Catching up on some saints and what some Catholic bloggers have been saying about them:

Today, of course, is the feast of St. Catherine of Siena. Naturally enough, a couple of good posts are to be found at the blog of the St. Catherine of Siena Institute:

First an intro post by Sherry Weddell on the saint’s life:

Catherine’s life was so remarkable that we are tempted to feel as if she has nothing to say to those of us whose faith and gifts seem all too ordinary by comparison. Remarkable as her gifts were, more remarkable was her sense of personal responsibility and authority to tackle the urgent issues of her day. She had no credentials of note in medieval society except that she was a disciple of Jesus Christ, a faithful daughter of the Church, and a woman of great spiritual depth and giftedness. Few lay Christians have had a clearer sense of standing in Jesus’ place than Catherine. Her influence was based upon her personal holiness and charisms, not her position. The most staggering thing about Catherine of Siena is that she did it all as a laywoman. Precisely on this account, there is much about Catherine’s ministry common to all of us who are called to live out our faith as lay Christians.

Like us, she cared deeply about the people and the world about her. One of my favorite stories about Catherine is of her experience in Pisa, where crowds thronged about her, kissing her hands. When accused of enjoying this attention, she protested that she hadn’t even noticed how people saluted her because she had been so interested in them! Catherine cared about the good of her hometown, of Italy, and of the whole of Christendom, which included the spiritual and institutional well-being of the Church itself. Like Saint Dominic, she constantly asked "What about the others?" But Catherine did more than care, she took action. When Siena was ravaged by recurring bouts of the plague, Catherine and her disciples risked their own lives to care for the sick and bury the dead. When the Pope needed to be strengthened in his resolve to leave Avignon and return to Rome, Catherine’s counsel gave him the courage he needed.

She plunged into the murky, chaotic world of Italian religious and political life without thinking that, because she was only an uneducated woman, she had no right to be there. There were no handy self-help guides to tell her How to Reconcile Warring City States in Five Easy Steps or How to Deal With Difficult Popes. The problems before her were every bit as complex and hard to grasp as are the problems facing us in our world. And, just as achievements in the our modern world can be difficult to measure, partial, and ambiguous in impact, so were Catherine’s.

Then from Fr. Mike, on St. Catherine and politics:

Sometimes Catherine’s words and presence had an effect, sometimes not. She grieved for the division within the Church, lamented the corruption in the politics of her day, and, in spite of these realities, always encouraged her followers to look for the best in others.

Yesterday was the feast of St. Gianna Beretta Molla A webpage dedicated to her is here.

Fr. Z has a post, reprinting an article he wrote, on the 2nd miracle attributed to the intercession of St. Gianna.

Last Monday, the 23rd, was the feast of St. George, and Matthew at Whapping put a big, catch-all post up in the saint’s honor.

Fr. Antoinio, a Maronite Catholic priest in Lebanon notes:

We have many Georges in our town. In fact, St. George is the most famous saint in Lebanon after Mary. Out of 950 churches in Lebanon, 244 are dedicated to Our Lady. St. George comes in the second place with 122 churches dedicated to him in Lebanon.

In a report entitled When the Saints Go Marching Out: Redefining St George for a new era, Jonathan Bartley and Simon Barrow, co-directors of the think-tank Ekklesia, propose that George once again take his place as the ‘people’s saint’.

The report points out that the original story which dates from the 4th century CE told of St George offering hospitality to a refugee, defending the marginalised, and challenging the persecution policy of the Emperor. This image has been distorted, and replaced by one of a dragon slayer who backs the crusades (religious wars).

‘Re-branding’ is about reconsidering what is important about the story and telling it afresh. The report suggests that the values of the older story could form the basis of a national holiday for England which is inclusive, hospitable, and avoids the dangers of proud nationalism – offering instead a hopeful vision of ‘Englishness’ as global and outward looking.