Book Review: Catherine
of Siena: Spiritual Development in Her Life and Teaching
I spent nearly two
weeks reading this wonderful book after having just finished reading
Catherine's Dialogue. Thomas McDermott's book offers insight into The Dialogue and
also takes us on a wonderful spiritual journey through the life of the great Saint
Catherine of Siena. This book covers the important spiritual events in her life
and digs behind the scenes to explain them in context allowing you to begin applying her
spiritual teachings to your own life. After a biographical account of her life, the author examines the spiritual teaching and development that Catherine
espouses in her Letters and her Dialogue. Topics such as her fundamental maxim
revealed to her by God the Father, 'You are who are not and I am who am!' are
explained in great detail allowing the reader to examine their own spiritual
life in the mirror of Catherine's teaching. The work also offers an explanation
as to how her spiritual teaching and development was experienced in her own
life. This work is invaluable for Third Order Dominicans.
As Catholics
today, we face immense challenges in the world and in the Church. Catherine
also faced many similar challenges making her an excellent companion in our
lives today. In Catherine's time, she faced a corrupt Church with corrupt clergy
and stubborn popes who were misleading souls. Her spiritual approach to these
problems is much needed for our time. Without a robust spiritual life bound
together with true charity rooted in God's grace, we will not be able to reform
today's Church. How many there are on the Internet complaining about the
apostasy in the Church and how few there are who have spent the immense time in
prayer and sacrifice to actually affect meaningful change. Catherine teaches
how one must start off simply by repenting and ridding one's life of serious
sin, and then only progressing on the Bridge of Christ Crucified further
developing in the charity of God. It took Catherine many years to spiritually prepare
before God called her to go out and teach and serve the public, which she was reluctant to do. In fact, she
spent four years in seclusion steeped in immense prayer and sacrifice before
she even began to go out and do much in charitable works.
Above all,
Catherine shines as an exemplary model in the spirit of her father Saint
Dominic. She gave herself to God for the love of neighbor and the salvation of
souls. One of the teachings we miss most today is seeing our neighbor in the
image and likeness of God, and treating them as if they were Christ Himself!
Yes, it is easy to go home, pray, go to church, pray, be around friends and
family and then develop a false view of oneself as being pious. It is quite
another reality to have formed one's soul in the love of God to where we will
sacrifice for our neighbors, even those we do not like. God the Father tells
Catherine that unless you love your neighbor in a manner that is never self-serving,
then you don't love God in a manner that is not self-serving. Catherine refers
to this deficient type of serving God as being a servile servant. That is, serving
God only for one's own gain. God the Father continues to tell her that how one
treats their neighbor is a litmus test as to how much they actually love God.
Food for thought!
There are many
lessons to be learned if one takes the time to read and meditate on the passages
in this book which refers primarily to Catherine's Dialogue, her Letters and
Sacred Scripture. There are interesting comparisons to the teachings of some of
the Church Fathers and other Saints to her own. The book is well written,
thoughtfully laid out and is easily understood by the average laymen. It can be
repetitious at times but in a pleasant way that keeps reemphasizing the
spiritual themes that permeate Catherine's life and her work. This allows you
to internalize her thoughts and make them your own. For example, the three powers
of the soul, memory, knowledge, and will are shown in several examples
throughout the book so that you can properly understand Catherine's teaching in
the context of her writings. After reading the 368 pages you become intimately
familiar with Catherine and her spiritual thought. I highly recommend picking
this book up. It is a great companion to have alongside as you read her famous
Dialogue.
"Thomas McDermott’s magisterial book
is the first work in English that does full justice to the systematic
theological importance of Catherine of Siena’s teaching. Readers will find
their thinking freed from the styles and whims of so much writing on
‘spirituality’ and set firmly on the path that Jesus himself trod with his
disciples.”
—Benedict M. Ashley, OP, Professor
Emeritus
Aquinas Institute of Theology,
Saint Louis, MO
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