Who was Saint Catharine?

Catherine of Siena was a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic and a Scholastic philosopher and theologian. She is known for working to bring the papacy from its displacement in France back to Rome in the 1370s and for working to establish peace among the Italian city-states. She is one of two patron saints of Italy, along with Saint Francis of Assisi. She is also a Doctor of the Church. She lived from 1347 to 1380 (aged 33 when she died). She was made a saint in 1461.

In future posts, we’ll explain in more detail what these things mean.