Catherine of Palma

Saint Catherine of Palma (1533–1574) was a Spanish nun canonised in 1930. She is also known as Catalina Thomás, Caterina Tomàs i Gallard, and Catherine or Catalina Thomas or Tomas.[1][2]

Catherine of Palma
Anonymous 18th-century altarpiece showing St Catherine, in a chapel at Valldemossa, Mallorca
BornCatalina Thomás
1 May 1533
Valldemossa, Mallorca, Spain
Died5 April 1574
Beatified12 August 1792 by Pope Pius VI
Canonized22 June 1930, Rome, Saint Peter's Basilica by Pope Pius XI
Major shrineSaint Mary Magdalen's Church in Palma on Plaça Santa Magdalena (incorrupt body)
Feastprimarily 5 April
27–28 July in Valldemossa
Attributeshabit and rochet as used by Augustinian Canonesses
PatronageMallorca

She was born 1 May 1533 at Valldemossa, Mallorca, Spain, in a peasant family. She worked as a servant in a household in Palma where she learned to read and embroider, before joining the Canonesses of St Augustine at the convent of St Mary Magdalene in Palma. 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 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]

After her death she was celebrated locally as a saint for half a century until a decree of Pope Urban VII forbade the worship of unrecognised saints. Local people appealed to Rome and eventually she was beatified on 12 August 1792 by Pope Pius VI and canonised on 22 June 1930 by Pope Pius XI.[1][2]

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.[3][4]

She is considered the patron saint of Mallorca,[3][5] although other sources apply this title to Saint Sebastian,[6] Saint Alphonsus Rodriguez[7][8] or the Virgen de Lluc of the Santuari de Lluc.[9]

Plaque commemorating the saint

She is commemorated on 1 April, and on 27 and 28 July in her home town of Valldemossa.[1]

References
  1. "Saint Catherine of Palma". CatholicSaints.Info. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  2. Dunbar, Agnes B.C. (1904). "B. Catherine (15) Tomas". A Dictionary of Saintly Women. George Bell and sons. p. 163.
  3. "Santa Catalina Shrine (Valldemossa)". Mallorcamaps. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  4. "Valldemossa, Mallorca". SeeMallorca. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  5. "Santa Catalina Thomas Statue, Valldemossa, Mallorca". Waymarking.com. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  6. "Did you know?". Balearsculturaltour. Agència de Turisme de les Illes Balears. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  7. "St. Alphonsus Rodriguez". Saint of the Day. AmericanCatholic.org. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  8. "Patron Saints: M". Catholic Online. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  9. "Scenic drives on Mallorca". Hispacar.com. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
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