Life of St. Catherine of Siena: The Classic on Her Life and Accomplishments as Recorded by Her Spiritual Director

by Raymond of Capua

This is the classic life of St Catherine by her spiritual director. He tells of her only what he experienced firsthand, or of what he learned firsthand from her mother, her sisters, her family members and friends. An incredible life, told simply and straightforwardly, without embellishment and without dodging her many miracles, and miraculous conversions. This book puts you squarely in the presence of one of Holy Mother Church's greatest saints. Imprimatur.

Genres: Medieval, Catholic, Faith, Biography, Religion, Spirituality

374 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 20, 2015

Reviews

[Sarah Sherratt]

✌️

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding. I highly recommend reading this book before delving into the Dialogues.

[Eva · Rating 4 out of 5]

The back cover says that ‘this book will put the reader in awe of the extraordinary things that can happen to a person who takes Our Lord’s message seriously, loves him ardently, follows His law faithfully, and surrenders himself completely to the Holy Will of God.’ I found this to be very true. This book is better read as a story of God’s grace working trough us when we let Him, rather than the narrative of St Catherine’s life.

I hesitate to give a “life of the saints” book less than 5 stars, I gave 4 simply because I found it to be tedious to get through towards the end and not because the content isn’t good enough. So it’s more of a me problem.

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Behind the scenes view of a saint

Fascinating reflection on the life of a saint This book, was written by someone on the outside whose intimate relationship as Catherine's confessor, enabled him to paint a picture of Catherine that goes beyond her own personal writings. It will help to kindle the divine flame of Jesus' love in your heart.

[Jordan Korol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once you get past the incredibly biased and perpetually apologetic writing style of Raymond of Capua, it's a very thoughtful account of an incredible life of a religious nun in 14th century Italy. Most surprising is the struggles people underwent in that time period are constant in modern day life as well (excepting perhaps society's astonishment at a 15 year old's choice to swear off wine).

[Kathleen Haselden · Rating 4 out of 5]

The content was excellent. The writing style was hard to get through.

[SunkistJockey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Too many thoughts.

[Nativist Crusader · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful account of one of the holiest virgins in Christendom!