfort you, +comfort you sweetly; for God does not despise your desire, nor the prayer +of His servants. I say no more to you. Remain in the holy and sweet Grace +of God. Humbly I ask your benediction. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +LETTERS DESCRIBING THE EXPERIENCE PRECEDING DEATH + + +"Fightings and fears within, without," had long been Catherine's portion. +Now the end was at hand. From girlhood she had confronted a great +contradiction. The sharpest trial to Christian faith throughout the ages +is probably the spectacle presented by the visible Church of Christ. This +abiding parable of the contrast between ideal and actual was perhaps never +more painful to the devout soul than in Catherine's time, and perhaps we +are safe in saying that no one ever suffered from it more than she. Her +whole life was an Act of Faith: faith the more heroic because maintained +against the recurrent attacks of spiritual doubt and despair. At more than +one point in her career we see her, overwhelmed by the seeming failure of +the divine purpose, lifting her whole being into the Presence of God, +there to receive reassurance, none the less satisfying to her vigorous +intellect because conveyed through the channel of mystic ecstasy. + +One such experience may be quoted here. It dates apparently from the time +of her greatest disappointment in Gregory; we can judge of its +significance and depth from the fact that she afterward recorded it more +fully, and used it as the basis for the first book of her "Dialogue." +"Comfort you, dearest father," she writes to Raimondo: "Concerning the +sweet Bride of Christ: for the more she abounds in tribulations and +bitterness, so much the more Divine Truth promises to make her abound in +sweetness.... When I had thoroughly understood your letters, I begged a +servant of God to offer tears and sweats before God, for the Bride and +because of the 'Babbo's' weakness. + +"Whence instantly, by divine grace, there grew in her a desire and +gladness beyond all measure. She waited for the morning to have Mass, it +being the Day of Mary; and when the hour of Mass had come, took her place +with true self-knowledge, abasing herself before God for her imperfection. +And rising above herself with eager desire, and gazing with the eye of her +mind into Eternal Truth, she made four petitions there, holding herself +and her father in the Presence of the Bride of Truth. + +"First, the reform of Holy Church. Then God, letting Himself be +constrained by tears and bound by the cords of her desire, said: 'Sweetest +My daughter, thou seest how she has soiled her face with impurity and +self-love, and become swollen by the pride and avarice of those who feed +at her bosom. But take thy tears and sweat, drawing them from the fountain +of My divine charity, and cleanse her face. For I promise thee that her +beauty shall not be restored to her by the sword, nor by cruelty or war, +but by peace, and humble continual prayers, tears and sweats, poured forth +from the grieving desires of My servants. So thy desire shall be fulfilled +in long abiding, and My providence shall in no wise fail you.' + +"Although the salvation of all the whole world was contained in this, +nevertheless the prayer reached out more in particular, entreating for the +whole world. Then God showed in how great love He had created man, and He +said: 'Now thou seest that every one is striking at Me. See, daughter, +with what diverse and many sins they strike at Me, and especially with +their wretched abominable self-love, whence issues every evil, with which +they have poisoned the whole world. Do you then, My servants, adorn you in +My Presence with many prayers, and so you shall mitigate the wrath of +divine justice. And know that no one can escape from My Hands. Open the +eye of thy mind and gaze upon My Hand.' And lifting her eyes she saw held +in His grasp all the universal world. Then He said: 'I will that thou know +that no one can be taken from Me; for all are under either justice or +mercy; therefore all are Mine. And because they came forth from Me, I love +them unspeakably, and shall show them mercy by means of My servants.' +Then, the flame of desire increasing, that woman abode as one blessed and +grieving, and gave thanks to the Divine Goodness: as perceiving that God +had showed her the faults of His creatures that she might be constrained +to arise with more zeal and greater desire. And so greatly increased the +holy fire of love, that she despised the sweat of water she poured forth, +through her great desire to see a sweat of blood pour from her body: and +she said to herself, 'Soul mine, thou hast wasted thy whole life. +Therefore have so great losses and evils fallen on the world and on Holy +Church, in general and in particular. So now I wish