Catherine of Siena:A Passionate Life

"Don Brophy's Catherine of Siena is a masterpiece of content and context—a rare combination that makes a woman of the past a model for our own times. More than that, it's great writing! Enjoy!"-Joan Chittister, OSB, author of The Gift of Years

"Don Brophy has succeeded in a very difficult enterprise, presenting Catherine of Siena in all of her human and religious beauty and complexity to casual readers as well as to more serious ones. He portrays the saint's personality and—importantly—her spirituality with sensitivity and balance. And he has managed to depict the tortuous civil and ecclesiastical contexts of Catherine's fourteenth century in an understandable style."-Suzanne Noffke, OP, translator and interpreter of the works of Catherine of Siena

"Catherine of Siena is unusual for providing us with a wealth of information about her life and views. Don Brophy has mined her letters, numerous records, and Catherine's mystical masterpiece, the Dialogue, to give today's reader a balanced and readable account of this extraordinary woman."-Bernard McGinn, author of The Mystical Thought of Meister Eckhart

"A beautifully written account of the life and times of Catherine of Siena. It imaginatively captures the singularity of this great woman saint who could speak with authority to anybody, including popes and kings, and who influenced important events of her time. An amazing tale, vividly described and fascinating to read."-Ursula King, author of Christian Mystics

"Written in language as evocative as Catherine's, Don Brophy's new book is a compelling and detailed study of one of medieval Europe's most fascinating women and the religious, social, and political dynamics of her day."-Jane Tylus, author of Reclaiming Catherine of Siena

Like Francis of Assisi and Teresa of Avila, Catherine of Siena is known around the world as a great mystic and saint, reformer and teacher. She lived during the second half of the fourteenth century, an era of shining art and beauty as much as dismal violence and chaos. Europe was ravaged by the plague, famine, and the Hundred Years War. The popes were under the thumb of the French king and resided in Avignon. The city-states of Italy were in disarray, yet they also enjoyed prosperity and created the first bloom of the Renaissance. It was an unsettled time that cried out for peace, and Catherine tried to provide it through her ecstatic writings, her travels, and by the sheer magnetism of her personality.

In an age when most women were shuttered in kitchens or convents, Catherine—the unschooled daughter of a Sienese dyer—engaged in political, social, and spiritual activism. Enflamed by her convictions and mystical devotion, she strove to restore harmony to the world and to lift up the people. She contended with popes, monarchs, and ordinary citizens, cajoling, begging, and—when nothing else worked—commanding people to do her will. She campaigned for peace among the warring factions of her native Tuscany, struggled to reform the church, and helped persuade Pope Gregory XI to leave Avignon and return to Rome. For all this she was both praised and reviled, revered as a holy woman by her friends and disciples, and nearly assassinated by some of her enemies. Exhausted by work and austerities, she died when she was only thirty-three years old—all-consumed by her inner fire.

Don Brophy gives us a comprehensive and compelling portrait of this intense and irreverent young woman and her times, including details from her powerful letters and her spiritual masterwork, The Dialogue. Written for readers of any faith or none, this is the story of a life lived with the greatest passion

Don Brophy was for many years acquiring editor and managing editor for the book publisher Paulist Press.