Saint Catherine
of Genoa

Servants of God

She was born in Genoa in 1447 and was the fifth and youngest child of James Fieschi, who became viceroy of Naples,  but died before his time, and his wife Francesca di Negro, Two popes, Innocent IV and Adrian V, were members of this noble Guelph family.  Catherine loved Christ's Passion, prayers and penitential practices; she was also a quiet, simple, and exceedingly obedient girl.

At the age of thirteen, she wished to enter the convent, but the nuns refused her on account of her youth, and she appears to have put the idea aside without any further attempt. Three years later, her mother insisted that, for dynastic reasons, Catherine had to marry  Giuliano Adorno.  He was a careless, cruel, unfaithful and spendthrift husband so, after ten years, he had reduced them to poverty.  They didn't have children and she had tried to win his affection by adopting worldly airs, but this had only made her more unhappy because she had lost her only consolation:  her religious life. 

Catherine went to a convent in Genoa where she had a sister, Limbania,  and revealed the secrets of her heart. Her sister advised her to go to confession to the nuns' confessor. and Catherine agreed. She knelt down in the confessional and a ray of Divine light pierced her soul: she was overwhelmed by her sins and, at the very same time, by the infinite love of God for her. The revelation was so overwhelming that she lost consciousness and fell into a kind of ecstacy. She was drawn back to the path of devotion of her childhood. Within a few days she had a vision of our Lord, bleeding and carrying His cross, which caused her to cry out, "O Love! No more sins!".    On the Solemnity of the Annunciation she received the Eucharist, the first time with fervor for ten years.  Later, she had stigmata and a group of religious people gathered around her to be spiritually guided.

The hospital and the literary works

She succeded in converting Giuliano, they both became Franciscan tertiaries and agreed to live together in continence.   They devoted themselves to the care of the sick in the municipal hospital of Genoa. the "Pammatone" hospital.  In 1473, they moved from their luxurious mansion in Lomellini road  to a small house in a poor neighborhood, then they went to live in the hospital and Catherine became its director in 1490.  Her cousin Tommasina Fieschi joined them

The heroism of Catherine's charity revealed itself in a special way during the plagues of 1493 and 1501.  The first one killed nearly 75 percent of the inhabitants.  She nearly died of the plague in 1493 and resigned her post three years later, because her state of health was very bad.  Giuliano died in 1497 and Catherine's spiritual life became even more intense and she was always fearful of "the contagion of the world's slow stain" that had separated her from God in the early years of her marriage. 

She went to communion daily when it was unusual to do so and made extraordinarily long fasts without abating her charitable activities.  In 1499, she met don Cattaneo Marabotto, who became her spiritual director.
Catherine received wonderful revelations, of which she spoke at times to those around her, and which are mainly embodied in her literary works, two outstanding works in the field of mysticism, the Spiritual Dialogues and the Treatise on Purgatory.   Some doubt of her authorship and think that these works were inspired by her and contain the essence of her, but were composed by others.
The "Life and Doctrine of S.Catherine of Genoa"  (Vita mirabile e dottrina santa della Beata Caterina da Genova), was published in Florence in 1551.   CLICK HERE to read or download its translation in English.

Her incorrupt body

Catherine died on 14th September 1510,   worn out with labours of body and soul, and consumed, even physically, by the fires of Divine love within her. Shortly before her death, the blood from her stigmata gave off exceptional heat.  She was beatified in 1675 by Clement V,   canonized in 1737 by Clement XII and her feast day is on 15th September. Her body was found to be incorrupt and remains so today, in the Capuchin Convent of "SS.Annunziata di Portoria" of Genoa.

Portrait of S.Catherine - Convent of the "Brignoline" - Genoa