Difficult Marriages / Catherine of Genoa, 1447–1510, Feast Day: September 15

Born into Genoese nobility, Catherine was married to a rival family’s son. Her husband was an unfaithful spendthrift who reduced them to bankruptcy. He frequently complained about Catherine’s shrewish behavior. Estranged from each other, they had no children. Ten years into their marriage, Catherine experienced a blinding ray of light that completely changed her life. She converted her husband and they devoted themselves to tending the sick and the poor. Catherine’s mystical writings on purgatory are well known.

Other patronages: brides, childless people, those ridiculed for piety, victims of adultery, widows

Invoked: against temptation