St. Catherine of Siena QUESTION from Mrs. Roberta Foster Sept. 27 1999 In an out-of-town Catholic Church, I came upon a bulletin about St. Catherine of Siena. It said after her death, a pair of red dancing shoes was found underneath her bed. Is this true??
ANSWER by Mrs. Suzanne Fortin on October 2, 1999 Dear Mrs. Foster, I have not been able to confirm or debunk this assertion as of yet. If any readers know something about this or can suggest a source which addresses this point, I would ask that they please contact me. If they want to write me privately, they may do so at catholichistory@go.com
For those of you who are unfamiliar with St. Catherine of Siena: She was a fourteenth-century mystic (1347-1380) and one of three female doctors of the Church (the other two being Saint Teresa of Avila and Saint Therese de Lisieux). She was a very bold woman, but not in any worldly sense. She was bold because she loved Christ more than anything and did not care about worldly approval or disapproval. Her counsel was sought by people of every social class. She is said to have influenced for the return of Pope Gregory XI from Avignon to Rome, and tried to end the Great Western Schism, a sad period in Catholic history in which there was said to be two popes.
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