Walking with the Saint of Siena: A Contemporary Call to Holiness

As we approach the Feast of St. Catherine of Siena, we reached out to Prioresses who have St. Catherine as their patroness to share their reflections. We asked them: what is the Saint teaching us in this specific moment in history?

Below is the sharing from Sr. Cecilia Espenilla, Prioress of Congregation of Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena

Though St. Catherine of Siena lived her life in a faith experience and spirituality far different from that of our own time, she stands as a companion with us on the Christian journey in her effort to invite the Lord in her own life. Like any journey worth taking, our faith journeys are marred by difficulties and doubt. But as Saint Catherine of Siena proved, all struggles are worthwhile if it brings us into closer proximity to God. The value of her life for us today lies in her recognition of holiness as a goal to be sought over the course of a lifetime. She learns to view her surrender to her Lord as a goal to be reached through time. As a Prioress General of the Congregation, this is what I would emphasize to the Sisters to live a holy life. This is the inspiration we derived from our dear St. Catherine of Siena. This is what we need at this point in time when we are distracted with many things around, especially the effects of technology in the society, holiness of life.

St. Catherine of Siena was known for her unwavering dedication to serving the poor and sick in her community. As a congregation we have a program for the poor, twice a week we provide rice and food to them. Then monthly we have Medical Mission to poor communities and we are able to serve up to 2,000 people in one Medical Mission alone. We bring with us several volunteer doctors. Then we provide scholarship to 345 poor but deserving youth, by enrolling them for free in our schools. Then every Christmas we provide grocery items to about 800 families, and Christmas party to 150 Senior Citizens and 200 children. This is our mission to the poor and the sick. Also, St. Catherine of Siena worked tirelessly for the crusade against the Turks and for peace between Florence and the pope. Right now, this is the concern of the whole world for peace and the end of war in the Middle East. In our community we pray an additional rosary everyday, for peace, for the end of war and the safety of the people. We continue the legacy in honor of St. Catherine of Siena, our Patroness up to this time.