Saint Catherine of Bologna Minibook

Title: Saint Catherine of Bologna
Authors: Bob and Penny Lord
Publisher: Journeys of Faith
Format: Printed minibook
32 Pages

Life of Saint Catherine of Bologna
Visionary, Mystic, Role Model for Abbesses, Incorrupt Body

Saint Catherine of Bologna was born Catherine de Virgi in Bologna, Italy on Our Lady’s Birthday, September the 8th, 1413. Her father, Giovanni de Virgi, was a member of the nobility of Ferrara, 1 as well as a highly-respected lawyer and lecturer at the famous University of Bologna. 2 He married Benvenuta Mammolini who was also of a noble family of Bologna.

Catherine was blessed to come from a very pious mother who devoted herself to her precious child from the moment she was born. Catherine was always obedient and very sweetnatured, unlike many of her class who had a tendency to be proud and haughty.

She possessed wisdom beyond her years, and maybe because of her mother’s influence, applied it to the enrichment of her spiritual life, spending as much time as she possibly could praying and distributing alms to the poor. When they tried to thank her, she insisted, it was a gift from Jesus and they should praise Him, not her.

She was kissed by Jesus on the cheek.  Her face never darkened on that spot.

Highlights of this Minibook:
Saint Catherine, Author, Poet, Painter and Musician
Catherine as Mother Abbess
Catherine battles with the devil
Signs, Miracles and Wonders
Miracles kept happening, after Catherine was dead
The sisters prepared their Mother for her burial. Not only was she more beautiful in death than in life, her body emitted a heavenly fragrance! Miracles began to happen! When the nuns placed her body before the Blessed Sacrament, she bowed her head; she was worshiping even in death that Lord Who had been her total life. The Eucharist had always been her Lord truly present, and not even the angel of death could keep her from adoring Him.
Perhaps, one of the greatest Miracles is the incorrupt body of our Saint, seated on a regal throne in a Chapel to the left of the main altar in the Church of Corpus Domini in Bologna. It remains intact, never having decomposed for over five hundred years!