MARABOTTO, CATTANEO. - A Genoese priest of noble family (R. Sopranis [V. BIBLICA.], p. 17) and of holy life, d. 1528. In 1504 he was rector of the male section of the Pammatone Hospital, while St. Catherine of Genoa oversaw the female section.
An ardent disciple of the Company of Divine Love and an admirer and spiritual son of Catherine of Genoa, he served as her spiritual director and confessor in the final years of her life (1499–1510), a period during which she had been guided directly by God for 25 years. A curious fact emerges from a comparison of the manuscripts (A, B, C, D) with the first printed edition of St. Catherine’s life (1551). In this edition, an entire chapter (no. 44), absent from the manuscripts, is devoted to depicting the spiritual director whom God gave to St. Catherine in her last years. Marabotto also served as the administrator and procurator of Catherine’s estate, as evidenced by her will of March 18, 1509 (notarial acts of Strata, State Archive, 1, 167). Along with priest Giacomo Carenzio, he was entrusted by the Saint with choosing the place of her burial (4th and final codicil, Sept. 12, 1510—acts of Gregorio Sauli Sacchero, Pammatone Archive). He also arranged for her body to be placed in a dignified marble sarcophagus.