St Catherine of SienaPrint Page

The sculpture commemorates St Catherine of Siena. It was commissioned to reflect the contribution made to the Archdiocese by the Italian community. 

The sculpture used each Saint's stigmata, the physical wounds of Christ's crucifixion given as a gift from God, as a focus for the sculptures. St Catherine is depicted during a vision that she had of Christ offering her a choice of a crown of gold or a crown of thorns, and her acceptance of the crown of thorns. The statue sees the crown of thorns actually impaling her hands as a sign of the stigmata.

Saint Catherine of Siena (March 25, 1347 in Siena – April 29, 1380 in Rome), was a tertiary of the Dominican Order and a Scholastic philosopher and theologian. She also worked to bring the papacy of Gregory XI back to Rome from its displacement in France and to establish peace among the Italian city-states. She is believed, in Catholicism, to have had miraculous visions and felt herself to be united in marriage with Jesus, stating in her letters that she wore the wedding ring he gave her but that it was invisible.

She started having mystical experiences when she was only 6, seeing guardian angels as clearly as the people they protected. She became a Dominican tertiary when she was 16, and continued to have visions of Christ, Mary, and the saints. 

St. Catherine was one of the most brilliant theological minds of her day, although she never had any formal education. Her spiritual director was Blessed Raymond of Capua.  St. Catherine's letters, and a treatise called "a dialogue" are considered among the most brilliant writings in the history of the Catholic Church. She died of starvation when she was only 33.  

Since 18 June 1939, Catherine of Siena has been one of the two patron saints of Italy, together with Francis of Assisi.

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