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Video:

Youtube Video  (from Catholic.org)
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Prayer to St. Catherine of Siena

Oh admirable Saint Catherine,
you constantly inspire us
to a most ardent love for Jesus,
the Lamb of God.
Help us to remain unshakably
faithful to the Church,
in word, in deed, in example;
to see always,and to make others see,
in the Vicar of Christ our anchor,
in the storms of life;
the beacon light that points
the way to the harbour of safety
in the dark night of our times and of
our souls.
Amen

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Biography

Bio. #1
Catherine was born in Siena, Italy, in 1347. She was the twenty-fifth and youngest child of Jacopo and Lapa Benincasa. At the age of seven she had a vision of Christ in glory. She resisted her family's efforts to have her marry and this estranged her from them,but her father urged them to be patient and allow Catherine her own room for prayer and meditation. She joined the Dominican Third Order in 1365 and spent some years in seclusion from the world, fasting and praying. In 1368, after a vision where Christ accepted her as his "bride", she felt empowered to carry this love for others. She cared for the poor and needy, ministered to those stricken by a plague, was critical of government and politics, and counseled popes, but is especially remembered for her spiritual reflections. She died in Rome in 1380, at the age of thirty-three, in agony over the state of the Church. This great Christian mystic was canonized in 1461, became patroness of Italy in 1939, and was declared a doctor of the Church in 1970. Feast day: April 29 St. Catherine of Siena, Doctor of the Church

Bio. #2
Catherine Benincasa (1347-1380), the 25th child of a wool dyer in northern Italy, started having mystical experiences when she was only 6, seeing guardian angels as clearly as the people they protected. She became a Dominican tertiary when she was 16, and continued to have visions of Christ, Mary, and the saints. She gained reknown in her native Siena for her visions and gathered a spiritual family called Caternati whom she advised. St. Catherine was one of the most brilliant theological minds of her day, although she never had any formal education. In 1376, she went to Avignon to plead with Pope Gregory XI to return to Rome, to make peace with Florence, and to crusade against the Muslims in the Holy Land. When she died at 33 years of age in 1379, she was endeavoring to heal the Great Western Schism. In 1375 Our Lord give her the Stigmata, which was visible only after her death. Her body was found incorrupt in 1430. She was canonized in 1461 by Pope Pius II. St. Catherine's letters, and a treatise called "a dialogue" are considered among the most brilliant writings in the history of the Catholic Church. Her most famous work is Dialogo, published c. 1375, which reflects her visions and mystical experiences. Several of her letters are extant.
Sources:
http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=9
http://www2.evansville.edu/ecoleweb/glossary/cathsiena.html