This is the fourth in a series of women in Church history.

Annually, thousands of individuals enter the Catholic Church. In addition to various beliefs, catechumens are required to understand and embrace the teaching on purgatory. A substantial number of these new Catholics obtain only a fragmentary, unclear, or ambiguous understanding of purgatory. Even those who were born and brought up in the Catholic tradition may have limited knowledge, possibly resulting from insufficient exposure or inadequate catechesis. One saint who offered profound insights into this doctrine is Caterina Fieschi Adorono, more commonly referred to as St. Catherine of Genoa.

Born in 1447, Catherine spent her whole life in Genoa, Italy. She was not part of any religious order, never encountered the pope, and lacked any extraordinary secular skill. Yet, at the age of 27, she transformed into a holy figure, one who was chosen by God. If she had any point of distinction, it was her affiliation with the influential, noble Fieschi family of Italy, which generated Pope Innocent IV (r. 1243-54) and Pope Adrian V (r. 1276).

As a devout young girl committed to Jesus, Catherine, at the age of 13, aspired to join a convent, but she was deemed too young. When she turned 16, her parents facilitated her marriage to a representative of another noble family, Giuliano Adorno. Initially, the marriage did not begin on a positive note.

Conjugal existence and transformation

Giuliano was childish, careless with money, disloyal, and irritable. For a number of years, Catherine tolerated her circumstances and began to seek out worldly pleasures, leading her to become indifferent in her faith. She spent roughly five years lacking significant spiritual guidance and noticed herself becoming progressively more dissatisfied and dejected.

One day, while visiting her sister, a nun, she was encouraged to participate in confession. As she knelt there, her spirit was filled with the love of God, and simultaneously, she experienced a vision of her sins and the sorrows of her life. She instantly realized that her secular existence could never offer the joy and serenity that comes from God. So immersed in rapture was she that she collapsed to the ground. This encounter was akin to the dramatic conversion of St. Paul. “[W]ithin a day or two she had a vision of Our Lord bearing His cross, which made her exclaim, ‘O Love, if it is required, I am prepared to confess my sins publicly!’ She then made a comprehensive confession of her entire life with such deep sorrow ‘as to pierce her soul.’ On the feast of the Annunciation, she received holy Communion, the first time with fervor after 10 years, and shortly thereafter became a daily communicant … a rare occurrence in those times” (“Lives Of The Saints, Vol II,” Alban Butler).

She renounced her worldly luxuries and devoted herself entirely to God. She promised there would be no more transgressions; her existence transformed into one of prayer and severe living. Catherine donned a hair shirt, engaged in rigorous fasting, seldom slept, consumed little, and developed a profound love for the Eucharist. Her spirit burned fervently for Christ. Catherine’s transformation influenced her husband, who too abandoned the secular life and joined as a third-order Franciscan. Together, they started to look after the impoverished and offered their services at the city hospital to assist the ill.

Catherine was relentless in her acts of compassion, searching for the most impoverished, tidying their homes, laundering their garments, and caring for their ailments. She entered the abodes of lepers, aiming to provide solace to those suffering from that terrible disease. When a plague emerged in 1493, she bravely dedicated herself to aiding hundreds who were affected. In her service to the ill and destitute, she resembled St. Elizabeth of Hungary (1207-31), who also relinquished all material possessions and spent her final years working in a hospital, caring for the disadvantaged. Catherine exemplified the individuals Jesus spoke of, stating: “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Mt 25:40).

Unveiling of purgatory

The Catholic doctrine of purgatory and intercessory prayers for the deceased can be traced back to the Old Testament in 2 Maccabees 12:41-46. This belief is commonly accepted among the early Church Fathers; for instance, St. Clement of Alexandria (150-215) stated, “Through punishment after death, individuals must atone for even the smallest sin before entering heaven.” Moreover, the Catechism articulates, “All who pass away in God’s grace and companionship, yet still not fully purified, are assured of their eternal salvation: however, they must undergo purification post-death, in order to attain the sanctity necessary to partake in the joy of heaven” (No 1030). Ecumenical Church councils, such as the Second Council of Lyons in 1274, Florence in 1439, and Trent in 1563, confirmed that the belief in purgatory should be accepted by all Catholics.

Since her conversion, Catherine encountered the extraordinary gifts of a mystic, encompassing a special understanding of purgatory. She acknowledged that, upon death, the soul finds itself in one of three places or states: heaven, hell, or purgatory. The latter is neither hell nor heaven. Her perspective highlights a hopeful anticipation of purgatory rather than the conventional emphasis predominantly on anguish and torment. “In her time, [purgatory] was mainly illustrated through spatial imagery: a particular space was envisioned where purgatory was thought to exist. Catherine, however, did not perceive purgatory as a location deep within the earth: for her, it signifies not an external but an internal fire. This is purgatory: an inner flame” (“Holy Men and Women,” Pope Benedict XVI).

Catherine concluded that, aside from heaven, no joy surpasses that discovered in purgatory. While acknowledging the spiritual anguish, she perceived purgatory as a state or realm we enter with the understanding that it will ultimately guide us to God; it serves as a gateway to heaven. The trials of purgatory, she contended, symbolize God’s affection. In this place, “rust which represents sin, envelops souls, and … is incinerated by fire; the more it is diminished, the more the soul reacts to God. … As the rust reduces and the soul becomes receptive to divine light, happiness increases” (“Treatise on Purgatory,” St. Catherine of Genoa).

Death and legacy

Catherine passed away in 1510 at the age of 63, reportedly after acquiring an illness from one of her patients. She was interred in the hospital chapel, but 18 months later, the coffin was compromised by water, necessitating the opening of the tomb to examine the remains. “[T]he casket was discovered in a lamentable state; nevertheless, the body of the saint was found perfectly incorrupt and unblemished. … Numerous miracles were documented as occurring during this period, and a widespread cultus emerged” (“The Incorruptibles,” Joan Carroll Cruz).

In 1737, Pope Clement XII (r. 1730-40) canonized her. Catherine authored two renowned texts: “A Treatise on Purgatory” and “A Dialogue of the Soul and the Body.” The Church determined that these works by themselves were sufficient proof of her holiness.

D.D. Emmons writes from Pennsylvania.