The Road to Siena

This is a great little biography. It's a new edition of a biography written in the early 20th-century. I mention that because this is not your typical modern history or biography. It is very casual, less scholarly, more conversational. He also accepts the worldview of the subject. He speaks of Catherine's ecstasies, miracles, visions, spiritual “eating disorder”, and other aspects of her life in a very matter-of-fact way. He does not offer critiques of these incidents nor does he clearly say he believes they were genuine spiritual manifestations. Catherine (and others) said this happened, and so he writes that they reported it happened. No judgment. No analysis. Just telling the story as neither hagiography nor as suspicious modernist treatise. The annotations from the editor of this new edition are genuinely insightful, offering some of those little nuggets that we as modern readers would likely appreciate. Whenever an unfamiliar name pops up, we see a call-out box from the editor telling us who it is. There are asides about Catherine's unhealthy eating habits, views on the Crusades, gender issues, and theological insights.

Regardless of all these issues, Catherine's is a fascinating life that was cut too short (likely due to her own behaviors). I can't say that I would have bought wholeheartedly into her theology and actions at the time, but in hindsight, if one can look past just how odd her mysticism was, and take from it what they can, they can learn so much about this remarkable woman–one of only two women that the Catholic Church has named a “Doctor of the Church”. She deserves it.