At the last excerpt: St. Catherine followed an approved
rule of life in the spirit of St. Dominic, wearing a Dominican
habit, but remained living at home.
The next three years Catherine increased her personal
asceticism, eating and sleeping very little and leaving her
home only for the nearby Dominican church, where she
attended daily Mass and sought the spiritual direction of the
friars. She enjoyed an almost continual sense of the
presence of Christ, interspersed with violent temptations
from the devil. At times Catherine endured long periods of
feeling completely abandoned by God, and she once
prayed, “O Lord, where were You when my heart was so
sorely vexed with foul and hateful temptations?” She heard
a voice saying, “Daughter, I was in your heart, fortifying you
by grace.”
This time in her life culminated when, in her twentieth
year, Catherine was given the rare grace of “mystical
espousal” to the Lord. While praying in her room, Jesus
Christ, accompanied by His mother and many of the
heavenly hosts, appeared to Catherine. The Blessed
Mother took her hand and held it up to Christ, as He placed
a ring on Catherine’s finger and espoused her to Himself.
(This ring would be visible only to Catherine the rest of her
life as a reminder of the abiding presence of Jesus). “Be of
good courage”, He told her; “You are now armed with a
faith that will overcome all temptations.” Catherine soon
was made aware that she was to go and serve Him by
serving her family and her neighbors.
From: Sermon in a Sentence
A Treasury of Quotations on the Spiritual Life
Volume 3 – St. Catherine of Siena