The Dialogue of Saint Catherine of Siena

Translated by Algar Thorold

“Man is placed above all creatures, and not beneath them, and he cannot be satisfied or content except in something greater than himself. Greater than himself there is nothing but Myself, the Eternal God. Therefore I alone can satisfy him, and, because he is deprived of this satisfaction by his guilt, he remains in continual torment and pain. Weeping follows pain, and when he begins to weep, the wind strikes the tree of self-love, which he has made the principle of all his being.” (Page 203). This work was dictated by Saint Catherine of Siena during a state of ecstasy while in dialogue with God the Father. Saint Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) was declared a Doctor of the Church on October 4, 1970.