December 21, 2023 / 08:01 PM
In the history of the Church, two saints named Catherine not only share the same name, but also a prodigious event that marked their lives during the celebration of Christmas, even though they lived in different times. They are Saint Catherine of Siena and Saint Catherine of Bologna, and the unique experience that they both shared is described below.
According to the Dominican writer Friar Alfredo Scarciglia, OP, in a published article On the website of the Roman Province of Saint Catherine of Siena, this Dominican lay saint (1347-1380), defender of the papacy and Doctor of the Church, had the privilege of holding the baby Jesus in her arms “on Christmas night of 1370”.
“The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to him in his cell and gave him the Child Jesus in his arms,” the friar described. This fact is captured in a painting titled “Mystical maternity of Saint Catherine” by the artist Alessandro Franchi and which is located in the oratory from the bedroom of the Sanctuary-House of the Italian saint.
