This presentation of the life of St. Catherine of Siena follows the essential stages of her human and spiritual development as exemplified in her symbolic "Tree of Virtue" with its circle of soil, trunk and crown that would evolve, as the tree matures, into the "Tree of the Cross." During her lifetime, the church, like Cath­erine's own soul, would know similar, and no less essential, stages of growth which closely reflect the seasons of the year. In the winter, stripped of everything the world considers important and worthwhile - power, wealth, and the esteem of others - the innate steadfastness and strength of both Catherine and the church would be revealed. The grief that Catherine experienced in the final days of her life, the physical suffering she endured, the sorrow she felt at having failed to achieve her life goal - to purify the church and to restore it to its pristine virtue - would bear fruit at a later date, in a new springtime of growth. She would plant the seed; God would provide the harvest. 283 pages