Catherine de Ricci (1522–1590)

Biography

She was a nun with virtue and judgment to whom the spiritual direction of the novices was entrusted. However, Catalina was not an ordinary nun: she had inexplicable symptoms that attracted curious people to the point that she had to hide in the dovecote or in the garden to escape prying eyes. What happened was that every week, on Thursdays and Fridays, Sister Catherine had ecstasies in which she relived the Passion of Christ. For the rest, Catherine was an intelligent and balanced woman who maintained correspondence with Saint Philip Neri, Saint Charles Borromeo and Saint Pius V. In Catherine, as in Teresa of Jesus, mysticism was not a hindrance to her usual duties, but rather a superior fact that multiplied the activity of her entire life a hundredfold.