St. Catherine of Bologna was born in Bologna, Italy in 1413. She was trained as a lady-in-waiting to Margaret d’Este. Her father, of the de’Vigri family, was a lawyer and diplomat for the d’Este family of Ferrara. When her father died around 1424, Catherine left the court and joined the Poor Clare’s, which is a Franciscan Order.

Catherine experienced visions, one of which included the Blessed Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus. After visiting the Poor Clare’s established in Ferrara, Catherine went to the order’s convent in Bologna. There her supernatural gifts and sanctity brought considerable fame.

Catherine was a writer and mystic. Her best-known work is “Seven Spiritual Weapons Necessary for Spiritual Warfare”. She also wrote lauds, short religious treatises, letters, and poems. Many of her writings were kept private within her Religious Order and were discovered in 2000 and described by Cardinal Giacomo Biffi as “"now revealed in their surprising beauty. We can ascertain that she was not undeserving of her renown as a highly cultivated person. We are now in a position to meditate on a veritable monument of theology which, after the Treatise on the Seven Spiritual Weapons, is made up of distinct and autonomous parts: The Twelve Gardens, a mystical work of her youth, Rosarium, a Latin poem on the life of Jesus, and The Sermons, copies of Catherine's words to her religious sisters."

Catherine was also an artist and many of her works of art are preserved in her personal breviary. While she meditated and prayed through the scriptures she sketched images of Christ, Mother Mary, and many other saints. She completed many other paintings and works of art outside of her breviary. She is the patron saint of artists.