thee to atone with +sweat of blood.' Then that soul, spurred on by holy desire, arose much +higher, and opened the eye of her mind, and gazed into the Divine Charity: +where she saw and felt how much we are bound to seek the glory and praise +of the Name of God in the salvation of souls." + +In this remarkable passage we see Catherine's high and increasing sense of +responsibility. Her tears and sweats are to cleanse the face of the +Church, and through the grieving desire of the servants of God, redemption +is to be accomplished. She was never, as we know, one of those Christian +fatalists whose optimism leads them to inaction. From the day when, +reluctant, she left her little cell, she threw her power with unwearied +constancy and courage into the life of her day, repugnant though its +problems might be to her natural temper. Catherine was, however, +profoundly convinced that social salvation was to be wrought, not by work +alone, but also by prayer; or rather, for the antithesis is false, that +the forces which re-create society are set in motion in the invisible +sphere. Constant intercession, and the uplifting of that "holy desire" +which is the watchword of her teaching into a sacrificial passion--these +are the means from which she hoped for reform and purification. In younger +life, she is said to have prayed that she might be made a stopper in the +mouth of Hell to prevent other souls from entering; through the quaint +mediaeval figure one reads the prevailing impulse of her life. + +The longer Catherine lived, the darker became the religious prospect. She +saw her aims in practical politics realized one by one, only to mock her +by spiritual failure. Those whom she best loved disappointed her ideal. +She witnessed iniquity in high religious places, violence and corruption +enlisted in the defence of truth. As she watched these things, the sense +of an inward expiation to be accomplished became overpowering. It summoned +her to death, and at the same time offered her a unique consolation. + +These letters must now speak for themselves. They were written shortly +before her death to Fra Raimondo, who, sadly though he had failed her, +remained her most trusted friend. We have impressive accounts from other +sources of Catherine's slow _transitus_--of the long weeks during which +she was literally dying, and by her own choice, of a broken heart. They +corroborate many of the details here given. But of still higher value is +this transcript by the woman herself--minutely painstaking, while yet +obviously composed under strong excitement--of the experience in the +secret places of her soul. The first of these letters is written under +stress of emotion so intense that coherence is hardly possible. The mind +is baffled in seeking to find human speech which shall even adumbrate +reality. What Catherine has to describe is the culmination of her earthly +life: the final triumph of faith over despair, the final offering of +herself as a sacrificial victim, in obedience, as she believes, to the +express Voice of God. The second letter is more calm. The sacrifice has +been accepted. She is dying, not indeed by the violence of men, like the +martyrs for whose fate she has yearned, but by the agony of her own heart, +breaking for the sins of Holy Church. "I in this way," she writes +exulting, "as the holy martyrs with blood." And her agony is serene and +joyous; her last thoughts are for others; her soul is full of the victory +of peace. Outwardly, all was confusion around her; but her own life--the +only region in which unity is within our reach--was rounded into a +harmonious whole. To read the expression of that life in her letters is to +follow one of those tragedies that are the salvation of the world. + + + + +TO MASTER RAIMONDO OF CAPUA + + +... I was breathless with grief from the crucified desire which had been +newly conceived in the sight of God. For the light of the mind had +mirrored itself in the Eternal Trinity; and in that abyss was seen the +dignity of rational being, and the misery into which man falls by fault of +mortal sin, and the necessity of Holy Church, which God revealed to His +servant's bosom; and how no one can attain to enjoy the beauty of God in +the abyss of the Trinity but by means of that sweet Bride; for it befits +all to pass by the door of Christ crucified, and this door is not found +elsewhere than in Holy Church. She saw that this Bride brought life to +men, because she holds in herself such life that there is no one who can +kill her; and that she gave fortitude and light, and that there is no one +who can weaken her, in her true self, or cast her into darkness. And she +saw that her fruit never fails, but increases for ever. + +Then said Eternal God: "All this dignity, which your intellect could not +compass, is