Caterina di Jacopo di Benincasa, TOSD, known as Catherine of Siena, was an Italian Catholic mystic and pious laywoman who engaged in papal and Italian politics through extensive letter-writing and advocacy. Canonized in 1461, she is revered as a saint and as a Doctor of the Church due to her extensive theological authorship. She is also considered to have influenced Italian literature.
Women as theological figures have played a significant role in the development of various religions and religious hierarchies.
Margareta Ebner was a German professed religious from the Dominican Nuns. Ebner – from 1311 – experienced a series of spiritual visions in which Jesus Christ gave her messages which she recorded in letters and a journal at the behest of her spiritual director; she was ill for well over a decade as she experienced these visions. The backdrop of much of Ebner's religious life was the bitter fighting between Pope John XXII and Holy Roman Emperor Louis the Bavarian, in which she and her convent faithfully backed Louis.
Augustinian nuns are the most ancient and continuous segment of the Augustinian religious order. Named after Augustine of Hippo, there are several Catholic religious communities of women living according to a guide to religious life known as the Rule of St. Augustine. Prominent Augustinian nuns include the canonized Italian mystics Clare of Montefalco and Rita of Cascia.
The Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles is a Catholic religious institute of the Carmelite Order founded by Mother Maria Luisa Josefa of the Most Blessed Sacrament. It is based in Alhambra, California, a suburb of Los Angeles.
A number of people have claimed to have had visions of Jesus Christ and personal conversations with him. Some people make similar claims regarding his mother, Mary. Discussions about the authenticity of these visions have often invited controversy. The Catholic Church endorses a fraction of these claims, and various visionaries it accepts have achieved beatification, or even sainthood.
Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart, OCD was an Italian Discalced Carmelite nun. During her brief life of quiet service in the monastery, she came to be revered for her mystical gifts. She has been declared a saint by the Catholic Church.
The title Virgin is an honorific bestowed on female saints and blesseds, primarily used in the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church.
Catherine de' Ricci, OP, was an Italian Catholic nun in the Third Order of St. Dominic. She is believed to have had miraculous visions and corporeal encounters with Jesus Christ. She is also said to have spontaneously bled with the wounds of the crucified Christ. She is venerated for her mystic visions and is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church.
Mary of Jesus de León y Delgado, was a 17th-century Spanish Dominican lay sister, mystic and visionary. She was widely known as La Siervita in the Canary Islands. She lived a life that was austere and simple. Many miracles were attributed to her.
Mechtilde of the Blessed Sacrament, born Catherine de Bar was a French nun, the founder of the order of Benedictine Nuns of Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. She is recognized as the Servant of God in the Catholic Church.
Ursula Benincasa,, born around 1550 and died in Naples on 20 October 1618, was an Italian nun and mystic, declared venerable, founder of the Oblate Sisters and Hermitage of the Contemplative Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, later the Theatine Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary.