Lent 2025 Day 43

Catherine of Siena, Mystic and Theologian
Ephesians 1:7–10 | Hebrews 12:1–3
 
Catherine of Siena (1347–1380) burned with a love that consumed her entirely. A Dominican laywoman, mystic, theologian, and reformer, she entered deeply into the mystery of Christ’s suffering, desiring nothing less than union with God through the blood of the cross. Her life and writings—especially The Dialogue, dictated during ecstatic visions—testify to a soul set ablaze by divine love.

Ephesians speaks of redemption through Christ’s blood—a theme at the very core of Catherine’s mysticism. She envisioned the blood of Christ as a bridge between God and humanity, a stream flowing from the heart of Christ to cleanse, heal, and transform. In The Dialogue, God says to her: “It is with the Blood of my only-begotten Son that I have washed and made clean the face of your soul.” This blood, she believed, was not merely symbolic—it was living, active, ever-flowing, and intimately present in the life of the believer.

Holy Wednesday is a day of impending passion. The betrayal has begun; the cross looms large. And yet, Catherine teaches that this path of suffering is not defeat—it is the wellspring of divine mercy. She does not glamorize pain, but she refuses to turn away from it. The blood of Christ, for her, is the signature of God’s love—written not in wrath but in mercy.

Her mystical theology is soaked in imagery of fire and blood, of wounds and bridal union. She writes of drinking from the side of Christ as from a fountain, of resting in his wounds as in a dwelling place. “Oh eternal Blood!” she cries, “You make the dead alive.” Her union with Christ was so profound that she bore the stigmata invisibly, hidden between herself and God. She called the cross “a table set with food,” where the soul feasts on the love that gives itself away.

Hebrews 12 urges us to run with perseverance, to look to Jesus, who endured the cross “for the joy set before him.” Catherine’s joy was rooted in the same mystery—not in suffering itself, but in the love that willingly bore it. She saw herself not as a spectator but as a participant in Christ’s passion, joining her pain to his redemptive work, interceding for the Church with tears, fasting, and bold words of truth.

Catherine lived during a time of deep division and moral decay in the Church. And yet she did not abandon it. She ran into its heart, carrying the light of mystical love and calling it back to holiness. Her letters to popes were filled with urgency and tenderness. “Be manly in this,” she wrote to Pope Gregory XI. “I want you to use the power of love and the authority of justice.”

Holy Wednesday stands at the edge of betrayal and sacrifice. Catherine of Siena calls us not to fear the blood, but to enter into it—to let it cleanse our vision, soften our hearts, and bind us to the wounded Christ who loves without limit.

Reflection:

• How do you understand the redemptive power of Christ’s blood in your own life? 
• What parts of your spirit are being invited into deeper union with God this Holy Week? 
• How can Catherine’s mystical love challenge your understanding of sacrifice, justice, and mercy? 

Breath Prayer: Inhale: Oh eternal Blood… Exhale: You make the dead alive.

May this Holy Wednesday draw us closer to the heart of Christ, where mercy flows and love endures to the end.

Amen.