Born Catherine de Vigri, she was the daughter of Giovanni de Vigri, a diplomatic agent to the Marquis of Ferrara. She was raised in the Duke's court and received an education through her position of Lady-in-waiting to the Duke's daughter, Margherita d'Este.
In 1426 she left the court and entered the convent of Corpus Dominici there at Ferrara. At the time the convent was experiencing some distress as they attempted to decided whether to continue following the Augustian rule or to change instead (as they eventually did) to Fransican.
In 1433, St. Catherine and several other young ladies founded a monastery of the Order of Poor Clares.
In 1456, she returned to Bologna at the request of her superiors and the governor of Bologna to be the founder and Abbess of a monastery of the same order there in Bologna.
She died on March 9, 1463 at the age of 49. Eighteen days after her death, after numerous accounts of miraculous grave-side healing, her body was exhumed and placed in the chapel of the Poor Clares in Bologna, next to the church of Corpus Dominici, where it remains, seated upright, and dressed in her religious habit, behind glass.
Some of her art and writings still remain today, including, most famously Treatise on the Seven Spiritual Weapons Necessary for Spiritual Warfare. This work was instrumental in her canonization, and speaks of her visions of both God and Satan.
St. Catherine of Bologna is the patron saint of artists and her feast day is March 9th.
