Catherine of Palma (1531–1574, born Caterina Tomàs i Gallard) was a Spanish canon and mystic from Mallorca. She is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church and her feast day is commonly celebrated on 5 April although in her home town of Valldemossa she is remembered on the 27 and 28 of July.[1][2]
Saint Catherine of Palma | |
|---|---|
 Anonymous 18th-century altarpiece showing St Catherine, in a chapel at Valldemossa, Mallorca | |
| Born | Catalina Thomás 1 May 1531 Valldemossa, Mallorca, Spain |
| Died | 5 April 1574 Palma, Mallorca, Spain |
| Beatified | 12 August 1792 by Pope Pius VI |
| Canonized | 22 June 1930, Rome, Saint Peter's Basilica by Pope Pius XI |
| Major shrine | Saint Mary Magdalen's Church in Palma on Plaça Santa Magdalena (incorrupt body) |
| Feast | primarily 5 April 27–28 July in Valldemossa |
| Attributes | habit and rochet as used by Augustinian Canonesses |
| Patronage | Mallorca |
Life
editCatalina was born 1 May 1531 at Valldemossa, Mallorca, Spain, in a peasant family as the sixth of seven children.[3] She was named after her maternal grandmother and the saint Catherine of Alexandria who was especially venerated by the family. As Catalina's parents died while she was still a young child, she spent her early formative years with her grandparents close to the Valldemossa Charterhouse before, at the age of ten, moving in with relatives who were owners of the estate of Son Gallard in 1541.[4] Here she helped the workers on the fields and tended to the flock which is why she is also often depicted as a young farmer. Catalina's spirituality and her growing desire for religious life clashed with the ideas her family had for her, leading to some years of tribulation in which some saints, including Bruno of Cologne, Catherine of Alexandria and Anthony the Abbot, appeared and comforted her.[3]
Finally, with the help of Antonio Castañeda, a famous hermit who had been a soldier in the army of Charles V, she was able to leave her family in 1550 and took up work at the Zaforteza Tagamanent family in Palma before joining the Canonesses of St Augustine at the convent of St Mary Magdalene in Palma on 13 November 1552. She became renown for her sanctity and was esteemed for her advice both by important people like bishops as well as the poor.[3] According to legend, she was visited by devils and angels, and went into ecstasy for the last years of her life. She died 5 April 1574 at Palma, Mallorca, of natural causes. As of 1904[update] her hat, thimble, and other relics were kept, and her body preserved in a marble sarcophagus, in the convent of St Mary Magdalene, Palma.[1][2]
Veneration
editAfter her death she was celebrated locally as a saint for half a century until a decree of Pope Urban VII forbade the veneration of unrecognised saints. Local people, among them the bishop Antonio Despuig y Dameto,[3] appealed to Rome and eventually she was beatified on 12 August 1792 by Pope Pius VI[5] and canonised on 22 June 1930 by Pope Pius XI.[1][2] She is commemorated on 1 April, and on 27 and 28 July in her home town of Valldemossa.[1]
The house in Valldemossa where she was born, Carrer Rectoria 5, has become a shrine, and many houses in the village bear a plaque in her honour.[6][7] The only writings of her that remain are two letters to the priest Vicente Mas and there are some Mallorquín folk songs about her life.[3]
She is considered as one of the patron saints of Mallorca,[6][8] along with Sebastian,[9] Alphonsus Rodriguez[10][11] and the Virgen de Lluc of the Santuari de Lluc.[12]
Names
editSpellings of her names found in sources include Catalina,[7] Caterina, Cathalina[5] and Catherine,[1] and Thomas,[7] Thomás, Tomas,[2] Tomàs Gallard,[13] and Tomàs i Gallard.[13] She is also called Sor Tomassa or Sor Tomaseta (sor meaning sister in Catalan).
References
edit- ^ a b c d e "Saint Catherine of Palma". CatholicSaints.Info. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
- ^ a b c d Dunbar, Agnes B.C. (1904). "B. Catherine (15) Tomas". A Dictionary of Saintly Women. George Bell and sons. p. 163.
- ^ a b c d e Yuste, Belén; Rivas-Caballero, Sonnia L. "Santa Catalina Tomás". Real Academia de la Historia. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
- ^ "Santa Catalina Tomás". Canónica de Santa Mª Magdalena. Canonesas de Santa Mª Magdalena. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
- ^ a b Mestre, Gabriel (1793). Sermon por la Exaltacion a los Altares de la Beata Cathalina Thomas, Religiosa del Monasterio de Santa Maria Magdalena del Orden de San Agustin de la ciudad de Palma del Reyno de Mallorca dixole el R. P. Presentado en Sagrada Theologia Fr. Gabriel Mestre Religioso del Orden de San Agustin, Vicario Provincial de los Conventos de Mallorca del mismo Orden en el dia 24. de Octubre de 1792 dia quarto de los grandes fiestas, en que el dicho Monasterio celebró la solemnidad de la Beatificacion. Sacale a luz el mismo Monasterio de Santa Maria Magdalena. Con las licencias necesarias. Mallorca: Imprenta Real.
- ^ a b "Santa Catalina Shrine (Valldemossa)". Mallorcamaps. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
- ^ a b c "Valldemossa, Mallorca". SeeMallorca. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
- ^ "Santa Catalina Thomas Statue, Valldemossa, Mallorca". Waymarking.com. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
- ^ "Did you know?". Balearsculturaltour. Agència de Turisme de les Illes Balears. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
- ^ "St. Alphonsus Rodriguez". Saint of the Day. AmericanCatholic.org. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
- ^ "Patron Saints: M". Catholic Online. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
- ^ "Scenic drives on Mallorca". Hispacar.com. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
- ^ a b "Birthplace of Catalina Tomàs Gallard". Acces Mallorca. 17 April 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
External links
editBreve Compendio de la Vida de la Beata Catalina Tomás y Gallard. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
