St. Catherine of Alexandria
Also
known as Katherine of Alexandria
Memorial
25 November
Profile
She was born of Nobility and learned in science and oratory.
She was converted to Christianity after receiving a vision.
When she was 18 years old, during the
persecution of Maximus, she offered to debate the pagan philosophers. Many
were converted by her arguments, and immediately martyred.
Maximus had her scourged and imprisoned.
The empress and the leader of Maximus' army were amazed by the stories when
they heard them and so went to
see Catherine in prison. They were immediately converted and
were also martyred.
Following this, Maximus ordered her broken on the wheel, but she touched it
and the wheel was destroyed. She was then beheaded, and her
body whisked away by angels to Mt Sinai, where a monastery is named after her.
Immensely popular during the Middle Ages,
there were many chapels and churches devoted to her throughout western Europe,
and she was reported as one of the divine advisors to Saint Joan of Arc.
Her
reputation for learning and wisdom led to her patronage of
libaries, librarians, teachers, archivists, and anyone associated with
wisdom or teaching. Her
debating skill and persuasive language has led to her patronage of lawyers.
And her torture on the wheel led to those who work with them, blacksmiths, wheelwrights,
etc, asking for her intercession.
She is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers.
While there may well have been a noble, educated,
virginal lady who swayed pagans with her rhetoric during the persecutions, the
accretion of legend, romance and poetry has long since buried the real
Catherine.
Name Meaning
Catherine - pure one
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