St. Catherine of Siena, original name Caterina Benincasa, (born March 25, 1347, Siena, Tuscany [Italy]—died April 29, 1380, Rome; canonized 1461; feast day April 29), Dominican tertiary, mystic, and one of the patron saints of Italy. She was declared a doctor of the church in 1970 and a patron saint of Europe in 1999. Catherine was the youngest of 25 children born to a lower middle-class family; most of her siblings did not survive childhood. At a young age she is said to have consecrated her virginity to Christ and experienced mystical visions. Catherine became a tertiary (member of a