Virgin and Doctor of the Church · Feast day April 29
St. Catherine of Siena
The feast day of St. Catherine of Siena is April 29, a memorial in the US Catholic calendar. Traditionally invoked as patron of Italy and Europe, nurses, and those ridiculed for piety. Below: a short life and 3 sourced quotations in their own words.
| Feast day | April 29 |
|---|---|
| In the US calendar | Memorial |
| Title | Virgin and Doctor of the Church |
| Died | c. 1380 |
| Patron of | Italy, Europe, nurses, those ridiculed for piety |
| In their own words | 3 sourced quotations · 2 attributed sayings (source unconfirmed) |
| Next on Bless’s Today screen | None left in the published calendar (through December 31, 2028) |
Life
The twenty-third child of a Sienese dyer, Catherine refused marriage, joined the Dominican third order, and turned her family home into a hospital and her cell into a court of counsel. Popes, princes, and prisoners sought her word.
She persuaded Gregory XI to return the papacy from Avignon to Rome, dictated her Dialogue in ecstasy, and died at thirty-three. She is a Doctor of the Church and co-patron of Europe.
Patron of
Tradition invokes St. Catherine of Siena as patron of Italy and Europe, nurses, and those ridiculed for piety.
Saints with the same patronage
- St. Francis of AssisiItaly · October 4
- St. Benedict of NursiaEurope · July 11
- St. Bridget of SwedenEurope · July 23
- St. Teresa Benedicta of the CrossEurope · August 9
- St. Agathanurses · February 5
- St. John of Godnurses · March 8
- St. Camillus de Lellisnurses · July 18
Patronages are traditional, not an official list. All patron saints in Bless, A to Z.
In their own words
Each quotation names the work it comes from. Bless quotes these in the comments beside the verses listed under In Scripture.
I ask you to love Me with the same love with which I love you. But for Me you cannot do this, for I loved you without being loved. Whatever love you have for Me you owe Me, so you love Me not gratuitously but out of duty. Therefore love your neighbor gratuitously.
Nothing great is ever achieved without much enduring.
Every good deed and every virtue is born of love, and love comes from knowing the truth of God's goodness and of your own nothingness.
Attributed, source unconfirmed
These sayings circulate under the saint’s name, but no source has been confirmed. Bless shows them with that label.
Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.
All the way to heaven is heaven, because He said, I am the Way.
In Scripture
In Bless, St. Catherine of Siena’s words appear in the comments beside these verses. This page’s labels say how each is linked: “on this verse” means the saint wrote about that very verse; “on this theme” means the quotation shares its theme. Scripture is quoted from the Catholic Public Domain Version.
On this theme · source unconfirmed
You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.
Matthew 5:14 · CPDV Beside their words: “Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.”
On this theme
But the second is similar to it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
Matthew 22:39 · CPDV Beside their words: “I ask you to love Me with the same love with which I love you. But for Me you cannot do…”
On this theme · source unconfirmed
I have come to cast a fire upon the earth. And what should I desire, except that it may be kindled?
Luke 12:49 · CPDV Beside their words: “Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.”
On this theme · source unconfirmed
Jesus said to him: “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.
John 14:6 · CPDV Beside their words: “All the way to heaven is heaven, because He said, I am the Way.”
On this theme
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit. For without me, you are able to do nothing.
John 15:5 · CPDV Beside their words: “Every good deed and every virtue is born of love, and love comes from knowing the truth…”
On this theme
And not only that, but we also find glory in tribulation, knowing that tribulation exercises patience, and patience leads to proving, yet truly proving leads to hope,
Romans 5:3–4 · CPDV Beside their words: “Nothing great is ever achieved without much enduring.”
On this theme
And if I have prophecy, and learn every mystery, and obtain all knowledge, and possess all faith, so that I could move mountains, yet not have charity, then I am nothing.
1 Corinthians 13:2 · CPDV Beside their words: “Every good deed and every virtue is born of love, and love comes from knowing the truth…”
On this theme
Blessed is the man who suffers temptation. For when he has been proven, he shall receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him.
James 1:12 · CPDV Beside their words: “Nothing great is ever achieved without much enduring.”
1 more verse
On this theme
Therefore, let us love God, for God first loved us.
1 John 4:19 · CPDV Beside their words: “I ask you to love Me with the same love with which I love you. But for Me you cannot do…”
In the calendar
The upcoming dates, through December 31, 2028, when Bless’s Today screen shows St. Catherine of Siena. Where the US calendar keeps another celebration that day, it is named instead and no rank is given.
Readings
No dates are left in Bless’s published calendar, which runs through December 31, 2028. St. Catherine of Siena keeps April 29 in Bless’s calendar of saints: see the saints of April.
All the saints of April Born on April 29? A saint for every day
Spotted a mistake in a date, a patronage or a quotation? Report an error and we’ll fix it in the app and here.