When I visited Siena, Italy I was young and wild, so I paid no attention to the locals and tourists who told me hotel rooms were scarce and filled up quickly in the walled city. I was content to spend the afternoon wandering around Tuscany, so took the last bus of the day to get there.
When I arrived just before midnight, panic struck in.
"Please, I'll sleep on the floor in the lobby," I begged the concierge at the only hotel that was opened, after he told me there were no vacancies. The tears were real and they worked. A room was available on the first floor.
The following morning my mission was to buy a rosary and get a history lesson about St. Catherine of Siena at her basilica.
She was born in Siena on March 25 (The Annunciation), 1347. At age 6, she experienced what today we would call mystical experiences communicating through visions with the saints, the Blessed Mother, and Jesus.
St. Catherine of Siena's treatise, called "A Dialogue," is well respected in the Roman Catholic Church. She died in Rome, Italy on April 29, 1380. Canonized: 1461. She is the patroness of fire protection and her feast day is April 29.
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