Namesake

Today is the Feast day of one incredible woman (in my opinion)
St. Catherine of Siena.  I was given a great gift the day I was
born -- her name.

When asked whom I am named after -- an Aunt, grandmother, mother?  I would respond and still do, "No, I actually I was named after St. Catherine of Siena."  I would sometimes get the "Um, ohhhh, that's nice" response or the "Oh, I see, that is different" or just a blank stare.  But for some reason, even at a very early age I never thought this was strange or out of the ordinary.  On the contrary I was really confident and proud of it and I attribute that boldness to St. Catherine's intercession, for if you know much about her she was quite a bold woman!

I attribute my "fiery" personality to her and pray that it is a "holy fiery" personality although I think many days it is just "fiery." I sometimes pray, "St. Catherine put holy fire on my tongue and make me bold and courageous as you were, but if this is just me then please zip my mouth up and not let me speak."  As you might be getting -- a lot of times it was/is just me!

She was a woman with unwavering love for the Lord.  She sought Him out in everything she did. Many of her writings are still way over my head but I marvel at her intellect, her generosity of spirit, and for her great humility.  And oh yea, her boldness -- but I think I already mentioned that.  But really how many people can tell the Pope, "hey you need to get back to Rome!"

St. Catherine has held me through every dark hour, every great joy, and everything in between.  I turn to her in prayer for guidance through the Lord and revere her as a great model of how I hope to be daily.

I was not the only one in my family named after a Saint.  My brother Nicholas after St. Nicholas and my sister Gabrielle after St. Gabriel.  Every year on the feast day (the day of their death) we would get spoiled with a gift.  When we were little we thought this was the best -- a special day just for each of us.  Dad would get flowers for me every year, or when I got older send me an e-mail card wishing me a happy feast day.  Sometimes I felt a little weird -- I was getting all the glory and gifts and it was St. Catherine who gave her life for Christ in an incredible way.  She was the Saint, not me.  But what I realized is that by celebrating her day it was only drawing me closer to her by giving glory to her for the life she lived for Christ.

So, needless to say over the years I have accumulated A LOT of things having to do with St. Catherine.  I have been given countless icons of her and prayer cards abound.  I think I have every writing she ever wrote or biography, etc. that was written about her and in college I would write out quotations by her, like this one, "If you are what you should be, you will set the world ablaze."  I would stick these quotations in my journal or Bible to remind me on days when I was having a hard time.

When I went to Rome on a Pilgrimage through the Archdiocese of Boston in 1994 I was blessed with a day excursion to Santa Maria Sopra Minerva where St. Catherine is buried. (I tried to find the picture of me at the church but can't seem to find it).

I went back to Rome in 2001 for four months to study and you think I would have gone to Siena (her place of birth) and to the church where her head is kept (don't ask).  But, no, in 2001 I was thinking more about discotheques and boys.  Sigh... I would do thinks very different this time around.  But someday I do hope to go to Siena and spend time here and to walk the streets that she walked, sit where she sat, and pray where she prayed.

Today is a day to celebrate but it also is going to be hard.  It makes me think of Dad and the way he fostered this love of St. Catherine and made me feel so special (and Mom too, of course).

I pray that my girls, Cecilia and Mary-Clare will get to know "their" Saints and regard them, love them and have the same pride to be named after St. Cecilia, and Our Lady of Sorrows and St. Clare (she got the mother load) the way I have been blessed by being named after St. Catherine.

I wish I could be a fly on the wall today up in Heaven listening to the great conversation I bet my Dad and St. Catherine are having or maybe they are just sitting around eating pizza (as the girls would say) with Jesus.