Saint Catherine of Bologna’s Seven Spiritual Weapons of Use to the Faithful in the Fight Against Evil

In her didactic treatise, The Seven Spiritual Weapons, Saint Catherine offers deep insight into combating Satan’s lies and fighting temptation for the salvation of souls. Pope Benedict XVI called the seven spiritual weapons she identified as useful to the faithful, "A splendid program of spiritual life… for each one of us!"

"1. Always to be careful and diligently strive to do good; 2. to believe that alone we will never be able to do something truly good; 3. to trust in God and, for love of him, never to fear in the battle against evil, either in the world or within ourselves; 4. to meditate often on the events and words of the life of Jesus, and especially on his Passion and his death; 5. to remember that we must die; 6. to focus our minds firmly on memory of the goods of Heaven; 7. to be familiar with Sacred Scripture, always cherishing it in our hearts so that it may give direction to all our thoughts and all our actions."

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Prayer to Saint Catherine of Bologna

Dear saintly Poor Clare, Saint Catherine of Bologna, so rich in love for Jesus and Mary, you were endowed with great talents by God and you left us most inspiring writings and paintings of wondrous beauty. You did so for God’s greater glory and in this you are a model for all. May artists learn from you to use their God given gifts in full to exemplify the divine qualities of truth, beauty and goodness. Amen.