11 Quotes & Sayings By Catherine Of Siena

Catherine of Siena was born in 1347 in Siena, Italy. She was a Dominican tertiary and a mystic and a spiritual leader. Catherine was a spiritual leader to two popes and a number of kings, queens and nobles. She was a highly influential figure in the Middle Ages and helped shape the religious, social and political climate of her day Read more

When she died at age 44, she left behind a legacy that continues today as one of the most significant figures in the history of Christianity.

Proclaim the truth and do not be silent through fear.
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Proclaim the truth and do not be silent through fear. Catherine Of Siena
The soul is in God and God in the soul,...
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The soul is in God and God in the soul, just as the fish is in the sea and the sea in the fish. Catherine Of Siena
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Turn over the rudder in God's name, and sail with the wind heaven sends us. Catherine Of Siena
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Take my heart and squeeze it out over the face of Your Bride, the Church. Catherine Of Siena
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Oh, let us lose our milk teeth and cut instead the strong teeth of hate and love. Catherine Of Siena
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Wherefore they understood the Holy Scripture rather literally than with understanding, and taste only the letter of it, still desiring many other books; and they get not to the marrow of it, because they have deprived themselves of the light, with which is found and expounded the Scripture; and they are annoyed and murmur, because they find much in it that appears to them gross and idiotic. And, nevertheless, they appear to be much illuminated in their knowledge of Scripture, as if they had studied it for long; and this is not remarkable, because they have of course the natural light from whence proceeds science. But because they have lost the supernatural light, infused by grace, they neither see nor know My Goodness, nor the grace of My servants. Wherefore, I saw to thee, that it is much better to go for counsel for the salvation of the soul, to a holy and upright conscience, than to a proud lettered man, learned in much science, because such a one can only offer what he has himself, and, because of his darkness, it may appear to thee, that, from what he says, the Scriptures offer darkness. The contrary wilt thou find with My servants, because they offer the light that is in them, with hunger and desire for the soul's salvation. This I have told thee, my sweetest daughter, that thou mightiest know the perfection of this unitive state, when the eye of the intellect is ravished by the fire of My charity, in which charity it receives the supernatural light. With this light the souls in the unitive state love Me, because love follows the intellect, and the more it knows the more can't it love. Thus the one feeds the other, and, with this light, they both arrive at the Eternal Vision of Me, where they see and taste Me, in Truth, the soul being separated from the body, as I told thee when I spoke to thee of the blissfulness that the soul received in Me. This state is most excellent, when the soul, being yet in the mortal body, tastes bliss with the immortals, and ofttimes she arrives at so great a union that she scarcely knows whether she be in the body or out of it; and tastes the earnest -money of Eternal Life, both because she is united with Me, and because her will is dead in Christ, by which death her union was made with Me, and in no other way could she perfectly have done so. Therefore do they taste life eternal deprived of the hell of their own will, which gives to man the earnest-money of damnation, if he yield to it. . Catherine Of Siena
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All the way to heaven is heaven, because Jesus said, "I am the way. Catherine Of Siena
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Nothing great is ever achieved without much enduring. Catherine Of Siena
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Be strong and kill yourself with the sword of hate and love, then you will not hear the insults and abuse which the enemies of the Church throw at you. Your eyes will not see anything which seems impossible, or the sufferings which may follow, but only the light of faith, and in that light everything is possible; and remember God never lays greater burdens on us than we can bear. Catherine Of Siena
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The soul, who is lifted by a very great and yearning desire for the honor of God and the salvation of souls, begins by exercising herself, for a certain space of time, in the ordinary virtues, remaining in the cell of self-knowledge, in order to know better the goodness of God towards her. Catherine Of Siena