VANNINI, Caterina, Venerable. - Nun, convert, known as the Thaïs of Siena, 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, freed for having given signs of repentance, she 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 ten palms long and eight wide, with a small window that looked into the church. Through her prayers and penances she converted many sinners. Her fame for holiness attracted to her many illustrious persons seeking her advice; among these were Cardinal C. Baronio and F. Borromeo, who wrote her life and maintained an assiduous correspondence with her (1600-1606).

Most devoted to the Blessed Virgin, she dictated to the Sienese nobleman 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 or heard or copied, drawn even from the legends of the apocryphal Gospels, and of little practical use as regards recitation. However, Cardinal F. Borromeo wrote (11 Dec. 1606) to Pier Luigi Capacci, V.'s confessor, that "the Rosary is beautiful, and made with great insight, and will bear fruit." The cause for her beatification was introduced in 1693.

Bibliography4 works

BIBL.: F. Borromeo, De vita Catharinæ Senentis monacae conversae libri tres, Milan 1618 (Italian trans. I tre libri della Vita di suor Caterina, monaca convertita, ibid. 1618); H. Alby, Vie de soeur Catharine V., conversae de Sienne, Lyon 1655; P. Miscattelli, C. V., una cortigiana convertita senete e il card. F. Borromeo, alla luce di un epistolario ined., Milan-Rome 1932; A. Saba, F. Borromeo e i mistici del suo tempo con la vita e la corrispondenza inez. di C. V. da Siena, Florence 1933 (in reply to P. Miscattelli).

Felice da Mareto

@incollection{ec12_vannini_caterina_venerabile, author = {Felice da Mareto}, title = {Vannini, caterina, venerabile}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {XII}, pages = {1024--1025}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1954}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/vannini-caterina-venerabile} }

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Vannini, Caterina, Venerable

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