Coffee & Saints

Born: 23 April 1522 Florence, Republic of Florence
Died: 2 February 1590 (aged 67) Prato, Grand Duchy of Tuscany

What I appreciate about St. Catherine de Ricci:
She had such an incredible devotion to our Lord that she was willing to accept her suffering and use it as sacrifice for others.

Coffee Order:
I picture who choosing a mocha latte. I can see her smiling giddily when they decorate the foam in the shape of a heart – after all, she was madly in love with Jesus!

Did you ever hear of the book, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler? If not, it is a children’s book about a brother and sister who run away from home and move into The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Seriously, how cool would that be? I would truly find it fascinating! What is some place that you would find really cool to move into secretly? If I could ensure breathing underwater, I would find it absolutely amazing to live in the Caribbean Ocean among the beautiful coral.

While our Saint for today, Saint Catherine de Ricci, did not move into a museum, she ended up living somewhere that to her seemed just as unique. While Alessandra de Ricci (which was her birth name) was just an infant, her mother passed away. Her father, having no idea how to raise the girl, sent her to live in the Convent of Monticelli. I can picture the dreamy look in her eyes as she recalls how special the place was. There would have been so many halls to explore, so many corners to hide in, and many other people to interact with. A very unique place to live for a little girl!

As we sit together in a coffee shop so I can hear her story; I think she would choose something sweet – Mocha Latte. She was a Saint who was well known for entering ecstasy in prayer – so while she knew the pure love of God, she would still recognize the joy in treating oneself to something sweet! After all, God created the cocoa bean for us to enjoy!

For the type of coffee shop I picture her choosing; I think that she would choose somewhere homey – family run. She was a woman who found her family in the Convent among the sisters there. Family would be very important to her as she grew up with a loss on her heart from her mother passing away. However, she had so many mothers in the convent! God really does provide!

As a bonus, her aunt was one of the sisters in the convent so she was literally with family. After several years living among the religious sisters, her father came back for her and had her move home with him. I wonder what she felt as a child when the convent was all she had known? Was she scared to move home and live alone with her father because it would be so different? I can picture the young girl, tears in her eyes, as she is led away from the convent, the place that she had called home. This does not mean that I do not think that she would be happy to live with her father, just recognizing that change is very difficult; especially for young children.

With her father’s blessing, she joined the Dominicanesses at Prat, in Tuscany at the young age of fourteen. When I picture my fourteen year old self back in the early 2000’s, I cannot fathom that I would have had the faith devotion to say yes to the religious life! God worked in her heart so strongly and was so present to her that she knew this was her destiny at a very young age. I would love to see the smile in her eyes as she describes her yearning as a young girl to be as close to our Lord as possible.

I can see the smile on her face as she tells me of the great glory of God that she recognized during her earthly life. She was a big deal in the convent, as she was a woman who was filled with prudence and great devotion to the Lord, even amidst suffering. As her reputation grew, many holy men came to visit her, including three cardinals who became Pope’s! Furthermore, God trusted our Saint for today so deeply that He allowed her to see a man who was in purgatory so that she could pray for him to reach heaven! How cool is that?

I can see the gracious smile on her face as she speaks highly of our Lord and Savior who never let her down. She was so close to Jesus Himself that she, like Padre Pio, received the Stigmata (the wounds of Christ on the Cross). These were very painful and made her day-to-day tasks very difficult. She finally asked our Lord to take away the Stigmata so that she could better serve and the other sisters joined in her prayer. The Lord provided, and the wounds healed! I would hope that people would not take this as a sign of weakness from our Saint, that she prayed for them to be healed. After all, Jesus Himself begged the Father to take away His own pain and suffering in the garden!

She was friendly with Saint Philip Neri, who gave testimony to her bilocation (a spiritual phenomena where a person can literally be two places at once!). Philip was known for speaking openly about his own doubts about spiritual happenings like this; and yet, he assured the public that he had seen her hundreds of miles away from her convent where she was currently with the other sisters! I would love to see the glee in her eyes as she recounts this story to me, how shocked her friend must have been.

Saint Catherine de Ricci’s life and devotion to the Lord is a beautiful reminder that we are all called to do great things: if we are willing to listen to His promptings. While she was called to suffering – the Lord also rewarded her with amazing gifts and miracles that she willingly shared with others! The Lord is asking each one of us to follow her example and to carry our burdens with love, lifting up our troubles in sacrifice to others. What burdens are you carrying? What is that one thing that feels as though it weighs you down? Are you someone who is frequently ill? Are you someone who struggles with a particular sin or bad habit? Are you someone who struggles with mental health? This week, ask yourself how you can lift up your sufferings for someone else the way that Saint Catherine de Ricci did. A good rule of thumb is to write down the names of people who you know need prayer and to picture them in your sufferings, asking the Lord to accept your pain in their place. Jesus Himself modeled this for us when He died on the cross – He had each one of us in His mind when He suffered such great pain. May we all be Jesus to someone today!

Prayer:
Saint Catherine de Ricci, you were so devoted to God that you willingly accepted all of your suffering in the name of others so that they might be spared. Jesus Himself taught us to lay down our lives for our friends, and you did this daily; dying to yourself and helping others reach eternity through your constant prayer. May we remember to not dwell in our sufferings, but instead to recognize the great power of God and how He can use it for the greater good! Please pray for us to have the determination and zeal for our Lord that you had. Amen.

I hope you enjoyed learning about this Saint! The artwork above was created using AI and my own imagination – this is how I picture what it would be like to sit with Saint Catherine de Ricci in a coffeeshop today. I would love for you to share your own thoughts in the comments. How do you picture Saint Catherine de Ricci? What do you think she would have ordered at a coffee shop? Let me know below!

Cheers! ☕
Maggie