Saint Catherine of Siena Medal Necklace - Patron Saint of Nurses

About Saint Catherine of Siena - Patron Saint of Nurses

Catherine of Siena became a nurse because she could not look away. In 14th century Siena she spent years caring for plague victims, lepers, and patients in the city's hospital whose conditions were so severe that other caregivers refused to enter their rooms. One patient - a woman with advanced, infected breast cancer - was so difficult to tend that Catherine's fellow volunteers stopped coming. Catherine stayed, cleaning and dressing wounds that other people could not bear to be near. She did this not as a professional obligation but as a deliberate choice, believing that Christ was present in the suffering person in front of her.

She was also one of the most politically consequential figures of the 14th century. In 1376 she wrote a series of letters to Pope Gregory XI that convinced him to end the Avignon papacy and return to Rome - something theologians and cardinals had failed to accomplish for decades. She dictated her major theological work, The Dialogue, to secretaries while in a state of ecstasy. Pope Paul VI named her a Doctor of the Church in 1970. She was 33 years old when she died in 1380.

Saint Catherine of Siena's feast day is April 29. She died that morning in 1380 at age 33, having spent her final weeks partially paralyzed after a stroke, still dictating prayers. Her last words were: 'Father, into your hands I commend my spirit,' followed finally by the exclamation, 'Blood! Blood!'

Her Patronage

She is the patron saint of nurses, of Italy, of people who are sick, and of those who have lost a parent. Nurses have claimed her for centuries not because the Church assigned the patronage abstractly but because her actual life was defined by the work they do every day. Staying with the suffering person when everyone else has left the room.

People also seek Catherine of Siena's intercession for strength during illness, for courage in difficult vocations, and for clarity of purpose when the demands of caring for others become overwhelming.

The Saint Catherine of Siena Medal

This medal depicts her facing forward, eyes downcast, holding a large bouquet of lilies against a book. The lilies are her most recognized symbol, connected to her purity and her mystical life. The book references her role as a Doctor of the Church and author of The Dialogue. Her halo radiates behind her against swirling ornamentation. The natural gold or silver of the metal forms the illustration itself - black ink is applied to the pendant surface and the metal shows through as the image. A shatterproof liquid glass coating seals the surface.

Look closely at her hands. The marks on each hand represent the stigmata she received in 1375 in the church of Santa Cristina in Pisa. Tradition holds that as rays of blood shot from the crucifix toward her, she prayed the wounds would remain hidden, and the rays turned to pure light before piercing her skin. Because of this prayer, she bore the intense physical pain of the stigmata for five years without a single mark appearing on her body. The wounds only became visible after her death. She carried this suffering in silence, the way nurses carry the weight of what they witness every day, without anyone outside the room ever fully knowing.

Personalization and Engraving

The optional engraving on the reverse is rendered in Tangerine cursive. Two lines, up to 20 characters each. For a nurse gift, most people engrave the recipient's name and graduation or pinning ceremony date. Catherine of Siena's most quoted line fits across two lines:

Line 1: "Be who God meant" Line 2: "you to be."

For a confirmation gift, most people engrave the recipient's name and confirmation date.