Osanna of Cattaro
Encyclopedia
Blessed Osanna of Cattaro (known in Serbian
as Ozana Kotorska, birth name Jovana) was a Catholic Dominican tertiary, visionary
, anchoress
, and convert
from Orthodoxy of Serbian descent
from Montenegro
.
priestly family, and was baptized
in that tradition. Her father was priest Pero Kosić, brother of Marko Kosić, who later became a monk
with the name of "Makarije" and later became Orthodox Serbian Bishop of Zeta. The name of her grandfather was Aleksa Kosić, an Orthodox priest as well, just like her great grandfather Đuro Kosić. She was a shepherd
ess in her youth, and developed the habit of spending her solitary hours in prayer
. A story says that one day while watching the flocks, she saw a child lying asleep on the grass. Attracted by its beauty, she went to pick up the baby, but it disappeared, leaving Jovana with a feeling of great loneliness.
Jovana continued to have these apparitions. When she was 14 years old, her visions began to be followed by an odd desire to travel to the coastal Venetian
town of Cattaro
in Albania Veneta
(Bay of Kotor
, modern-day Montenegro
), where she felt she could pray better. Her mother did not understand, and grudgingly arranged a position for Jovana as a servant to a the wealthy renown Catholic Bucca family, who allowed the girl as much time as she wished for church visits. In Cattaro, Katarina abandoned Serbian Orthodoxy and converted to Roman Catholicism, and took the name Katarina (Catherine Cosie). Katarina learned to read and write during her free time. She read religious books in both Latin and Italian
, especially the Holy Scriptures
.
In her late teens, Katarina felt a call to live the life of an anchoress
. Though she was considered very young for such a calling, her spiritual director had her walled up in a cell built near Saint Bartholomew's church in Cattaro. It had a window through which Katarina could hear Mass and another window to which people would occasionally come to ask for prayers or give food. Katarina made the customary promises of stability and the door was sealed.
After an earthquake
destroyed her first hermitage, she moved to a cell at Saint Paul's church, and became a Dominican tertiary, taking the name Osanna in memory of Blessed Osanna of Mantua
. She would follow the Dominican rule for the last 52 years of her life. A group of Dominican sisters took up residence near her, consulting her for guidance, and came to consider her their leader. Osanna soon had so many followers that a convent
was founded for them.
In her tiny cell, it is said that Osanna received many visions. These included the Christ as a baby
, the Virgin Mary, several saint
s. Once the Devil
appeared to her in the form of the Blessed Virgin and told her to modify her penance
s. By obedience to her confessor
, Osanna managed to penetrate this clever disguise and vanquish this enemy.
A convent of sisters founded at Cattaro regarded her as their foundress because of her prayers, although she never actually saw the place. When the city was attacked on 9 August 1539 by Khair ad-Din Barbarossa, and Cattaro was threatened, the citizens of Cattaro ran to her for help. They credited their deliverance to her prayers and counsel. And yet another time, her prayers were credited to saving them from the plague
.
body of Blessed Osanna was kept in the Church of St. Paul until 1807, when the French Army
converted the church into a warehouse. Her body was then brought to the Church of St. Mary. The people of Kotor venerated her as a saint. In 1905, the process for her beatification began in Kotor and was successfully completed in Rome
. In 1927, Pope Pius XI approved her cultus, and in 1934, she was formally beatified
.
Over the course of her holy life, the people of Kotor came to call her "the trumpet of the Holy Spirit" and the "teacher of mysticism." People from all walks of life came to her for advice, and she interceded particularly for peace in the town and among feuding families. Therefore, she was also called "the Virgin Reconciler" and the "Angel of Peace."
Serbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
as Ozana Kotorska, birth name Jovana) was a Catholic Dominican tertiary, visionary
Visionary
Defined broadly, a visionary, is one who can envision the future. For some groups this can involve the supernatural or drugs.The visionary state is achieved via meditation, drugs, lucid dreams, daydreams, or art. One example is Hildegard of Bingen, a 12th century artist/visionary and Catholic saint...
, anchoress
Anchorite
Anchorite denotes someone who, for religious reasons, withdraws from secular society so as to be able to lead an intensely prayer-oriented, ascetic, and—circumstances permitting—Eucharist-focused life...
, and convert
Religious conversion
Religious conversion is the adoption of a new religion that differs from the convert's previous religion. Changing from one denomination to another within the same religion is usually described as reaffiliation rather than conversion.People convert to a different religion for various reasons,...
from Orthodoxy of Serbian descent
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
from Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
.
Life
Jovana Kosić was born in a village in Zeta to a Serb OrthodoxSerbian Orthodox Church
The Serbian Orthodox Church is one of the autocephalous Orthodox Christian churches, ranking sixth in order of seniority after Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Russia...
priestly family, and was baptized
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
in that tradition. Her father was priest Pero Kosić, brother of Marko Kosić, who later became a monk
Monk
A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
with the name of "Makarije" and later became Orthodox Serbian Bishop of Zeta. The name of her grandfather was Aleksa Kosić, an Orthodox priest as well, just like her great grandfather Đuro Kosić. She was a shepherd
Shepherd
A shepherd is a person who tends, feeds or guards flocks of sheep.- Origins :Shepherding is one of the oldest occupations, beginning some 6,000 years ago in Asia Minor. Sheep were kept for their milk, meat and especially their wool...
ess in her youth, and developed the habit of spending her solitary hours in prayer
Prayer
Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of...