given you men by Me. Consider, therefore, in grief and +bitterness, and thou shalt see that people are approaching this Bride only +for her outer raiment--that is, for temporal possessions. But thou seest +her wholly deserted by those who seek her very essence--that is, the +fruit of Blood. He who pays not the price of charity with true humility +and the light of most holy faith, would share this, not unto life, but +unto death; he would do like the thief, who takes what is not his. For the +fruit of Blood is for those who pay the price of love, because she is +founded in love, and is Very Love itself. And I will," said Eternal God, +"that every one give to her through love, according as I give to My +servants to minister in diverse ways, even as they have received. But I +grieve that I find none who ministers there. Nay, it seems that every one +has abandoned her. But I will be the Mediator once more." + +And the pain and fire of her desire increasing, she cried in the sight of +God, saying: "What can I do, O unsearchable Fire?" And His benignity +replied: "Do thou offer thy life anew. Thou canst refrain from ever giving +thyself repose. To this work I have appointed thee--thee and all who +follow thee or are to follow. Take ye then heed never to relax, but always +to increase in desires; for I, impelled by love, am taking good heed to +aid you with My bodily and spiritual grace. And in order that your minds +may not be occupied by anything else, I have made provision, arousing her +whom I have appointed to govern you, and I have led her, and put her to +this work by mysteries and in new ways; so that she serves My Church with +temporal substance, and you with continual humble faithful prayer, and +with what activities shall be needed, which shall be appointed to thee and +to them by My Goodness, to each according to his rank. Devote, then, thy +life and heart and mind wholly to that Bride, for Me, with no regard to +thyself. Contemplate Me, and behold the Bridegroom of this Bride, that is +the highest Pontiff, and see his holy and good intention--an intention +without reserves. And as the Bride is alone, so also is the bridegroom. I +permit him to cleanse Holy Church by methods which he applies +immoderately, and by fear, with which he inspires his subjects. But +another shall come, who shall draw close to her in love, and shall fulfil +her. It shall befall this Bride as it befalls the soul; for first fear +possesses her, but when she is divested of sins, then love fills her and +clothes her with virtue. All this it shall do, with sweet sustaining, +sweet and suave, of those who shall nourish them at her breast in truth. +But do thou this: Say to My Vicar that he pacify himself to the extent of +his power, and grant peace to whosoever will receive it. And to the +columns of Holy Church say that if they wish to remedy great disasters +they are to do thus: let them unite, and form a cloak to cover the methods +of their father that may seem faulty. And let them adopt a well-ordered +life, close to those who fear and love Me, and cling together, casting +their lower natures aside. If they do thus, I who am Light will give them +the light needful to Holy Church. And seeing that there is something which +ought to be done among them, let them refer it to My Vicar in true unity, +quickly, boldly, and after much reflection. He then will be constrained +not to resist their goodwills; for he really has a holy and good +intention." + +The tongue does not suffice to narrate such mysteries, nor what intellect +saw and affection conceived. And the day passing by, full of marvel, the +evening came. And I, feeling that the heart was so drawn by the force of +love that I could offer no resistance to going to the place of prayer, and +feeling that disposition come upon me which was at the time of my death, +prostrated me with great compunction because I had served the Bride of +Christ with much ignorance and negligence, and had been cause that others +had done the same. And rising, with the impression of what I have said +before the eye of my mind, God placed me before Himself--not but that I am +always before Him, because He contains everything in Himself--but in a new +way, as if memory, intellect, and will had nothing whatever to do with my +body. And this Truth was reflected in me with such light that in that +abyss were then renewed the mysteries of Holy Church, and all the graces +received in my life, past and present, and the day in which my soul was +wedded to Him. All which then vanished from me through the increase of the +inward fire: and I paid heed only to what should be done, that I should +make a sacrifice of myself to God for Holy Church and for the sake of +removing ignorance and negligence from those whom God had put into my +hands. Then the devils