7 DECEMBER 1901, Page 51

The Story of Catharine of Siena. By Florence Witty.. (S.S.17.

ls.)—We are glad to see so good a subject wisely and courage- ously handled. "Miraculous visitations, superhuman power, ecstatic visions during which the bodily senses were asleep or unconscious, and only the soul awake to spiritual communion, are all ascribed to her, but behind them all can be traced a loyal woman, consecrated soul and body to the service of God and of humanity." That is, so to speak, the text of Miss Witts's little book. And these extra-natural phenomena are not put aside with a contemptuous incredulity. Even science teaches us to do better than that. This is a story which well deserved telling in this popular form, and the author has approached it in the right temper.