Catherine of Genoa

Saint Catherine of Genoa was born in 1447 in Genoa, Italy, the youngest child of the noble Fieschi family. As a girl she longed for religious life, but was refused entry to a convent because of her youth. After her father’s death she was married to Giuliano Adorno, and the marriage brought her years of sorrow through his infidelity, temper, and wastefulness. After a decade of hardship, Catherine experienced a profound conversion during confession on March 22, 1473, overwhelmed by the certainty of God’s love. From then on she lived in deep interior prayer and, with unusual devotion for a laywoman of her time, received Holy Communion almost daily. Her renewed life poured outward in mercy: she devoted her means and strength to serving the sick and the poor, especially during plague outbreaks in Genoa. Her husband also converted and joined her in charity, and Catherine eventually became manager and treasurer of the Pammatone hospital. Remembered as a mystic and for her teaching on purgatory, she is honored as patron of Lorsica. She died in Genoa on September 15, 1510. Her feast day is September 15.