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Among all the dozens of stigmatists who have been declared saint or blessed, the stigmata of scourging appears to be the rarest of the stigmatic injuries.  St. Colette of Corbie (1381-1447) is principally remembered as one of the most important influences of the Poor Clares, as she established many new convents and reformed existing ones. But she also had a tremendous devotion to the passion of Christ, and would commonly go into ecstasies focused on it. During one such ecstasy, Colette&rsq …

Born on the Feast of the Annunciation in 1347, Catherine was the twenty-third child of the wool dyer Jacopo Benincasa and his wife Lapa. From a young age, Catherine was devoted to Christ and the Church. She wished to join a group of third-order Dominican women known informally as the Mantellate or “Cloaked Sisters” and formally as the Sisters of Penance of St. Dominic. The group of laywomen wore a white woolen dress with a white veil and black cape and lived in their own homes. Her family d …

Whatever Happened To Penance And Mortification? Could we imagine what it would be like if athletes stopped training their bodies? It would be unthinkable. Without training they would never have the strength and stamina required to perform. They also would lose their fans, since we respect athletes because of the great feats their training allows them to perform. The same can be said of the saints, the champion athletes of the Faith. They are exemplars not of physical training but of the asceti …

  Here at Catholic Answers one of the questions we get again and again is one that could have eternal consequences: "How can I grow in holiness?" Most Catholics want to grow in holiness, but they don't know where to start. They don’t know where to look for spiritual direction, for examples of how others have answered this question for themselves. The answer to the question is surprisingly simple. Look to the Saints – the holy men and women of God who came before us, and li …