Meditation for April 30. St. Catherine of Siena

Blessed Raymond of Capoua, the confessor of St. Catherine of Siena and her first biographer, recounts this incident of the saint's childhood.

"When she was six years old, Catherine was returning home one day and upon raising her eyes to heaven she saw opposite her, on the gable end of the Church of the Dominicans, a splendid throne occupied by our Lord Jesus Christ clothed in pontifical robes and His brow adorned with a tiara. At His side were St. Peter, St. Paul and St. John the Evangelist. Catherine stood still, overcome with admiration, lovingly contemplating Him who manifested Himself to her in order to captivate her devoted heart more com­pletely. The Savior looked at her with serene majesty, smiled upon her with benign tenderness, and then extending His hand gave her His blessing in the form of a threefold cross. The grace of this favor was so powerful that Catherine's spirit was ravished and transformed into Him upon whom she looked with such ardor. She not only forgot her way but also totally forgot herself."

How well should I remember this last sentence! "She not only forgot her way, but also totally forgot herself."

It was sufficient to have seen Our Lord, from then on, nothing mattered.

Assuredly, I can not expect to see Our Lord in a miraculous, supernatural way, but if, through faith, through ever more atten­tive prayer, I succeeded in acquiring a more complete, more true, more captivating idea of Our Lord, if I succeeded in seeing Our Lord, what a change there would be in my life!

I must look upon Our Lord in such a way that I can say: "I have seen Him."

"O Jesus, grant that I may see You and seek You with so much ardor and perseverance, that I may find You at last at every turn on my life's road, and recognize You through faith."

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Adapted from Meditations for Religious
by Father Raoul Plus, S.J. (© 1939, Frederick Pustet Co.)