CATHERINE OF SIENA, Saint.

by Saint Catherine Of Siena

£3,750 · Offered by Sokol Books

A classic of medieval mysticism, first published in Italian in 1472, and reprinted nearly 70 times in the C16. ‘The mystical counterpart in prose of Dante’s “Divina Commedia”’ (Cath. Enc. III, p.447). St Catherine of Siena (1347-80) joined the Third Order of St Dominic. Initially devoted to helping the poor and sick, she was spurred by a ‘mystical death’ to enter the public sphere. She began to write and correspond, among others, with Gregory XI, asking him to leave Avignon and reform the Church. In 1375, she received the Stigmata. She spent the last years of her life in Rome, ‘working strenuously for the reformation of the Church, serving the destitute and the afflicted, and dispatching eloquent letters on behalf of the pope’ (Cath. Enc. III, p.448). Her influential writings, of which ‘Dialogo’ is the most important, are milestones of Christian theology and Italian literature. ‘Dialogo’ is a conversation between the soul rising to God and God himself, divided into 4 parts (Discretion, Oration, Providence, Obedience) and 167 chapters, written not long before her death, c.1377-78. Catherine provided advice on spiritual well-being, penitence, virtue, expiation, divine love experienced by the soul, the desire to be closer to God (allegorically represented as a bridge), meditations on life and humanity, and the achievement of perfect love. Albeit these are explained in philosophical concepts (through ‘the eye of the intellect’) inspired by Scholastic

• Binding: Hardcover

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