Essay about St. Catherine of Siena

Something changed her when she was 21. She described an experience she referred to as her "mystical marriage to Christ." There are debates over whether or not St. Catherine was given a ring with some claiming she was given a bejeweled ring, and other claiming the ring was made of Jesus's skin. St. Catherine herself started the rumor of the latter in her writings, but she was known to often claim the ring itself was invisible.

Her undying passion and faith in God contributed towards her vocation which inspired others. From birth till death Mary has been a significant figure in the church’s history.

For most civilizations, religious figures have had a large influence over the lives of the common people. The Roman Catholic Church was a very influential figure in many civilizations. It can trace its origins to over 2000 years ago. One of the Church’s most influential periods of this time was the Middle Ages. The Roman Catholic Church played a very big role in the lives of the people during that period. For many, it was the center of their life. The three most important impacts of the Church on medieval life were their secular roles concerning laws and their position over the state, the way that the Church unified Europe, and their power over the common people.

She was admitted to take communion on Christmas day, “since Catherine appeared to be an exceptional case…” Catherine’s initiation into Catholicism was a rapid process and she continued to be skilled her faith for the rest of her life. This was contrary to what the Jesuit priests had in mind for their conversion of the Mohawks. As far as they had considered, “‘savages’ and ‘saints’ belonged to different contexts.” When converting the Mohawks, the Jesuits had no intentions of possibly finding a future saint in their midst. The categories were completely separate. It was only later in Catherine’s life that the members of her community began to recognize that she “…possessed extraordinary spiritual powers and people began seeking her out.” While she was not extremely popular and died mostly in solitude, the story of her piety became known throughout the community. The Jesuits, who had believed in the separation between the Natives and true religious piety, were forced to reconsider their interpretations of Catherine’s life and her religious devotion. Eventually, this was cumulate in the writings about her life and the process of her canonization.

Towards the end of the Middle Ages and into the duration of the Renaissance, the Medieval Church’s social and political power dwindled. Centuries prior the Catholic Church gained a surplus of control, largely due to the stability it maintained during the chaotic breakdown of the Western Roman Empire . Yet toward the end of the Middle Ages the Church set in motion factors that would ultimately lead to its downfall as the definitive figure of authority. However, despite political and social controversy surrounding the church, the institutions it established cleared a path for a new way of thinking, shaping society in an enduring way.

In Catherine period of time, being a woman and doing the work she was doing, Catherine was looked down upon, and many people stated that ‘she was out of her league’. Catherine applied the two Great Commandments: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind, and with thy whole strength” ; “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” (Exodus 20) to her life and thus it allowed her to experience true freedom by becoming closer to God, by following his teachings, especially Jesus’s style of servant leadership in which he served others and thus served as an example to others, and people on how to act like God would want his followers

Growing up, Caroline was a member of the Church of England and had previously been christened when she was born, it is also said that throughout her childhood she felt like she should’ve been a Catholic. It wasn’t until after she married her husband, who was a Roman Catholic, in which she converted from Christian religion to Catholic religion, to follow the calling of God that she had heard all of her life. Many speculation occurred after Caroline’s arranged marriage to her husband at the age of 22, because of the religion he followed, people believe that he had an influence in her decision of converting religions.

In the time of Catalina, all women had the duty to get into the convent and become a nun. So she was put in a convent when she was at the age of five, then she had herself becoming a novice. However, she decided to leave the convent after she got into a fight with a

St. Francis of Assisi was born in Umbria in the year 1182. He was a child every father hoped for, he was filled with life, a determined and courageous individual. He was gifted with rather good looks, qualities that attracted friends and a gift of leadership. His father was an extremely wealthy merchant in Assisi. But this son, his favourite, was the one who broke Peter Bernardone’s heart. The boy turned on his father, and in a vicious event that eventually resulted into a public scene. St. Francis of Assisi stepped away from his father, his business and left his father in a state of immense emotional suffering.

In “Religious Experiences”, Saint Teresa argued that her two experiences were valid because she was conscious of the lord’s presence. In this paper, I will be exploring the two religious experiences Saint Teresa encountered while analyzing the argument about the epistemic value the experiences could possibly have.

Saints are always different from everyday people, thus no one understands them in their lives, only a lot of years after their death. Joan of Arc was a saint like this as well, she was too far ahead of her times and was killed by her fellow men, because they didn’t know what else to do. She was canonized in 1920, after 489 years of her death. In my opinion, she was not only a saint, but meant to be an angel and showed a good example to all of us, how to behave ourselves in the name of honour, honesty, and glory.

The renaissance and the reformation were two of the most significant changes in history that has shaped our world today. Both of these great time periods are strikingly similar in some ways and totally different in others. This is because the renaissance was a change from religion to humanism whether it is in art or literature; it is where the individual began to matter. However, the reformation was,” in a nutshell,” a way to reform the church and even more so to form the way our society is today. The first half of this paper will view the drop in faith, the economic powers, and the artistic and literary changes during the renaissance, while the second half will view the progresses and changes the church makes during the reformation.

As a child, Clare was devoted to prayer. Even Though, There is no mention of this in any historical record, it is thought that Clare was to be wed in line with the family tradition. But, at the age of 18 she heard Francis preach during a Lenten service in the church of San Giorgio at Assisi, and asked him for his help to live after the way of the Gospel. On the night of Palm Sunday, March 20, 1212, she left her home, with her aunt Bianca, proceeded to the chapel of the Porziuncula to meet Francis. There, her hair was cut, and she gave him her beautiful gown for a plain robe and veil. Her father tried to persuade her to come home, but she told her father that she would have no other husband but Jesus Christ. Francis soon sent her away to another monastery of the Benedictine

There are many people in this world that we consider great humanitarians. Mother Teresa was a unique individual that stood out of the crowd because of her involvement in helping the sick, poor and dying. She spent everyday of her adulthood caring for people that were in need by setting up the Missionary of Charity along with many homes for the people she cared for. Mother Teresa won many awards throughout her lifetime for her dedication to care for people in need. It is no wonder that Mother Teresa won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 and is considered a saint.

What a sensation was made about the Sensation exhibition in the Brooklyn Museum of Art. The focus of Mayor Giuliani's outcry was the piece "The Holy Virgin Mary" by Chris Ofili. Funny, he didn't give attention to some of the other outrageous works including the pubescent female mannequins studded with erect penises, vaginas, and anuses, fused together in various postures of sexual coupling, or the portrait of a child molester and murder made from what appears like child hand prints or bisected animals in plexiglass tanks full of formaldehyde. Would it ever have made headlines with a different title, like "Afro-lady"? I don't think so. I guess targeting religion gets a little too personal. Giuliani said, "You don't have the right to