Dominican mystic, stigmatized, and a major figure of Florentine spirituality in the 16th century
Saint Catherine de’ Ricci, born Alessandra Lucrezia Romola de’ Ricci in 1522 in Florence, belongs to that select circle of great mystics of the 16th century whose life—marked by ecstasy, contemplation, and the stigmata—deeply nourished Catholic spirituality. A Dominican religious, she became one of the most remarkable figures of the inner reform that the Church underwent after the Council of Trent. Her life, entirely oriented toward the Passion of Christ, stands in the lineage of great ecstatic saints such as Catherine of Siena and Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi.
Relic of Saint Catherine de’ Ricci on relics.es
Her spiritual influence, her extraordinary gifts—particularly her famous “Holy Friday,” a weekly vision of the Passion that lasted about twenty-eight hours—and her reputation for holiness quickly surpassed the boundaries of her monastery in Prato, radiating throughout Italy and then the whole of Christendom. Canonized in 1746, she remains one of the great Dominican saints, a model of contemplation, obedience, and charity.
Noble origins and spiritual formation
Alessandra de’ Ricci was born into a Florentine noble family, the Ricci, several of whose members held important positions within the Florentine Republic. Orphaned of her mother at a very young age, she was entrusted to the care of her relative Louisa de’ Ricci, a nun at the convent of San Pietro Martire in Prato. The latter played a decisive role in the young Alessandra’s education and spiritual formation: she taught her prayer, devotion to the Virgin Mary, and the meaning of sacrifice.
From a very young age, the future saint stood out for her intense interior life. At the age of five, she already displayed a profound inclination toward silent prayer. At seven, she experienced her first mystical phenomena, including a sharp sense of divine presence that sometimes plunged her into an immobility surprising for her age. These phenomena, far from troubling her family, were interpreted as early signs of a religious vocation.
Her youth unfolded in piety, modesty, and a constant attraction to monastic life. She joined in works of mercy, widespread in Florentine circles and supported by lay confraternities. She already aspired to renounce the world to devote herself to God.
Entrance into the convent and early spiritual battles
At thirteen, Alessandra obtained her father’s permission to enter as a boarder with the Dominican nuns of the Monastery of San Vincenzo in Prato. There she discovered a fervent but demanding community, marked by the Dominican rule and the still-present reform spirit of Savonarola. At fifteen, she received the habit of the Dominican Third Order and was given the name Catherine, in reference to Catherine of Siena, of whom she would become one of the most faithful spiritual imitators.
This new life, however, was not free of trials. Catherine went through a difficult period marked by physical illness and interior torments. The devil, according to contemporary accounts, attempted to turn her away from her vocation. She endured scruples, nocturnal anxieties, violent temptations, and frightening visions, which she fought through prayer, fasting, and mortification. Her total obedience to her superiors and her humility helped her to remain steadfast during these moments of desolation.
Little by little, these trials gave way to a deeper inner peace. Catherine then experienced rapid spiritual growth, nourished by Dominican prayer and the study of Scripture. She made her religious profession at sixteen.
An exceptional mystic: visions, ecstasy, and supernatural gifts
The ecstatic phenomena
Beginning in 1541, Catherine entered a period of intense mystical phenomena. She experienced frequent ecstasies, sometimes daily. During these moments, her body became motionless, her face illuminated, and her pulse nearly imperceptible. Her sisters testified that she could remain for hours without breathing, as if suspended outside of time.
Catherine’s ecstasies were so striking that physicians of the era were summoned to examine them. None found any natural explanation. The superiors ensured the young nun’s protection while making sure that these extraordinary events did not disrupt convent discipline.
The “Friday of the Passion”
One of the most famous elements of her mystical life is the phenomenon known as the “Friday of the Passion”. Every week, from Thursday noon to Friday afternoon, Catherine interiorly relived the entire Passion of Christ. Her visions followed the Gospel scenes in chronological order: the Last Supper, the Agony in the Garden, the Scourging, the Crowning with Thorns, the Carrying of the Cross, and the Crucifixion.
During these approximately twenty-eight hours, she truly suffered—physically and emotionally—the torments associated with each stage of the Passion. Witnesses reported that she trembled, wept, bled slightly, and felt the pain of blows and thorns. At other times, she spoke aloud, responding to invisible interlocutors, describing scenes as if she were present.
The superiors, aware of the extraordinary nature of the phenomenon, recorded these observations in the monastery archives. These notes would later become valuable documents for the beatification process.
Interior stigmata
Unlike other mystics, such as Saint Francis of Assisi or Saint Catherine of Siena, Saint Catherine de’ Ricci did not receive visible stigmata, except for very slight temporary marks. Her stigmata were mainly interior: she felt in her body the pains of the Crucifixion without the appearance of external wounds.
