SOURCE: "Catherine of Siena," in A History of Women Philosophers, Volume II. Medieval, Renaissance, and Enlightenment Women Philosophers, A.D. 500-1600, edited by Mary Ellen Waithe, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1989, pp. 223-60.

In the excerpt that follows, Wolfskeel discusses Il Dialogo and the Orazioni, both of which express Catherine of Siena's unique understanding of her relationship with the divine.

… 2. Il Dialogo

Il Dialogo, simply called "my book" by Catherine herself, came to existence in the period 1377-1378.⁶⁹ It is a dialogue with God who, questioned by Catherine, instructs her and elaborately answers her questions. Il Dialogo is a testimony of God's providence and of the revelation of Holy Truth (= Christ). Raimondo da Capua (Leg. Maj. III. ch. 3) says that Catherine was forced to write "her book" by Holy Truth Himself, who revealed Himself to her, about two years before her death.

The text of Il Dialogo is preserved to...