called out havoc upon me, seeking to hinder and +slacken with their terrors my free and burning desire. So these beat upon +the shell of the body; but desire became the more kindled, crying, "O +Eternal God, receive the sacrifice of my life in this mystical body of +Holy Church! I have naught to give save what Thou hast given to me. Take +then my heart, and may Thy Bride lean her face upon it!" Then Eternal God, +turning the eyes of His mercy, removed my heart, and offered it to Holy +Church. And He had drawn it to Himself with such force that had He not at +once bound it about with His strength--not wishing that the vessel of my +body should be broken--my life would have gone. Then the devils cried +much more clamorously, as if they had felt an intolerable pain; forcing +themselves to leave terror with me, threatening me so to disport them that +such an act as this could not be wrought. But because Hell cannot resist +the virtue of humility with the light of most holy faith, the spirit +became more single, and worked with tools of fire, hearing in the sight of +the Divine Majesty words most charming, and promises to give gladness. And +because in truth it was thus in so great a mystery, the tongue henceforth +can suffice to speak of it no more. + +Now I say: Thanks, thanks be to the Highest God Eternal, who has placed us +in the battlefield as knights, to fight for His Bride with the shield of +holiest faith. The field is left free to us by that virtue and power which +routed the devil who possessed the human race; who was routed, not in the +strength of humanity, but of Deity. Thus the devil neither is nor shall be +routed by the suffering of our bodies, but by strength of the fire of +divine, most ardent, and immeasurable love. + + + + +TO MASTER RAIMONDO OF CAPUA OF THE ORDER OF THE PREACHERS + + +In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: + +Dearest and sweetest father in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant +and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His precious +Blood; with the desire to see you a pillar newly established in the garden +of Holy Church, like a faithful bridegroom of truth, as you ought to be; +and then shall I account my soul as blessed. Therefore I do not wish you +to look back for any adversity or persecution, but I wish you to glory in +adversity. For by endurance and in no other wise we show our love and +constancy, and give glory to God's Name. Now is the time, dearest father, +wholly to lose one's self, not to think of one's self an atom: as the +glorious workmen did who were ready with such love and desire to give +their life, and watered this garden with blood, with humble continual +prayer, and with endurance unto death. Beware lest I see you timid; let +not your shadow make you afraid; but be a manly fighter, and never desert +that yoke of obedience which the highest pontiff has placed on you. +Moreover, in the Order do what you see to be to the honour of God; for the +great goodness of God demands this of us, and He has appointed us for +nothing else. + +Behold what necessity we see in Holy Church; for we see her left utterly +alone! Thus the Truth showed, as I write you in another letter. And as the +Bride has been left solitary, so is her bridegroom. Oh, sweetest father, I +will not be silent to you of the great mysteries of God, but I will tell +them the most briefly that I can, so far as the frail tongue can express +them by telling. And further, I say to you what I want you to do. But +receive what I say to you without pain, for I do not know what the Divine +Goodness will do with me, whether It will have me remain here, or will +call me to Itself. + +Father, father and sweetest son, wonderful mysteries has God wrought, from +the Day of the Circumcision till now; such that no tongue could suffice to +tell them. But let us pass over all that time, and come to Sexagesima +Sunday, when occurred, as I am writing you briefly, those mysteries which +you shall hear: never have I seemed to bear anything like them. For the +pain in my heart was so great, that the tunic which clothed me burst, as +much as I could clasp of it; and I circled around in the chapel like a +person in spasms. He who had held me had surely taken away my life. Then, +Monday coming, in the evening I was constrained to write to Christ on +earth and to three cardinals. So I had myself helped, and went into the +study. And when I had written to Christ on earth, I had no way of writing +more, the pains had so greatly increased in my body. And, waiting a +little, the terror of demons began, in such wise that they stunned me +entirely; raging against me as if I, worm that I am, had been the means of +taking from their hands what they had possessed a long time in Holy +Church. So great was the terror, with