. A story says that one day while watching the flocks, she saw a child lying asleep on the grass. Attracted by its beauty, she went to pick up the baby, but it disappeared, leaving Jovana with a feeling of great loneliness.
Jovana continued to have these apparitions. When she was 14 years old, her visions began to be followed by an odd desire to travel to the coastal Venetian
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
town of Cattaro
Kotor
Kotor is a coastal city in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Gulf of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative center of the municipality....
in Albania Veneta
Albania Veneta
Venetian Albania was the name for the possessions of the Venetian Republic in southern Dalmatia that existed from 1420 to 1797. It originally covered the coastal area of what is now northern Albania and the coast of Montenegro, but the Albanian and southern Montenegrin parts were lost to the...
(Bay of Kotor
Bay of Kotor
The Bay of Kotor in south-western Montenegro is a winding bay on the Adriatic Sea. The bay, sometimes called Europe's southernmost fjord, is in fact a submerged river canyon of the disintegrated Bokelj River which used to run from the high mountain plateaus of Mount Orjen...
, modern-day Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
), where she felt she could pray better. Her mother did not understand, and grudgingly arranged a position for Jovana as a servant to a the wealthy renown Catholic Bucca family, who allowed the girl as much time as she wished for church visits. In Cattaro, Katarina abandoned Serbian Orthodoxy and converted to Roman Catholicism, and took the name Katarina (Catherine Cosie). Katarina learned to read and write during her free time. She read religious books in both Latin and Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, especially the Holy Scriptures
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
.
In her late teens, Katarina felt a call to live the life of an anchoress
Anchorite
Anchorite denotes someone who, for religious reasons, withdraws from secular society so as to be able to lead an intensely prayer-oriented, ascetic, and—circumstances permitting—Eucharist-focused life...
. Though she was considered very young for such a calling, her spiritual director had her walled up in a cell built near Saint Bartholomew's church in Cattaro. It had a window through which Katarina could hear Mass and another window to which people would occasionally come to ask for prayers or give food. Katarina made the customary promises of stability and the door was sealed.
After an earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
destroyed her first hermitage, she moved to a cell at Saint Paul's church, and became a Dominican tertiary, taking the name Osanna in memory of Blessed Osanna of Mantua
Osanna of Mantua
Blessed Osanna Andreasi of Mantua was a Dominican tertiary, stigmatic, and mystic.-Life:...
. She would follow the Dominican rule for the last 52 years of her life. A group of Dominican sisters took up residence near her, consulting her for guidance, and came to consider her their leader. Osanna soon had so many followers that a convent
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
was founded for them.
In her tiny cell, it is said that Osanna received many visions. These included the Christ as a baby
Child Jesus
The Child Jesus represents Jesus from his Nativity to age 12. At 13 he was considered to be adult, in accordance with the Jewish custom of his time, and that of most Christian cultures until recent centuries.The Child Jesus is frequently depicted in art, from around the third or fourth century...
, the Virgin Mary, several saint
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
s. Once the Devil
Devil in Christianity
In mainstream Christianity, the Devil is named Satan, and sometimes Lucifer. He is a fallen angel who rebelled against God. He is often identified as the serpent in the Garden of Eden, whose persuasions led to original sin and the need for Jesus Christ's redemption...
appeared to her in the form of the Blessed Virgin and told her to modify her penance
Penance
Penance is repentance of sins as well as the proper name of the Roman Catholic, Orthodox Christian, and Anglican Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation/Confession. It also plays a part in non-sacramental confession among Lutherans and other Protestants...
s. By obedience to her confessor
Confessor
-Confessor of the Faith:Its oldest use is to indicate a saint who has suffered persecution and torture for the faith, but not to the point of death. The term is still used in this way in the East. In Latin Christianity it has come to signify any saint, as well as those who have been declared...
, Osanna managed to penetrate this clever disguise and vanquish this enemy.
A convent of sisters founded at Cattaro regarded her as their foundress because of her prayers, although she never actually saw the place. When the city was attacked on 9 August 1539 by Khair ad-Din Barbarossa, and Cattaro was threatened, the citizens of Cattaro ran to her for help. They credited their deliverance to her prayers and counsel. And yet another time, her prayers were credited to saving them from the plague
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
.
Veneration
The incorruptIncorruptibility
Incorruptibility is a Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox belief that supernatural intervention allows some human bodies to avoid the normal process of decomposition after death as a sign of their holiness...
body of Blessed Osanna was kept in the Church of St. Paul until 1807, when the French Army
French Army
The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...
converted the church into a warehouse. Her body was then brought to the Church of St. Mary. The people of Kotor venerated her as a saint. In 1905, the process for her beatification began in Kotor and was successfully completed in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. In 1927, Pope Pius XI approved her cultus, and in 1934, she was formally beatified
Beatification
Beatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a dead person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in his or her name . Beatification is the third of the four steps in the canonization process...
.
Over the course of her holy life, the people of Kotor came to call her "the trumpet of the Holy Spirit" and the "teacher of mysticism." People from all walks of life came to her for advice, and she interceded particularly for peace in the town and among feuding families. Therefore, she was also called "the Virgin Reconciler" and the "Angel of Peace."