Cabra Dominicans

Catherine of Siena
At one of the entrances to the city of Siena, there is a striking sculpture of a woman, her arms extended fully to right and left. The woman is the Dominican Catherine of Siena. In one hand she holds a cross and in the other, an olive branch. The sculpture refers to a spiritual experience she had when " Christ placed the cross on my shoulder and put the olive branch in my hand as if he wanted me to carry it to everyone. He urged me. 'Tell them "I am bringing you news of great joy".
As is well-known, Catherine walked on the "two feet" of contemplation and apostolic activity throughout her life. She was a deeply contemplative woman who was enfolded in extraordinary spiritual manifestations of God's love and care, and at the same time she was involved, in an amazingly public manner, in the social, ecclesial and political life of her city and country, and even further afield. Her purpose was to bring the "good news of great joy" to all whom she met, and to do so in the name of Jesus Christ, the one through whom God has become accessible and near to us. She named him the bridge over the troubled turbulent waters of sin. When we travel on this bridge we become eventually totally submerged in God, "the sea of peace".
Catherine teaches that those who take on a mediating and reconciling role are each "another Christ crucified." (D 146) She herself was such a bridge.
She was canonized in 1461, proclaimed co-patron of Italy in 1939, declared Doctor of the Church in 1970, and nominated one of the patrons of Europe in 2000. All of these titles connect with her role as a contemplative Dominican preacher of peace.
Mary O'Driscoll O.P