St. Catherine of Siena: "O, Divine Madman!"

St. Catherine of Siena by Janet McKenzie

Today is the feast of St. Catherine of Siena. Her spirituality is distinguished by her abandoning herself to Christ as his loving bride. She would sometimes begin her prayers, "O Divine Madman!" She wrote of God as pazzo d'amore, ebro d'amore " - crazed with love, drunk with love for us.

Here's a gem from her writings...

And I shall clothe myself in your eternal will,
and by this light I shall come to know
that you, eternal Trinity,
are table
and food
and waiter for us.

You, eternal Father,
are the table
that offers us as food
the Lamb, your only-begotten Son.

He is the most exquisite of foods for us,
both in his teaching,
which nourishes us in your will,
and in the sacrament
that we receive in holy communion,
which feeds and strengthens us
while we are pilgrim travelers in this life.

And the Holy Spirit
is indeed a waiter for us,
for the Spirit serves us this teaching
by enlightening our mind’s eye with it
and inspiring us to follow it.
And the Spirit serves us charity for our neighbors
and hunger to have as our food.

- Catherine of Siena