PANDEMIC PATRONS: ST CATHERINE OF SIENA
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Today (Wednesday 29th April) is the Feast of St Catherine of Siena. Born during a time of plague in Italy, in 1347, as the 24th of 25 children, she grew into a deeply contemplative relationship of love with Christ, which empowered her extraordinary activities, from caring for the victims of the pandemic, to brokering peace between warring city states. She was also instrumental in healing a great schism in the papacy, so that the Pope himself celebrated her funeral when she died, aged 33.
She was the first lay person, and (along with St Teresa of Avila) the first woman, to be declared a Doctor of the Church, and is a patron saint of illness, Italy, and nurses (in her spare time from being co-patroness of Europe along with Bridget of Sweden, and Edith Stein). So let’s ask her prayers for us for all those suffering from the pandemic today – remembering especially her native land of Italy – and all those who care for them, whether professionally or at home.
St Catherine of Siena, pray for us.
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Episode 2 of Letters from Lockdown: A guide to Philippians is now online! This week Joseph Meigh and Stuart Ford are looking at Phil 1.22 – 2.11, which includes the wonderful hymn of Christ’s humility, which so beautifully and succinctly encapsulates our whole faith about the incarnation, death, and resurrection of the Son of God.
And if you missed Episode 1, just click here to catch up!
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I don’t know if you caught this on TV, but you can catch up with the BBC iPlayer (just click the image above). An hour-long documentary about the life of Scottish seminarians in Il Pontificio Collegio Scozzese (the Scots College in Rome).
This coming Sunday is Good Shepherd Sunday, so we’re praying in a special way about vocations: particularly for those called to priestly, religious, or consecrated lives – but for all of us in whatever way the Lord is calling us to serve Him.
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You may have seen that some priests have gone so far as to invite parishioners to send photographs of themselves to put in the pews! But does it prevent the foibles of pew-based territoriality?
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With our prayers,
Canon Tom Gunning (Parish Priest)
and Joseph Meigh (seminarian)
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