This work offers a selection of passages from Catherine of Siena as a basis for a path of spiritual growth with the theme of growth in capacity to love. There is an introduction and fifteen chapters, no additional front or back matter. Each chapter will include a couple of very short passages from Catherine; a couple of scripture readings about the theme of Catherine’s passages; a meditation and guide to Catherine’s wisdom; and exercises based on Catherine’s wisdom.

The book invites engagement with the content of the passages through the suggested prayer exercises that seek to help persons apply Catherine’s wisdom to their own journey. These prayer exercises are suitable for a beginner or someone already on a spiritual journey. They contain methods of prayer that are active and use the imagination, as well as more contemplative ones.

Endorsements

"St. Catherine of Siena is often known for her challenging the religious authorities of her time. But that understanding of this multifaceted saint is too narrow. This lovely new book helps us all understand the foundation of her spiritual life, which is love. This love, which comes from God, and which is for God, is a beautiful invitation for the reader to enter into a world of God's embrace."

—James Martin, SJ, author of Learning to Pray.

"In her beautifully scripted guide to the spirituality of Catherine of Sienna, Diana Villegas makes four significant offerings. First, she tells us the story of an important spiritual leader in the context of her time and place. Second, she highlights the essential theology and meaning of this leader for our time and place; namely, the conviction of God as loving presence at work in all people at all times to include and involve us in the unfolding of love. Third, she highlights the vision of Catherine for the feminine divine. Fourth, she scaffolds for the reader a pathway into the spirituality that Catherine represents, namely a journey into the loving and peaceful wisdom of God that is accessible to each human being through attention to the inner life. Diana's writing is intelligent, crystal clear, grounded in extensive scholarship and personal familiarity with the writing and spirit of Catherine, yet remarkably accessible and practically applicable to the everyday person open to learning from one of Christianity's great mystics. This book is a treasure!"

—Dr. Phil Daughtry, spiritual director and founder of Fruitful Mind Consultancy, Adelaide, South Australia

Diana L. Villegas studied spirituality at the Institute of Spirituality of the Gregorian University, Rome, and obtained a PhD in theology, specializing in the history of spirituality, from Fordham University. Her dissertation compared discernment in Catherine of Siena and Ignatius of Loyola. She is a trained spiritual and retreat director with over thirty of years of experience. After many years in the Boston area, she now lives in her native Colombia.

†