The Story of our Patron Saint St Catherine of Alexandria
Prayer
Glorious St. Catherine, virgin
and martyr, help me to imitate
your love of purity.
Give me strength and courage
in fighting off the temptations
of the world and evil desires.
Help me to love God with my
whole heart and serve Him
faithfully.
O St. Catherine, through your
glorious martyrdom for the love
of Christ, help me to be loyal to
my faith and my God as long as
I live.
Amen
Glorious St. Catherine, virgin
and martyr, help me to imitate
your love of purity.
Give me strength and courage
in fighting off the temptations
of the world and evil desires.
Help me to love God with my
whole heart and serve Him
faithfully.
O St. Catherine, through your
glorious martyrdom for the love
of Christ, help me to be loyal to
my faith and my God as long as
I live.
Amen
Saint Catherine of Alexandria is a canonized saint in the Catholic Church who, according to Christian tradition, was martyred around 305 in Alexandria, Egypt. As the Church of the first Millennium was undivided, she is also recognized as the Great Martyr and Saint by the Orthodox Church. There are no surviving primary sources attesting to her existence, but the fact that her memory, and the stories about her, have been kept alive - and handed down in the tradition - certainly confirm her existence, and her life of heroic virtue and holiness.
The young saint was born around 287 in Alexandria, Egypt. At that time, Alexandria was one of the finest cities in the world, and a centre of learning and culture as well as faith. Christian tradition states she was of noble birth, and possibly a princess. As a member of the nobility, she was also educated and was an avid scholar. Around the age of fourteen, she experienced a moving vision of Mary and the infant Jesus, and she decided to become a Christian.
Although still only a teenager, it was clear that she was already very intelligent and gifted.
When the emperor Maxentius began persecuting Christians, Catherine visited him personally to denounce his cruelty.
Rather than order her execution, Maxentius summoned fifty orators and philosophers to debate with her. However, Catherine was moved by the power of the Holy Spirit and spoke eloquently in defence of her faith. Her words were so moving that several of the pagans converted to Christianity, but were immediately executed for their new faith.
Unable to defeat her rhetorically or to intimidate her into giving up her belief, the emperor ordered her to be tortured and imprisoned.
Catherine was arrested and scourged. Despite the torture, she did not abandon her faith. Word of her arrest and the power of her faith quickly spread, and over 200 people visited her. According to some sources, Catherine even converted the emperor's own wife, Valeria Maximilla, but she was eventually executed by the emperor over her new faith. However, this is not mentioned in the historical record and may be a legend since it is believed that Maximilla was alive and with her husband at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312, seven years after the death of Catherine.
Following her imprisonment, Maxentius made a final attempt to persuade the beautiful Catherine to abandon her faith by proposing marriage to her. Although this would have made her a powerful empress, Catherine refused, saying she was married to Jesus Christ and that her virginity was dedicated to him. The emperor then angrily ordered her to be executed on a breaking wheel. The breaking wheel is an ancient form of torture where a person's limbs are threaded among the spokes and their bones are shattered by an executioner with a heavy rod. It is a brutal punishment that results in a slow and painful death, and is normally reserved for the worst criminals.
When Catherine was presented before the wheel, she touched it and a miracle shattered the wheel. Unable to torture her to death, the emperor simply ordered her to be beheaded. One account claimed that angels took her body to Mt.Sinai where, in the sixth century, the Emperor Justinian ordered a monastery to be established there in her name. The monastery, Saint Catherine's, remains to this day and is one of the oldest in the world.
The young saint was born around 287 in Alexandria, Egypt. At that time, Alexandria was one of the finest cities in the world, and a centre of learning and culture as well as faith. Christian tradition states she was of noble birth, and possibly a princess. As a member of the nobility, she was also educated and was an avid scholar. Around the age of fourteen, she experienced a moving vision of Mary and the infant Jesus, and she decided to become a Christian.
Although still only a teenager, it was clear that she was already very intelligent and gifted.
When the emperor Maxentius began persecuting Christians, Catherine visited him personally to denounce his cruelty.
Rather than order her execution, Maxentius summoned fifty orators and philosophers to debate with her. However, Catherine was moved by the power of the Holy Spirit and spoke eloquently in defence of her faith. Her words were so moving that several of the pagans converted to Christianity, but were immediately executed for their new faith.
Unable to defeat her rhetorically or to intimidate her into giving up her belief, the emperor ordered her to be tortured and imprisoned.
Catherine was arrested and scourged. Despite the torture, she did not abandon her faith. Word of her arrest and the power of her faith quickly spread, and over 200 people visited her. According to some sources, Catherine even converted the emperor's own wife, Valeria Maximilla, but she was eventually executed by the emperor over her new faith. However, this is not mentioned in the historical record and may be a legend since it is believed that Maximilla was alive and with her husband at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312, seven years after the death of Catherine.
Following her imprisonment, Maxentius made a final attempt to persuade the beautiful Catherine to abandon her faith by proposing marriage to her. Although this would have made her a powerful empress, Catherine refused, saying she was married to Jesus Christ and that her virginity was dedicated to him. The emperor then angrily ordered her to be executed on a breaking wheel. The breaking wheel is an ancient form of torture where a person's limbs are threaded among the spokes and their bones are shattered by an executioner with a heavy rod. It is a brutal punishment that results in a slow and painful death, and is normally reserved for the worst criminals.
When Catherine was presented before the wheel, she touched it and a miracle shattered the wheel. Unable to torture her to death, the emperor simply ordered her to be beheaded. One account claimed that angels took her body to Mt.Sinai where, in the sixth century, the Emperor Justinian ordered a monastery to be established there in her name. The monastery, Saint Catherine's, remains to this day and is one of the oldest in the world.