You're listening to Catholic Sprouts, the daily podcast for Catholic kids that strives to plant seeds of faith.

Hi, Sprouts. It's Danielle Koboschik from Fem Catholic again. Today is Wednesday, November 24th, and we're continuing to talk about the women doctors of the church. Remember that this isn't like the doctor you visit for a checkup.

It's a saint who is also a teacher.

Doctors of the Church help us understand what the church teaches.

Today I'm so excited to talk about St. Catherine of Siena.

Her feast day is April 29th. She was born in 1347 in Italy. She was one of 25 children. Her family was part of the lower class, so not wealthy like the other ladies that we've

talked about this week. St. Catherine was so joyful and happy as a child that they actually nicknamed her joy.

When she was around seven years old, Jesus, surrounded by the saints, appeared to her.

She loved Jesus so much that she made a vow to never get married, but to spend the rest of

her life loving Jesus as much as she could. When Catherine was 16, her parents wanted her to get

married. She knew, though, that God was not calling her to marriage and was able to convince her parents

of that.

She joined an order called the Third Order Dominicans.

Being part of the Third Order meant that she lived a very holy life set aside for God,

but as a layperson, she was not a nun in a convent.

St. Catherine preferred this because she was able to continue living with her family.

She spent the first three years of being a Dominican,

mostly alone in her room praying, and continued to have visions of Jesus.

Then, after those three years were over, God asked her to go back

into the world to serve the poor and the suffering, including caring for the sick. People in her town

started to hear about how holy she was, and many people actually started following her around, to learn more about

Jesus, and also to help the sick and the suffering like she was. Many miracles happened where

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