The Dialogue of Catherine of Siena is a marvelous gift of spiritual literature recorded in the
form of a dialogue between Catherine and God, during one of her mystical
experiences- ‘ecstatic encounters’- with him. The Dialogue reads almost like
another Gospel, interspersed with responses and petitions on Catherine’s part.
With the wealth of wisdom in this relatively short book of 366 pages, her
distinction as one of only four women to be honored as Church Doctors is clearly
seen. However, Catherine’s merit lies perhaps first in her virtuous humility
and keen sense of charity. Her relationship with God, shows in her complete
docility to God’s will; Catherine was ablaze with the fiery desire for “God’s
honor and the salvation of souls”. She absolutely exemplifies the words of
Christ from the Gospel of John which she quoted in the first page of her
prologue, “If you love me and keep my word, I will show myself to you, and you
will be one thing with me and I with you.”
Catherine’s work is
divided into ten chapters, almost all of which build upon each-other, although
they can, without too much confusion, be read independently. Her prologue is
the only real exception to this rule, as it provides a foundation and an explanatory
principle for the entire book. The other chapters are titled: The Way of
Perfection, Dialogue, The Bridge, Tears, Truth, The Mystical Body of Holy
Church, Divine Providence, Obedience, and Conclusion.
The premise of the
entire work (given in the Prologue) are Catherine’s four self-styled,
“petitions”, directed to God the Father. The first is for her own growth in
holiness, so as to be better able to serve her neighbors, the second is “for
the reform of Holy Church”, the third, for the salvation of the entire
world, and the last, for the provision of God’s Providence in regard to a
particular (and apparently clandestine) intention of her own. The subsequent
chapters of the Dialogue are God’s response to each of her petitions given with
beautiful analogies, and great lucidity and specificity. The main focus of the
book, is without doubt, Salvation and the way toward it, as God explains in
detail to Catherine at her request.
In the first chapter
after the prologue, "The Way of Perfection," God responds to Catherine’s desire
to amend the offenses committed against his honor and to make reparation for
the sins of others through her own sufferings. This desire of hers was
introduced in the Prologue and corresponds with her desire that God should be
merciful to the world. God explains to Catherine that, any amount of finite
suffering can never equal the infinitude of an offense against Himself because
he is eternal; yet he assures her that the soul immersed in God is gifted with
a share in his own eternally loving desire which (when joined to holy actions)
is therefore beneficial for the salvation of souls.
In this first
substantial chapter, God continues in a discourse on the way to become perfect,
in response to Catherine’s first petition; many themes are introduced which are
referred to quite frequently throughout the entire work. One important element
is God’s explanation of the soul’s three God-given and salvation oriented
powers: memory, understanding, and will, which are intended as a great help to
salvation and are all interconnected. Another recurrent theme introduced in
this chapter, is that there is no virtue or vice that does not “come to birth”
through interactions with one’s ‘neighbors’. The last large theme of this
chapter is God’s use of the analogy of a tree to aid in Catherine’s
understanding of the relations between the virtues. Knowledge of self- joined
to knowledge of God, the role of discernment, charity, humility, and patience
are all shown to be deeply intertwined.
The next chapter,
“Dialogue,” contains a great deal of intimate discussion concerning God’s mercy.
Here, Catherine, really does seem to be “one thing” with God in her love and
desire for souls. This chapter showcases Catherine’s intensely loving
relationship with God. The most strikingly beautiful aspect of this
relationship, is the way in which God, because of his Love for Catherine,
allows himself to be bound by her desire for souls. The conversation sways back
and forth between them with Catherine begging for God’s mercy for the world and
God yielding to her bold yet humble requests. God expresses how greatly he
desires to be merciful to the world through the grief-stricken tears of his servants.
