The imposing bulk of the Basilica of San Domenico offers a visual image of the influence of the Dominican friars in Saint Catherine’s Siena. Saint Francis and Saint Dominic had created an original way of living the religious life, well-suited to the new commercial cities. Their friars did not produce by themselves everything they needed, as did the monks, but depended on the generosity of the people in whose midst they lived; they were “mendicants.” The convents were located on the edge of town, on the outskirts where the poorest were relegated; the large size of their churches was conceived precisely so they could house the great masses of common people during religious services. In this church, which dominates the district of Fontebranda where she lived, Saint Catherine attended Holy Mass a great many times.
This place explains also Saint Catherine’s theological learning: the official name of the Dominicans was the Order of Preachers, because their aim was the teaching of the truths of the faith. Therefore Saint Catherine, despite her humble origins, was able to count on a good religious instruction, which she would develop more deeply and so wonderfully with her later divine revelations.