the bodily pain, that I wanted to +fly from the study and go to the chapel--as if the study had been the +cause of my pains. So I rose up, and not being able to walk, I leaned on +my son Barduccio. But suddenly I was thrown down; and lying there, it +seemed to me as if my soul were parted from my body; not in such wise as +when it really was parted, for then my soul tasted the good of the +Immortals, receiving that Highest Good together with them; but this now +seemed like a special case, for I did not seem to be in the body, but I +saw my body as if it had been someone else. And my soul, seeing the grief +of him who was with me, wished to know if I had any power over the body, +to say to him: "Son, do not fear"; and I saw that I could not move the +tongue or any member of it, any more than a body quite dead. Then I let +the body stay just as it was; and the intellect was fixed on the abyss of +the Trinity. Memory was full of recollection of the need of Holy Church +and of all the Christian people; and I cried before His Face, and demanded +divine help with assurance, offering to Him my desires, and constraining +Him by the Blood of the Lamb and the pains that had been borne. And so +eager was the demand that it seemed to me sure that He would not deny that +petition. Then I asked for all you others, praying Him that He would +fulfil in you His will and my desires. Then I asked that He would save me +from eternal condemnation. And while I stayed thus for a very long time, +so that the Family was mourning me as dead, at this point all the terror +of the demons was gone away. Then the Presence of the Humble Lamb came +before my soul, saying: "Fear not: for I will fulfil thy desires, and +those of My other servants. I will that thou see that I am a good master, +who plays the potter, unmaking and remaking vessels as His pleasure is. +These My vessels I know how to unmake and remake; and therefore I take the +vessel of thy body, and remake it in the garden of Holy Church, in +different wise than in past time." And as this Truth held me close, with +ways and words most charming, which I pass over, the body began to breathe +a little, and to show that the soul was returned to its vessel. Then I was +full of wonder. And such pain remained in my heart that I have it there +still. All pleasure and all refreshment and all food was then taken away +from me. Being carried afterward into a place above, the room appeared +full of devils: and they began to wage another battle, the most terrible +that I ever had, trying to make me believe and see that I was not she who +was in the body, but an impure spirit. I, having invoked the divine help +with a sweet tenderness, refusing no labour, yet said: "God, listen for my +help! Lord, haste Thee to help me! Thou hast permitted that I be alone in +this battle, without the refreshment of the father of my soul, of whom I +am deprived for my ingratitude." + +Two nights and two days passed in these tempests. It is true that mind and +desire received no break, but remained ever fixed on their object; but the +body seemed almost to have failed. Afterward, on the Day of the +Purification of Mary, I wished to hear Mass. Then all the mysteries were +renewed; and God showed the great need that existed, as later appeared; +for Rome has all been on the point of revolution, backbiting +disgracefully, and with much irreverence. Only that God has poured oil on +their hearts, and I think the thing will have a good end. Then God imposed +this obedience on me, that during the whole of this holy season of Lent I +should offer in sacrifice the desires of all the Family, and have Mass +celebrated before Him with this one intention alone--that is, for Holy +Church--and that I should myself hear a Mass every morning at dawn--a +thing which you know is impossible to me; but in obedience to Him all +things have been possible. And this desire has become so much a part of my +flesh, that memory retains nothing else, intellect can see nothing else, +and will can desire nothing else. Not so much that the soul turns aside +from things here below for this reason--but, conversing with the True +Citizens, it neither can nor will rejoice in their joy, but in their +hunger, which they still feel, and which they felt while pilgrims and +wayfarers in this life. + +In this way, and many others which I cannot tell, my life is consumed and +shed for this sweet Bride: I by this road, and the glorious martyrs with +blood. I pray the Divine Goodness soon to let me see the redemption of His +people. When it is the hour of terce, I rise from Mass, and you would see +a dead woman go to St. Peter's; and I enter anew to labour in the ship of +Holy Church. There I stay thus till near the hour of vespers: and from +this place I would depart neither day nor night