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
Dearest mother in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and slave of
the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His precious Blood: with
desire to see you grounded in the truth which we must know and love for
our salvation. He who shall be grounded in the knowledge of the Truth,
Christ sweet Jesus, shall win and enjoy peace and quiet of soul, in the
ardour of that charity which receives the soul into this knowledge.
We should know this truth in two chief ways--although it befits us to know
it in everything--that is, everything which exists should love itself in
God and through God, who is Truth itself, and there is nothing without
Him; otherwise it would escape from truth and would walk in falsehood,
following the devil, who is the father thereof. I was saying that we ought
to recognize truth especially in two ways. The first is, we should
recognise the truth about God. He loves us unspeakably, and loved us
before we were; nay, by love He created us--this was and is the truth--in
order that we might have life eternal and enjoy His highest eternal good.
What shows us that this is truly so? The Blood, shed for us with such fire
of love. In the sweet Blood of the Word, the Son of God, we shall know the
truth of His doctrine, which gives life and light, scattering every shadow
of fleshly love and human self-indulgence, but knowing and following with
pure heart the doctrine of Christ crucified, which is grounded in the
truth. The second and last way is, that we ought to recognize the truth
about our neighbour, whether he be great or humble, subject or lord. That
is, when we see that men are doing some deed in which we might invite our
neighbour to join, we ought to perceive whether it is grounded in truth or
not, and what foundation he has who is impelled to do this deed. He who
does not do this, acts as one mad and blind, who follows a blind guide,
grounded in falsehood, and shows that he has no truth in himself, and
therefore seeks not the truth. Sometimes it happens that people are so
insane and brutal that they see themselves lose through such a deed the
life of soul and body and their temporal possessions; and they do not
care, for they are blinded, and do not know what they ought to know; they
walk in darkness, with a feminine nature that lacks any firmness or
stability.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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