Letters of Catherine Benincasa

Name: Letters of Catherine Benincasa
Author: Catherine, of Siena, Saint

Catherine, of Siena, Saint

Catherine, of Siena, Saint, 1347-1380 -- Correspondence; Christian women saints -- Italy -- Siena -- Correspondence

So you see that all things pass. Then, seeing that they pass, they should
be possessed with moderation in the light of reason, loved in such wise as
they should be loved. And he who holds them thus will not hold them with
the help of sin, but with grace; with generosity of heart, and not with
avarice; in pity for the poor, and not in cruelty; in humility, not in
pride; in gratitude, not in ingratitude: and will recognize that his
possessions come from his Creator, and not himself. With this same
temperate love he will love his children, his friends, his relatives, and
all other rational beings. He will hold the condition of marriage as
ordained, and ordained as a Sacrament; and will have in respect the days
commanded by Holy Church. He will be and live like a man, and not a beast;
and will be, not indeed ascetic, but continent and self-controlled. Such a
man will be a fruitful tree, that will bear the fruits of virtue, and will
be fragrant, shedding perfume although planted in the earth; and the seed
that issues from him will be good and virtuous.

So you see that you can have God in any condition; for the condition is
not what robs us of Him, but the evil will alone, which, when it is set on
loving falsehood, is ill-ordered and corrupts a man's every work. But if
he loves truth, he follows the footsteps of truth; so he hates what truth
hates and loves what truth loves, and then his every work is good and
perfect. Otherwise it would not be possible for him to share the life of
grace, nor would any work of his bear living fruit.

So, knowing no other way, I said that I desired to see you a lover and
follower of truth and despiser of falsehood; hating the devil the father
of lies, and your own lower nature, that follows such a parent; and loving
Christ crucified, who is Way, Truth and Life. For He who walks in Him
reaches the Light, and is clothed in the shining garment of charity,
wherein are all virtues found. Which charity and love unspeakable, when it
is in the soul, holds itself not content in the common state, but desires
to advance further. Thus from mental poverty it desires to advance to
actual, and from mental continence to actual; to observe the Counsels as
well as the Commandments of Christ; for it begins to feel aversion for the
dunghill of the world. And because it sees the difficulty of being in
filth and not defiled, it longs with breathless desire and burning charity
to free itself by one act from the world so far as possible. If it is not
able to escape in deed, it studies to be perfect in its own place. At
least, it does not lack desire.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

Letters of Catherine BenincasaCatherine, of Siena, Saint

Religion

Letters of Catherine Benincasa

Catherine, of Siena, Saint

Catherine, of Siena, Saint, 1347-1380 -- Correspondence; Christian women saints -- Italy -- Siena -- Correspondence

So you see that all things pass. Then, seeing that they pass, they should
be possessed with moderation in the light of reason, loved in such wise as
they should be loved. And he who holds them thus will not hold them with
the help of sin, but with grace; with generosity of heart, and not with
avarice; in pity for the poor, and not in cruelty; in humility, not in
pride; in gratitude, not in ingratitude: and will recognize that his
possessions come from his Creator, and not himself. With this same
temperate love he will love his children, his friends, his relatives, and
all other rational beings. He will hold the condition of marriage as
ordained, and ordained as a Sacrament; and will have in respect the days
commanded by Holy Church. He will be and live like a man, and not a beast;
and will be, not indeed ascetic, but continent and self-controlled. Such a
man will be a fruitful tree, that will bear the fruits of virtue, and will
be fragrant, shedding perfume although planted in the earth; and the seed
that issues from him will be good and virtuous.

So you see that you can have God in any condition; for the condition is
not what robs us of Him, but the evil will alone, which, when it is set on
loving falsehood, is ill-ordered and corrupts a man's every work. But if
he loves truth, he follows the footsteps of truth; so he hates what truth
hates and loves what truth loves, and then his every work is good and
perfect. Otherwise it would not be possible for him to share the life of
grace, nor would any work of his bear living fruit.

So, knowing no other way, I said that I desired to see you a lover and
follower of truth and despiser of falsehood; hating the devil the father
of lies, and your own lower nature, that follows such a parent; and loving
Christ crucified, who is Way, Truth and Life. For He who walks in Him
reaches the Light, and is clothed in the shining garment of charity,
wherein are all virtues found. Which charity and love unspeakable, when it
is in the soul, holds itself not content in the common state, but desires
to advance further. Thus from mental poverty it desires to advance to
actual, and from mental continence to actual; to observe the Counsels as
well as the Commandments of Christ; for it begins to feel aversion for the
dunghill of the world. And because it sees the difficulty of being in
filth and not defiled, it longs with breathless desire and burning charity
to free itself by one act from the world so far as possible. If it is not
able to escape in deed, it studies to be perfect in its own place. At
least, it does not lack desire.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Letters of Catherine Benincasa

Letters of Catherine Benincasa

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