Catherine of Siena by Sigrid Undset Book Review

Catherine of Sienna by Sigrid Undset is the biography of St. Catherine of Siena. Unlike her own writing, this biography goes into depth about the political climate during the life of St. Catherine of Siena. It is part historical, part spiritual and part biography which makes it a very unique book.

Undset goes into detail about was happening with the papacy and also the Kings and Queens who ruled during the life of St. Catherine and how Jesus used this tiny woman to speak to these world leaders on His behalf. She did so always knowing that she was only the messenger and nothing more or less than the servant of God. Undset writes that St. Catherine said: "Let all do the work which God has given them, and not bury their talent, for that is also a sin deserving severe punishment" (1), which is how the Saint lived her life. She did what God asked of her and did not think of herself as special for doing so because she knew that everyone had the ability and freedom to do the same if they choose to. 

One of St. Catherine's missions was to get the papacy moved back to Rome from Avignon France after the election of Pope Clement. "when Bertrand de Got, Archbishop of Bordeaux, was chosen in 1303 as Pope under the name of Clement V, he refused to leave his native France to live in Italy"(2), writes Sigrid. She goes on to explain that the election of Pope Clement the V was helped by a murderous and sacrilegious King, King Philippe le Bel. This corruption and political influence on the Church was a theme of St. Catherine's time and God gave her the mission of being the voice of reason to the Vicar of Christ to move back to Rome. A mission she accomplished with Pope Urban VI who moved the Papacy back to Rome after his election as Pope. But that did not come without drama. Some french cardinals disputed that Pope Urban VI was the true pope saying they had elected him as Pope out of fear for their lives since the Romans has threatened to kill the Cardinals if they did not vote for a Roman to become the next Pope. This caused a schism where the French cardinals elected a rival Pope. 

St. Catherine of Siena spent the last part of her life trying to talk sense into everyone about the truth that Pope Urban VI was the true Pope. She also spent a lot of time counseling the new Pope on how to treat his people with mercy because he was known to be a strict ruler in weeding out corruption in the Church. 

The great thing about Undset's biography is that it gives us a look into the life of a saint during corruption in the Church and political chaos. The entire time all St. Catherine focused on was surrounding her self to God's will and His mission for her. She served where she was needed always working on telling everyone that God loved them and calling them to reconcile themselves to Him. She held no power in the eyes of the world but so many powerful people sought her out for advice and her advice to them was always rooted in God. 

This is a powerful book for our times as there are so many stories of corruption in the Church today as well as the complete chaos in our own political systems in the world. In this biography what we can see is how in the midst of so much instability what God needs are saints who are willing to surrender their wills to Him to use as He sees fit. It is not about the specifics of what St. Catherine went through such as the ecstasies or visions or the way she was called to do penance, but it is about the way she surrendered to God's will knowing exactly who she was, both a sinner and the beloved daughter of God, and doing what she was called to do without worrying about what God asked of anyone else. She was bold in speaking truth to power but did so out of obedience to God and not for her own sake. She also served the people in front of her with joy, love, and mercy asking God to put their punishment on her and save them. 

In a time when we are often struggling with where politics fits into our spiritual life, it is helpful to read Undset say "Catherine's opinion was that politics are never anything but the product of a person's religious life". (3) This is something that can be of help to each of us in our own time with our own specific political and religious issues which is why this book is such a great read and relevant for our time in History.

1. Sigrid Undset, Catherine of Siena. ( San Francisco: Ignatius, 2009). 176.

2. Undset, Catherine of Siena, 127.

3. Undset, Catherine of Siena, 299.