St. Catherine de’ Ricci, Virgin
Obligatory Memorial
Born of noble lineage in 1522, she received the name Sandrina. While still a little girl, having lost her mother, she was inflamed with great love for Christ Crucified.
At the age of twelve, she entered the monastery of St. Vincent of the Sisters of the Third Rule of Our Holy Father Dominic in the city of Prato, taking the name Catherine. Enkindled by the fire of the Holy Spirit and seeking unceasingly the glory of the Lord, she promoted the reform of regular life according to the inspiration of fr. Girolamo Savonarola, whom she followed with grateful veneration.
Ardently contemplating the Passion of Christ in her heart, she was also deemed worthy to bear it vividly in her flesh through mystical participation. She handed down verses taken from Sacred Scripture to promote this meditation.
Twice prioress, she governed the community with outstanding prudence and kindness.
Filled with the gifts of her heavenly Spouse and grounded in divine love, she left behind remarkable writings of spiritual doctrine, especially in her letters, which she addressed even to distinguished and holy men and women of her time, such as St. Philip Neri, St. Charles Borromeo and St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi.
She died at Prato on Feb. 2, 1590. She was solemnly enrolled among the blesseds by Clement XII on Nov. 23, 1732, and was numbered among the saints by Benedict XIV on June 29, 1746.
Proprium Officiorum Ordinis Praedicatorum ad Normam Decretorum Sacrosancti Oecumenici Concilii Vaticani II Instauratum Vincentii Couesnongle iussu editum, Editio typica, Sanctae Sabinae, Romae 1982.
