Wisdom and Wonder · Week 4 · Grades 9–12
Guided Notes: St. Catherine of Siena
- Name
- Date
- Class
Follow along as your teacher presents. Fill in each section when its slide is on the screen.
St. Catherine of Siena
Siena, 1347
Catherine Benincasa was born in Siena on blank 1 25, 1347, among the youngest of a wool dyer’s very large family. The Black Death struck the city the following year.
Her world was unstable. Italian city-states fought one another and the papacy. The popes had resided in Avignon since blank 2, and many Christians saw their absence from Rome as a scandal.
Catherine refused the marriage her parents planned. In her teens she joined the blank 3 Third Order, laywomen who wore the habit but lived at home. For about three years she kept to a small room in prayer, then turned outward to the sick, the poor and the imprisoned.
A short life in a long crisis
Write what happened in each year.
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1309 | Write your answer |
| 1347 | Write your answer |
| 1374 | Write your answer |
| 1376 | Write your answer |
| 1377 | Write your answer |
| 1378 | Write your answer |
| 1380 | Write your answer |
| 1970 | Write your answer |
Letters that did not flatter
About blank 4 of Catherine’s letters survive, most of them dictated to secretaries. She wrote to popes, cardinals, queens, mercenary captains, prisoners and friends.
She called the pope “sweet Christ on earth” and, in the same letters, urged him to reform a corrupt clergy, make peace with the blank 5 cities and return to Rome. Reverence and candor went together.
In blank 6 she went to Avignon, in part to seek peace between Florence and the papacy. That mission failed, but Gregory XI did leave for Rome. When the schism broke out in 1378, Urban VI called her to Rome, and she spent her last two years pleading for unity.
Reading Catherine carefully
Write one detail for each card.
| Card | The detail |
|---|---|
| The Dialogue | Write your answer |
| Self-knowledge | Write your answer |
| Her fasting | Write your answer |
| Doctor of the Church | Write your answer |
| Patron saint | Write your answer |
Apply it
Which online action comes closest to how Catherine corrected Pope Gregory XI? Circle one.
- A Posting a thread listing a leader’s failures
- B Unfollowing quietly and telling no one why
- C Writing directly, by name, with respect and candor
- D Sharing an anonymous meme that mocks the leader
Why is that the right answer?
Apply it
Catherine put self-knowledge before speaking. Which habit applies that best before you post a criticism? Circle one.
- A Asking what you want from posting it
- B Checking how many people will agree
- C Waiting until the topic is trending
- D Asking an AI tool to sharpen the tone
Why is that the right answer?
Virtues Catherine lived
For each virtue, write how the saint lived it and one way you can practice it.
| Virtue | How the saint lived it | How I can practice it |
|---|---|---|
| Fortitude | Write your answer | Write your answer |
| Charity in truth | Write your answer | Write your answer |
| Humility | Write your answer | Write your answer |
Take a side
Catherine corrected the most powerful leaders of her age in letters addressed to them personally. Resolved: publicly calling out a leader online is a faithful way to follow her example today.
My side: ☐ Agree ☐ Disagree
- Her letters were sent to the person concerned. Does a public post do the same work, or different work?
- When private appeals are ignored and others are being harmed, does charity require going public?
- Catherine signed her name and had a known life of service. What gives a voice credibility online?
- Can a platform built for reactions carry both reverence and candor?
- Where is the line between prophetic honesty and contempt?
My strongest reason, with evidence from the slides:
The best argument for the other side, and my response:
Let us pray
Lord Jesus, bridge between earth and heaven, lead us to the Father.
Teach us to know ourselves honestly in your light.
Give us courage to speak the truth and charity to speak it well.
St. Catherine of Siena, pray for us.
Amen.
My own prayer or intention:
Go and speak the truth in love
A dyer’s daughter from Siena became a counselor of popes and a Doctor of the Church. Her feast day is April 29.
One thing I learned today:
One question I still have:
How could the example of St. Catherine of Siena shape the way I live, online and offline?
Challenge: Write one honest, signed message this week to someone who needs to hear a hard truth or a word of real encouragement. Pray before you send it.