The Dialogue of the Seraphic Virgin St. Catherine of Siena

St. Catherine of Siena is recognized as one of the most remarkable mystical theologians of the Middle Ages. She was also a stigmatist, counsellor of popes and is one of only three women to be made a Doctor of the Church. The Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena treats of the whole spiritual life of man in the form of a series of colloquies between the Eternal Father and the human soul (represented by Catherine herself). The structure of the Dialogue is unusual: the saint makes four petitions to God for herself, for the Church, for the whole world, and for the assurance of God s providence in all things. The rest of the book is devoted to God s response to these four petitions.