Catherine (by means of analogy) on the way to salvation. Jesus Christ is described as a Bridge which “stretches from heaven to earth.” God explains to Catherine that the Bridge of Christ has three steps which correspond to three stages of the soul along its path to beatitude. These are the feet, side, and mouth of Christ on the Cross. The feet are the first step because the feet are the means by which one travels toward (or away from) God; here the soul must face and conquer her disordered passions. The second step is Christ’s open side because here the soul encounters God’s heart in the depths of her own heart; here the soul covers herself in goodness. The third step is Christ’s mouth where the soul discovers the perfect peace of union with God’s will; here the soul relishes all things given by God, having won the battle against self-will.
Having described the Bridge of Salvation, God expounds on the state, in this life (as well as in the next), of those who choose not to follow this way in contrast to those who do. Those headed for damnation are those who, “travel beneath the Bridge” in the, “river of disordered love.” God continues on in this chapter at great length, explaining to Catherine, the different things that the soul may encounter on its journey, warning her about pitfalls, and recommending to her the tools she must use to avoid them.
One example is worth noting for its practicality and humor.
God described to Catherine how to fight against the wiles of the evil one, by
preparing her with special knowledge of the devil’s ‘game-plan’ (so to speak)
in attacking souls. God said the devil would either attempt to convince her
that she is already perfect or that she is wretched beyond the reach of grace.
God instructed her to counter these attacks by abasing herself in abject
humility and taking refuge in his mercy. God assured her that the evil one would then
finally give up in exasperation, exclaiming:
Damnable woman! There is no getting at you! If I throw you
down in confusion you lift yourself up to mercy. If I exalt you you throw
yourself down. You come even to hell in your humility, and even in hell you
hound me. So I will not come back at you again, because you beat me with the
cudgel of charity.
In the fourth chapter, “Tears,” Catherine asked God to explain the soul’s journey to God with
respect to the nature of the tears they shed at each stage along the way. There
are five types of tears. Tears of damnation and servile fear belong to those
who are not sorrowful over offending God but only for themselves. Imperfect
tears belong to those who have made a break with sin for love of God but only
imperfectly attain to virtue. Perfect tears belong to those souls who have
wholly embraced God and neighbor in pure love. This last type of tears belongs
also to those whom God blesses with an added grace-”sweet” tears of intimate
union with himself.
The chapter, “Truth” is God’s response to Catherine’s request for a better
understanding of judgement, particularly how she might guard herself against
judging the sins of others and how she might judge whether an experience she
has is from God. To this end, God presents another analogy of the three
spiritual stages in the form of three ‘lights’ coming forth from himself. He
illustrates the perfection (or lack thereof) of souls based upon their relation
to himself as Supreme Truth. He
explained that judgement is reserved for himself and that a true vision does
not leave one with an emotional high without producing fruit in holy actions,
because what is from God can never be sterile.
The next
chapter, “Mystical Body of Holy Church,” concerns Catherine’s second petition, “for
the reform of Holy Church.” This chapter details the sorts of corruption which
were alive in the Catholic Church at the time. God tells Catherine at length of
the dignity of the office with which his ministers are endowed and details how
great a sin it is to disrespect one of his ministers, even though he may be clearly
in sin. God tells of the many sins of corrupt priests and religious. There were
those who practiced simony, those who kept mistresses openly, those who sought office
for reasons of political advancement, and there were even those who pretended
to consecrate the Eucharist because they feared divine judgement on account of
their sins. Yet, again and again, God emphasizes to Catherine that the sins of
the minster cannot effect the validity of the sacraments.
The second
to last chapter, “Divine Providence,” is God’s response to Catherine’s fourth
petition: for the provision of providence. In this discourse, God reveals the
ways in which his Providence has perfectly provided everything that is
necessary for every person in every circumstance.
In the last chapter, "Obedience," God speaks to
Catherine of the perfections of Holy Obedience, describing it as a key which
Christ used to open the gates of heaven again after Adam’s sin locked the gate.
He instructs Catherine that each person must take up this key in imitation of
Christ in order to reach eternal salvation.
Catherine’s Dialogue is without
doubt a work written for the salvation of souls through the humble service of a
“most beloved daughter” of God. The Church cannot thank her enough for opening
her heart to God’s will so that she could become the conduit of rich blessings
flowing from God’s heart.
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