The Lesser Feast of Catherine of Siena, Mystic and Prophetic Witness
Learn more about today’s Feast
Page numbers listed are from The Book of Common Prayer.
Opening Sentence, page 103
Officiant: O God, make speed to save us.
People: O Lord, make haste to help us.
All: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.
Psalm 36, page 632
1 There is a voice of rebellion deep in the heart of the wicked; *
there is no fear of God before his eyes.
2 He flatters himself in his own eyes *
that his hateful sin will not be found out.
3 The words of his mouth are wicked and deceitful, *
he has left off acting wisely and doing good.
4 He thinks up wickedness upon his bed and has set himself in no good way; *
he does not abhor that which is evil.
5 Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, *
and your faithfulness to the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the strong mountains, your justice like the great deep; *
you save both man and beast, O Lord.
7 How priceless is your love, O God! *
your people take refuge under the shadow of your wings.
8 They feast upon the abundance of your house; *
you give them drink from the river of your delights.
9 For with you is the well of life, *
and in your light we see light.
10 Continue your loving-kindness to those who know you, *
and your favor to those who are true of heart.
11 Let not the foot of the proud come near me, *
nor the hand of the wicked push me aside.
12 See how they are fallen, those who work wickedness! *
they are cast down and shall not be able to rise.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
Reading: Luke 12:22–31
Jesus said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.”
All: Thanks be to God.
Reflection: Catherine of Siena, Mystic and Prophetic Witness
Catherine Benincasa was the youngest of twenty-five children of a dyer of Siena. At six years of age, she had a remarkable vision that decided her life’s vocation. Walking home from a visit, she stopped on the road and gazed upward, oblivious to everything around her. “I beheld our Lord seated in glory with St. Peter, St. Paul, and St. John.” She went on to say later that the Savior smiled on her and blessed her.
From then on, Catherine spent most of her time in prayer and meditation, despite her mother’s attempts to force her to be like other girls. To settle matters, Catherine cut off her hair, her chief beauty. Her family harassed her continually; but in the end, convinced that she was deaf to all opposition, her father let her do as she wished: close herself away in a darkened room, fast, and sleep on boards. Eventually, she was accepted as a third order Dominican postulant.
Catherine had numerous visions, and was also tried most severely by temptations. Frequently, she felt totally abandoned by God. At last, in 1366, the Savior appeared with Mary and the Heavenly Host, and espoused her to himself, thus ending her years of lonely prayer and struggle. She became a nurse, as Dominican tertiaries regularly did, caring for patients with leprosy and cancer, whom other nurses disliked to treat.
Opinion in Siena was sharply divided about whether she was a saint or a fanatic, but when the Bishop of Capua was appointed as her confessor, he helped her to win full support from the Dominican Mother House. Catherine was a courageous worker in a time of severe plague. She visited prisoners condemned to death, and she was constantly called upon to arbitrate feuds and to prepare troubled sinners for confession.
During the great schism of the papacy, with rival popes in Rome and Avignon, Catherine wrote tirelessly to princes, kings, and popes, urging them to restore the unity of the church. She even went to Rome to press further for the cause.
Besides her many letters to all manner of people, Catherine wrote a Dialogue, a mystical work dictated in ecstasy. Exhausted and paralyzed, she died at the age of thirty-three.
The Prayers, pages 106-107
Officiant: Lord have mercy.
People: Christ have mercy.
Officiant: Lord have mercy.
All:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Officiant: Lord, hear our prayer;
People: And let our cry come to you.
Officiant: Let us pray.
Almighty and everlasting God, who kindled the flame of your love in the heart of your servant Catherine of Siena: Grant unto us the same strength of conviction and power of love that, as we rejoice in her triumph, we may profit by her example; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Intercessions and Thanksgivings
Dismissal, page 107
Officiant: Let us bless the Lord.
People: Thanks be to God.
Officiant: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen.