This remarkable twelve-minute talk featuring the selected poems from St. Catherine has the potential to open the door to the divine for willing seekers of true happiness. St. Catherine would tell you that you just need to knock on the door that is within you. 

St. Catherine opens this talk with the claim that she wanted to be a hermit. Sounds like a decent plan some days. Rather than having a thousand painted doors, you would be restricted to only one door which of course is you. 

One can only imagine what is going through the minds of our youth in this world full of joy and pain. It is at times, a difficult world. When one is completely alone in deep sleep, that very one is in bliss. However, when any man or woman wakes and dreams, all kinds of things happen. Once we start adding names and relationships, that is when the pain and joy begin. The movie show in our minds is happy to oblige. 

St. Catherine appears to have uncovered who is the dreamer, the waker and the deep sleeper - and she stood apart from all that in a fourth state - the observer. Wow, Wow, Wow!  

Modern Society and 14th-Century Italy

Catherine was born on March 25, 1347, in Siena, Italy, a vibrant city made wealthy by commercial banking, enriched by artisans, and surrounded by vineyards and the green rolling hills of Tuscany. The blossoms of the Middle Ages were fading; the Modern Age of Europe was emerging. Riots, demonstrations, coups, and military campaigns flooded the streets of this ancient town while the Black Plague wove its way through the stone villas as an angel of death, killing men and women both strong and weak.

The world of Catherine of Siena bears a remarkable similarity to our modern world.

With ongoing tribulations igniting in the cities and suburbs of the world, powerful men and women inciting wars of words between classes, and political battles and expositions of scandals both in secular and religious life dominating a polarized media, today’s problems seem impossible to overcome. But are they?

St. Catherine, one woman, small in stature and education, succeeded in renewing the turbulent social, political, and ecclesiastical life of the 14th century. That woman’s words and example can show us how to renew the societies of this world. 

What makes Catherine of Siena different from the multitude of people throughout history who have wanted change? Her intimate relationship with the divine, for one thing.

Catherine did not seek fame or notoriety; she sought to know the divine and had complete faith. 

Catherine famously said, “Be who you are, and you will set the world ablaze.” This truth echoes through the ages, inspiring the modern conscience.

It was said that Catherine was completely herself. This is a key thing for those seeking true happiness; we often imitate people to be holy. Catherine was not lost in constant comparisons or leaning on others; she was Catherine! 

The Emily Dahl Foundation 
August 2024