The beauty of these invisible stigmata lies in their spiritual essence: she shared Christ’s suffering intimately and silently, without display, in a union of love.
The gift of bilocation and charismatic graces
Several witnesses report that Catherine de’ Ricci possessed the grace of bilocation, meaning the ability to appear in a distant place while remaining in the monastery. Tradition claims, for example, that she appeared spiritually to Saint Philip Neri in Rome, with whom she maintained a profound mystical friendship despite never having met him physically.
She was also attributed the gifts of prophecy, discernment of spirits, healing, and reading of hearts. These charisms, common among Dominican and Franciscan mystics of the time, were always exercised in humility.
Spiritual teacher and administrator of the monastery
Although immersed in a life of mystical union, Catherine also led a very active life within her community. She was successively elected subprioress and later prioress, a position she held for many years with intelligence, gentleness, and authority.
She reformed internal discipline, encouraged fraternal charity, improved the formation of novices, and oversaw the monastery’s economic management. Her decisions were marked by wisdom; her ability to combine contemplation and action testifies to her exceptional spiritual balance.
Catherine was renowned for her discernment in complex matters. Many priests, religious, bishops, and laypeople came to seek her counsel. She was also visited by Florentine nobles, physicians, and theologians who wished to observe her mystical phenomena or request her assistance.
Life of prayer and spirituality
The spirituality of Saint Catherine de’ Ricci rests on four major pillars:
Contemplation of the Passion
Like her illustrious Dominican predecessor, Saint Catherine of Siena, Catherine de’ Ricci lived in deep intimacy with the suffering Christ. Her entire life was an embodied meditation on the Passion.
Dominican obedience
She regarded obedience as the surest means of remaining united to God. Despite her extraordinary gifts, she never undertook anything without the permission of her superiors.
Humility
Catherine considered herself the least among the sisters. She accepted criticism, questioning, and even the humiliations imposed on her by skeptical visitors. Humility, for her, was a path of love.
Charity
She carried the entire Church in her prayer, including sinners, the sick, and the dying. Her letters—remarkable for their depth—reveal a heart full of compassion.
Illnesses, final ecstasy, and death
Beginning in 1589, Catherine’s health declined. She suffered from persistent fever, internal pains, and increasing weakness. Her last “Friday of the Passion” took place a few months before her death.
On February 2, 1590, while the community celebrated the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, Catherine received the last sacraments. She died peacefully on the first—according to some sources, the second—of February, after murmuring the words of Simeon’s Canticle: “Now, Lord, you let your servant go in peace.”
News of her death spread quickly. Pilgrims flocked to Prato to venerate her body, which remained intact and fragrant for several days. Her reputation for holiness was such that miracles occurred almost immediately at her tomb.
Beatification, canonization, and cult
The beatification process began shortly after her death. The monastery’s carefully kept archives provided exceptional testimony: detailed descriptions of her ecstasies, correspondence, miracle accounts, medical observations, and statements from her superiors.
She was beatified in 1732 and canonized by Benedict XIV in 1746.
Her cult spread throughout Italy, Spain, France, and the Dominican territories of the New World. She became a model for contemplative nuns and for laypeople devoted to meditation on the Passion.
Her relics—particularly her bones and certain bodily fragments—are preserved in Prato, but a few rare particles were distributed in sealed reliquaries, like those still found today in old collections.
Spiritual legacy
Saint Catherine de’ Ricci left behind a vast spiritual legacy rooted in union with Christ’s Passion, simplicity of heart, and obedience. Her teachings, mostly transmitted orally, deeply influenced Dominican women’s monasteries.
She embodies the delicate balance between the highest mysticism and practical action. She reminds us that true contemplation always leads to charity and service.
Even today, her “Friday of the Passion” inspires the faithful who seek to meditate on the Cross as the center of Christian life. She remains a model of fidelity, gentleness, and spiritual discernment.
Her monastery of San Vincenzo in Prato preserves her memory, and her body rests beneath the main altar, displayed for the veneration of pilgrims.
Conclusion
Saint Catherine de’ Ricci stands as one of the great mystical figures of the Italian Renaissance. Her extraordinary life, entirely dedicated to the love of Christ, bears witness to an inner path marked by suffering, contemplation, and supernatural joy.
Her holiness lies not only in the extraordinary phenomena that marked her existence—ecstasies, interior stigmata, bilocation—but in the humble fidelity with which she lived her Dominican vocation.
Her legacy remains an invitation to spiritual depth, gentleness, mercy, and contemplation of the mystery of the Passion.
