VANNINI, CATERINA, venerable. — Nun, convert, known as the Sienese Thaïs, b. in Siena on 30 May 1562, d. on 30 July 1606.
She soon yielded to the allurements of vanity and pleasure and in a short time became the Aspasia of the Renaissance. She was imprisoned by order of Gregory XIII, but, having given signs of repentance, was released
and returned to Siena, where she devoted herself to a life of severe penance. Having overcome various temptations, she was favored with ecstasies and miracles. In 1584 she entered the Convertite, where she was divinely taught to read and write and enriched with mystical graces. For 16 years she lived enclosed in a cell 10 palmi long and 8 wide, with a small window opening onto the church. Through her prayers and penances she converted many sinners. Her reputation for holiness attracted many distinguished persons to seek her advice; among them were Cardinal C. Baronio and F. Borromeo, who wrote her life and maintained a constant correspondence with her (1600–1606).
Most devoted to the B. Virgin, she dictated to the noble Sienese Ottone Ottorenghi a Modo per eccitare e ammaestrare li semplici e poco esperti a recitare con qualche frutto il S.mo Rosario (Siena 1606), a cento of things read, heard, or copied, drawn even from the legends of the apocryphal Gospels, and of little practical value as regards the recitation. Nevertheless, Cardinal F. Borromeo wrote (11 December 1606) to Pier Luigi Capacci, V.’s confessor, that “the Rosary is beautiful, and made with great enlightenment, and it will bear fruit.” The cause of her beatification was opened in 1693.