St. Catherine of Siena's Dialogue describes the entire spiritual life through a series of conversations between God and the soul, represented by Catherine herself. Readers of The Dialogue of Saint Catherine of Siena, will find her revelations from God as informative - and formative - as those who recognized her sanctity during her life. The universally applicable yet intimately personal messages she received from God are as much for us as they were for Catherine. We can read God's communications to his beloved daughter with detached awe or we can receive His messages to us through her writings. Do you long for certainty that Divine Providence exists in the midst of our chaotic world? Does your prayer seem too dry, or too routine? Have you sought guidance for the challenges of your life from unhelpful people or things? Or has pride kept you from humble obedience to the Church? If so, The Dialogue will provide consolation, encouragement, and hope.

Catherine of Siena (1347-1380), mystic and Doctor of the Church, wrote The Dialogue, her crowning spiritual work, for "the instruction and encouragement of all those whose spiritual welfare was her concern."

"Eternal greatness! You made yourself low and small to make mankind great." While in an ecstatic trance, St. Catherine of Siena dictated The Dialogue. In this intense and searching work, she offers up petitions to God, filling her conversation with instruction on discernment, true and false spiritual emotion, obedience and truth, and revealing her famous image of Christ as the Bridge. Catherine's brilliant insights into the nature of the spiritual life have motivated Christians for centuries to unite a life of prayer with a life of action. "This have I told you, my sweetest daughter, that you might know the perfection of this union-producing state, when the eye of the intellect is ravished by the fire of my charity, in which it receives supernatural light. With this light the souls in the state of union love me, because love follows the intellect, and the more it knows the more it can love." (from the book)

Although Catherine of Siena was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 1970, relatively little attention has been given to her mystical thought, particularly in the English-speaking world. The Dialogue, the famous compendium of her mature thought, is difficult to understand owing to its interruptions, repetitions, overlapping arguments, imagery and undefined terms. Thomas McDermott breaks new ground in his systematic presentation of Catherine¿s teachings. Drawing on the Dialogue and also on Catherine¿s 381 letters and prayers, he explains clearly her principal teachings in relation to spiritual development, and identifies Catherine¿s possible sources as well as her areas of originality. By examining Catherine¿s life and mystical experiences, McDermott shows how she herself grew spiritually and how her growth corresponds to her later teaching on the ¿three stairs¿ on the ¿bridge of Christ crucified.¿ Finally, the author puts forward what he regards as the fundamental message of Catherine¿s life and teaching. Students of mysticism and spirituality will find this book a trustworthy guide through the incredibly rich mysticism of one of the 14th century¿s most amazing women.

Catherine (1447-1510), a married lay woman, was a mystic and a humanitarian, and a constant contemplative who cared for the sick and destitute. Purgation and Purgatory is a collection of sayings on spiritual purification in this life and the next. The Spiritual Dialogue gives us a readable and coherent inner history of Catherine.

Paul Murray OP examines the depth and range of Catherine's vision of freedom, claiming that until now her understanding of freedom has received surprisingly little attention from readers and scholars. Murray demonstrates that a preoccupation with freedom is the 'fire' behind almost every page and paragraph she writes, and as a result freedom becomes her veritable obsession. He explores the liberating character of Catherine's teaching, with particular attention given to her understanding of fear as one of greatest enemies of freedom. Murray highlights the importance of self-knowledge in the journey from bondage of freedom, and employs the rubric of the Dominican motto, To Praise, to Bless, to Preach; as a benchmark to examine the remarkable freedom of Catherine's life and thought.