until I see this people at +least a little steadily established in peace with their father. This body +of mine remains without any food, without even a drop of water: in such +sweet physical tortures as I never at any time endured; insomuch that my +life hangs by a thread. Now I do not know what the Divine Goodness will do +with me: as far as my feelings go, I do not say that I perceive His will +in this matter; but as to my physical sensations, it seems to me that this +time I am to confirm them with a new martyrdom in the sweetness of my +soul--that is, for Holy Church; then, perhaps, He will make me rise again +with Him. He will put so an end to my miseries and to my crucified +desires. Or He may employ His usual ways to strengthen my body. I have +prayed and pray His mercy that His will be fulfilled in me, and that He +leave not you or the others orphans. But may He ever guide you in the way +of the doctrine of Truth, with true and very perfect light. I am sure that +He will do it. + +Now I pray and constrain you, father, and son given by that sweet Mother, +Mary, that you feel that if God is turning the eye of His mercy upon me, +He wills to renew your life; and as dead to all fleshly impulse do you +cast yourself into that ship of Holy Church. And be always discreet in +your conversations. You will be able to have the actual cell little; but I +wish you to have the cell of the heart always, and always carry it with +you. For as you know, while we are locked therein enemies can do us no +wrong. Then every act you shall do will be guided and ordered of God. +Also, I beg you that you ripen your heart with holy and true prudence; and +that your life be an example to worldly men by your never conforming to +the world's customs. May that generosity toward the poor and that +voluntary poverty which you have always practised, be renewed and +refreshed in you with true and perfect humility. Do not slacken in these, +for any dignity or exaltation that God may give you, but descend more deep +into that Valley of Humility, rejoicing in the table of the Cross. There +receive the food of souls: embracing the Mother, humble, faithful, and +continual prayer, and holy vigil: celebrating every day, unless for some +special reason. Flee idle and light talking, and be and show yourself +mature in your speech and in every way. Cast from you all tenderness for +yourself and all servile fear; for the sweet Church has no need of such +folk, but of persons cruel to themselves and compassionate to her. These +are the things which I beg you to study to observe. Also I beg you that +you and Brother Bartolomeo and Brother Tommaso and the Master should +gather together in your hands the book, and any writing of mine that you +might find, and do with them what you see will be most to the honour of +God: you and Misser Tommaso too--things in which I found some recreation. +I beg you also, that so far as shall be possible to you, you be a shepherd +and ruler to this Family, as a father, keeping them in the joy of charity +and in perfect union; that they be not scattered as sheep without a +shepherd. And I think to do more for them and for you after my death than +in my life. I shall pray the Eternal Truth that He pour forth upon you +others all plenitude of grace and gifts which He may have given to my +soul, so that you may be lights placed in a candlestick. I beg you to pray +the Eternal Bridegroom that He make me manfully fulfil His obedience, and +pardon me the multitude of my iniquities. And I beg you that you pardon me +every disobedience, irreverence, and ingratitude which I showed to you or +committed against you, and all pain and bitterness which I may have caused +you: and the slight zeal which I have had for our salvation. And I ask you +for your blessing. + +Pray earnestly for me, and have others pray, for the love of Christ +crucified. Pardon me, that I have written you words of bitterness. I do +not write them, however, to cause you bitterness, but because I am in +doubt, and do not know what the Goodness of God will do with me. I wish to +have done my duty. And do not feel regret because we are separated one +from the other in the body; although you would have been the very greatest +consolation to me, greater are my consolation and gladness to see the +fruit that you are bearing in Holy Church. And now I beg you to labour yet +more zealously, for she never had so great a need: and do you never depart +for any persecution without permission from our lord the Pope. Comfort you +in Christ sweet Jesus, without any bitterness. I say no more to you. +Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA *** + +This file should be named 7403-8.txt or 7403-8.zip + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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