CATHERINE OF BOLOGNA, St. — Born in Bologna on 8 Sept. 1413 to the noble Giovanni Vigri of Ferrara and Benvenuta Mammolini of Bologna. At the age of eleven she was summoned by the Duke of Este to his court in Ferrara, where she became an object of admiration for her goodness and her progress in the fine arts and letters that were taught to her. Desiring to consecrate herself to God, she left the court after three years and joined with other young women, overcoming fierce temptations from the devil, whose wiles she would later reveal in her celebrated treatise *Le sette armi necessarie alla battaglia spirituale*.
Catherine of Bologna, St. — The incorrupt body of C., venerated in the Sanctuary of the Corpus Domini, known as that of the Saint. From an engraving.
Princess Verde, edified by the young woman’s holiness, built a monastery in Ferrara, where in 1432 C. entered, professing the Rule of St Clare. There she fulfilled the offices of baker, doorkeeper, and mistress of novices. At the city’s request, a monastery was built in Bologna, where on 22 July 1456 the Clarisses of Ferrara entered with C., who served as abbess there, except for an interruption of three years, until her death on 9 March 1463. Her body remains incorrupt. Extraordinary miracles were worked in her lifetime and after her death; she was enrolled in the catalogue of saints by Clement XI on 22 May 1712.
Besides the aforementioned treatise, which appeared posthumously but was composed as early as 1438 and later published repeatedly and translated into various languages, C. wrote: *Rosarium metricum de mysteriis Passionis Christi Domini et de vita B. Mariae Virginis*, and other minor works in verse and prose.