Saint Catherine was profoundly feminine, extremely sensitive6. At the same time, she was extraordinarily energetic, as are those women who love sacrifice and remain close to the Cross of Christ, and she did not allow weaknesses in the service of God. She was convinced that, when it came to oneself and the salvation of the souls that Christ redeemed with his Blood, it was inappropriate to be overly indulgent, to adopt a weak philanthropy for comfort or cowardice, and that is why she cried out: "Enough of this ointment, because with so much ointment the members of the Bride of Christ are rotting!
She was always fundamentally optimistic, and was not discouraged if, in spite of her efforts, things did not go according to her wishes. Throughout her life she was a profound, delicate woman. Her disciples always remembered her open smile and her frank look; she was always clean, she loved flowers and she used to sing while walking. When a character of the time, prompted by a friend, went to meet her, he expected to find a person with a cornered look and an ambiguous smile. His surprise was great when he met a young woman, with a clear look and a cordial smile, who welcomed him "like a brother returning from a long journey".
Shortly after his arrival in Rome, the Pope died. And with the election of the successor, the schism that would produce so many tears and so much pain in the Church began. Saint Catherine would speak and write to Cardinals and kings, to princes and Bishops.... All to no avail. Exhausted and filled with immense sorrow, she offered herself to God as a victim for the Church. One day in January, praying at the tomb of St. Peter, she felt on her shoulders the immense weight of the Church, as had happened at times to other saints. But the torment lasted only a few months: on April 29, around noon, God called her to his glory. From her deathbed, she addressed to the Lord this moving prayer: "O Eternal God, receive the sacrifice of my life for the benefit of this Mystical Body of the Holy Church. I have nothing else to give but what you have given me ". A few days earlier she had told her confessor: "I assure you that, if I die, the only cause of my death is zeal and love for the Church, which burns me and consumes me...". Let us ask St. Catherine today for that burning love for our Mother the Church, which is characteristic of those who are close to Christ.
Our days are also days of trial and sorrow for the Mystical Body of Christ, therefore "we must ask the Lord, with an unceasing cry (cf. Is 58:1), to shorten them, to look with mercy on his Church and to grant again the supernatural light to the souls of the pastors and to all the faithful ". Let us offer our daily life, with its thousand little incidents, for the Mystical Body of Christ. The Lord will bless us and St. Mary - Mater Ecclesiae - will pour out her grace on us with particular generosity.