St. Catherine of Bologna
St. Catherine of Bologna
Patron of Artists
Died: 1463
St. Catherine of Bologna, Virgin (Patroness of Artists) Feast - March 9th Born in 1413, Catherine de Vigri was the daughter of a diplomatic agent of the Marquis of Ferrara. At the age of eleven, she was appointed maid of honor to the daughter of the Marquis and shared her training and education. When the daughter eventually married, she wanted Catherine to remain in her service, but Catherine left the court and became a Franciscan Tertiary at the age of fourteen.
Catherine had determined to live a life of perfection, and was admired by her companions for her holiness. Eventually her Community became part of the Poor Clares. She soon began to experience visions of Christ and Satan, and wrote of her experiences, one of which occurred one Christmas. Through her efforts with Pope Nicholas V, the Poor Clare convent at Ferrara erected an enclosure, and Catherine was appointed Superioress. The reputation of the Community for its holiness and austerity became widespread. She then was appointed Superioress of a new convent in Bologna.
In Lent of 1463, Catherine became seriously ill, and she died on March 9th. Buried without a coffin, her body was exhumed eighteen days later because of cures attributed to her and also because of the sweet scent coming from her grave. Her body was found to be incorrupt and remains so today in the Church of the Poor Clare convent in Bologna. She was canonized in 1712.
Despite the opportunity to live a noble life at court, St. Catherine eagerly responded to her call to lead the religious life. Her piety, charity, and kindness attracted many to follow her along the road to perfection. The beauty of her life and death encourages us to resolve to live in perfect charity as a Lenten goal.
Previous Saint
< St. Catherine Chong Ch'oryom
Next Saint
St. Catherine of Alexandria >
Rate This Saint
1 - 20 of 42 Comments
Leave a Comment
Previous Saint
< St. Catherine Chong Ch'oryom
Next Saint
St. Catherine of Alexandria >
Find Saints
Catholic Online offers the largest searchable database of Catholic Saints on the internet.
| Browse Saints by Alphabet |
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
| Patron Saints by Alphabet |
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
Videos
St. Francis of Assisi 78,693 views View Video
Padre Pio 47,161 views View Video
Black Saints Vol I 30,440 views View Video
Black Saints Vol II 27,018 views View Video
Most Popular
There's the problem! Americans are out of touch with scientific consensus on climate change Read More
Editorial: Is the Scandal Ridden Obama Administration Becoming a House of Cards? Read More
Sex In Uniform: Why the Increase in Sexual Assaults in the Military? Read More
Bill Donohue, Catholic League, Disclose Fight with the IRS, Demonstrate Courage Read More
Has the Internal Revenue Service become 'Domestic Terrorists'? Read More
Daily Readings
Reading 1, Sirach 2:1-11
My child, if you aspire to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for ... Read More
Psalm, Psalms 37:3-4, 18-19, 27-28, 39-40
Put your trust in Yahweh and do right, make your home in the ... Read More
Gospel, Mark 9:30-37
After leaving that place they made their way through Galilee; ... Read More
Saint of the Day
St. Eugene de Mazenod
May 21: Eugene de Mazenod was born on August 1, 1782, at Aix-en-Provence ... Read More
Latest Videos
Catholic Mass from the Church of Ste. Genevieve (5/19/13) View Video
'Salve Virginale'- Gregorian Chant;'Fontgombault Abbey' HD View Video
'Salve Virginale'- Gregorian Chant;'Fontgombault Abbey' HD View Video
'Beata viscera Mariae'- Byrd-polyphony (HD) View Video
Learning about Gregorian Chant~ Solesmes View Video
Marketplace
The Fulfillment of All Desire
Honorable Mention from the Catholic Press Association
Ralph Martin, ... Read More
St Christopher Personalized Engraved Name Necklace. Read More
dear all i wanna ask, can i use saint catherine of bologna for my daughter name? please reply asap thanks
happy feast day St. Catherine of Bologna. Thank you for our visit to Bologna, we hope to visit you again some day.
I love this saint because I LUV art. I'm eleven and we had a saint block project and I choose St. Catherine of Bologna. She is AMAZING! THX U 4 INFO! RLLY HELPED!
i loved the story she was a great saint and now also she is................
i like the story, but... what is wrong with her face? it looks like it got dipped in boiling oil. ugh...
I love art so she Is very interesting:)
I Love Art!!!
i have to say that this story was truly inspiring.
i learned a lot. I did this saint because I love art and i am thinking of becoming a professional when i grow up. This website is cool too!
I'll definitely be coming to this site to look up more saints in the future!
God Bless!
Well to be honest I was only looking in here because I have to write my Saint essay for Church, and it's due in two days. I didn't expect for this to be so inspiring, but I actually have to say it definitely is. And it hits real close to my heart because I love to draw, and just art in general. Well I certainly found my saint.
Looks like a lovely saint, but is there something wrong with her face or is it just me?
this was inspireing to me because i like to draw
Her life story is very inspiring. Together with Mother Mary and other saints please intercede for us in this time of modern time persecution to the Catholic church.
I'm getting confirmed on the 11th March and I can't wait to have Catherine as my name. I chose her because I have a passion for art. But I can't find out what year she became a saint. Please help I have to have my report done in 3 days!!!
As an artist, I find her extremely inspiring! :)
I am getting confirmed this year but I don't know what beatitude might have influenced her life. I need to know this for my Saint Report. If you know the answer please let me know.
I am 13 and I picking this saint for my confirmation name. I wasn't sure which saint, because I was thinking of many different ones. As soon as I looked up the patron saint of art, I found this article and knew i wanted to use her name as my confirmation name. I really like art and thats why i chose her. The article was really helpful too and the picture was really neat, because you dont find many saint's bodies that you can actually go to and see today! :)
I am 14 years old, and we are doing a saint project on three saints. Canonized, modern, and living. We had to choose people who relate to us in a personality or personal way. I chose St. Catherine because she is the parton saint of artists. I am also an artist. I am head over heels in love with art. It is what basically makes life. I want to become a professional artist and I am hoping that St. Catherine is with me and guides me on my path. I love this article. It is fabulous.
Im in 7th grade and my teacher said to choose a saint to relate to any Catholic social teaching. He told us to choose the same one as we were going to choose for our confirmation and of course i looked right away for the patron of art. At first i was creeped out by the mummified body but after reading her story i knew she was the one to choose. :)
I'm 14 and love art especially sculpture, I wanted to know who the patron saint of art was and found Catherine seeing her story adds to my interests as I love music to the other comments add to the idea of taking her for my confirmation... She sounds to be an amazing person I'd love to laern more any ideas where to look?
I chose st. Cathrine because she is wonderful and I am a celeb artist who pInted her picture and now it's in a museum.
I'm 13 & getting ready to be confirmed, and I'm pretty sure I'll choose this saint too. I love drawing, and when I learned that St. Catherine was also a violinist like me, I just found her story perfect.