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B. CATHERINE 163 prayers, and by tho samo means saved her native town from fire and storms. She foaght and vanquished a devil who, under the form of a serpent, was carrying off a wicked woman. She released and converted the woman. She went great distances to help those to whom she coald be useful. She was carried by angels from place to place; she once went three hundred and twenty miles in four hours. From this miraculous power she was called by the peasants of Piedmont La Masca [i,e. Sorceress] di Dio. She died at Caramagna. Her life was written by Francesco Pico della Miraodola, count of Con- cordia ; he knew her well, and heard her relate many of her visions. He died before her, and his work was finished by Father Peter Martyr, of Garescio, who also knew her very well, and was only a mile from her at the time of her death. She has a double festival in the Martyrology of her order. A,B.M. Modern Saints, published by the Fathers of the Oratory. Pio. Castillo. B. Catherine (lo)Tomas, April i, Aug. 3. "I" 1574. Canoness, O.S.A. Daughter of Jacob Tomas and Mar- quetta Oallart, honest peasants at Yalde- muza, in Majorca. She was brought up to hard work in house and field. From her seriousness and contempt of pleasure, the neighbours gave her the nickname of Viejecita, the little old woman. At seven- teen she entered the service of a noble family in Palma, where she was taught to read and embroider. Notwithstanding her great piety and extraordinary asce- ticism, lock of dowry made it very difi&- €ult for her to gain admittance to a convent. At last that of St. Mary Magdalene, of the Order of St. Augustine, consented to receive her. She had ecs- tasies, she was attacked by the devil in visible shape, she was succoured and comforted by divers saints, she talked with souls in purgatory, prophesied future events, and wrought miracles. She was elected prioress of her convent, but im- mediately resigned. On her death the inhabitants of Majorca honoured her as a saint for fifty years, when a decree of Urban VIII. forbade tho public worship of saints not recognized by the Church. An appeal was then made to Eome to have the worship of Catherine legalized. The process went on at intervals for many years, until the decree of her beati- fication was promulgated by Pius YI. in 1 792. Her hat, thimble, and other relics are kept as sacred, and her body is pre- served in a marble sarcophagus with a glass front, and shown by the nuns of her convent. Her name is in the Mar- tyrology of her order, A.B,M.y April 1. AA,SS,t Prseter.f April 5. Bidwell, Balearic Islands. St. Catherine (16) Cantona. "f c. 1574, of the rule of St. Charles Borromeo. Bepresented holding a cross to which a nail is fastened. Gnenebault. B. Catherine (17), or Catalina Cab- dona, May 11, 12, 18, 21. 1519-1577 or 157 9. A recluse of the Order of our Lady of Mount Carmel. Daughter of Don Bamon, a member of the ducal house of Cardona, descended from the kings of Aragon. She had a vision of her father in purgatory; he told her his release would be the fruit of her penance. She mortified and disciplined herself until she obtained his deliverance. The Prin- cess of Salerno, a near relation, who took charge of her on her father's death, brought her to Spain, where St. Thebbsa (7) was beginning her reform; and Catherine was moved to undertake the life of austerity, of which Theresa speaks with admiration. On the death of tho princess of Salerno, Catherine governed the household of Buy Gomez de Silva, prince of Eboli, and had under her care the Princes Don Carlos and Don Juan of Austria. Carlos she could not influence, but for Juan she always had a most tender affection. Buy Gomez and his wife went to see an estate he had bought. Catherine begged to accompany them. She did so, and from their house in Estremera, dressed as a man, she made her way to the desert of La Boda, where she spent many years in a small cave. Her only clothing was very coarse sackcloth. She lived on herbs and roots, until a poor shepherd supplied her with bread and meal. She used the discipline of a heavy chain for an hour and a half or two hours at a time. Sometimes she went half a mile on her knees to Mass in a monastery