Christian Mission and Poverty

Chapter 4: Holy Poverty

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Given that you want to be strengthened in his holy service growing from good to better, from virtue to virtue, I thought, therefore, that I should do all I can to implore Your Excellency and Holiness with humble prayers in the innermost heart of Christ, so that the one to whose service you devote yourself with every desire of your mind may choose to bestow freely upon you the rewards you have desired. I also beseech you in the Lord, as best as I can, to be so kind as to include in your most holy prayers me, your servant, although useless, and the other sisters who are devoted to you who live with me in the monastery. By the help of your prayers, may we be able to merit the mercy of Jesus Christ so that we, together with you, may deserve to enjoy the everlasting vision. Farewell in the Lord, and please pray for me.

C atherine of S iena (1347–1380) Background

Catherine of Siena, much like Clare of Assisi, had to fight the life planned for her by her family and society—arranged marriage—in order to live a life of ministry. At the age of eighteen she joined a Dominican monastery only to later return to living outside the monastery in order to care for the poor and sick in homes and hospitals. She is often called a “social mystic” or a “mystic activist” 2 because of her combination of contemplation and action. During her brief life she was a monastic, an advisor to popes, a skilled

2 Noffke, Catherine of Siena: The Dialogue , 9.