St. Catherine of Siena
The girl who told the Pope what to do. He listened.
Catherine was born in Siena, Italy in 1347, the 24th of 25 children, and she still managed to stand out. When she was six years old she had a vision of Jesus smiling at her from the sky. From that point on she seemed to know her life was going to look different from everyone else's.
Catherine never went to school. She didn't learn to read and write until she was grown. But once she did, she wrote constantly. Letters to priests. Letters to kings. Letters to prisoners. Letters to the Pope. When she convinced Pope Gregory XI to return to Rome after years away, she was 29.
Her most famous words: Be who God meant you to be, and you will set the world on fire. She believed every person, no matter how ordinary, had exactly what they needed to do something that mattered.
The April envelope
April's letter came from St. Catherine, a saint who loved writing letters as much as we do. Her hand-drawn prayer card, sticker, and the April zine came tucked in the same envelope.
- A hand-drawn letter from St. Catherine
- A collectible prayer card, pencil art on the front, a hand-lettered prayer on the back
- A St. Catherine sticker
- An 8-page hand-illustrated zine
Fun facts
- She's one of only four women ever named a Doctor of the Church
- She's the patron saint of Italy and of Europe
- She dictated a famous book called The Dialogue while so deep in prayer that others had to write it down for her
- Her feast day is April 29
Feast day: April 29 · Patron of Italy and Europe
A different saint writes to your little one every month. Letters from Heaven mails a hand-illustrated letter, prayer card, sticker, and zine, straight to your mailbox.
Start the letters