St. Catherine of Alexandria
St. Catherine is a Catholic saint who was martyred around the year 305 in Alexandria, Egypt. St. Catherine is also recognized as a Great martyr and a Saint in the Orthodox Church.
St. Catherine lived a life that was truly devoted to Christ, and she stood strong in her faith and beliefs even through persecution and other trials she encountered. St. Catherine is also known for being a heroic, loving and caring person who lived a holy life.
St. Catherine was born during the year 287 in Alexandria, Egypt. Alexandria, Egypt at the time was a very beautiful city, in fact it was one of the nicest cities in the world and was a city that was known for its education system, and culture.
St. Catherine is believed to have been from noble descent. St. Catherine could have possibly been a princess. Due to the fact that St. Catherine was from a noble family, she was able to receive great education and she was believed to have been very wise person and a hard worker.
When St. Catherine was around the age of 14, she was able to have a vision of Mary and baby Jesus. This vision that she had helped her in her decision in becoming a Christian.
Ever since St. Catherine was a teenager she always worked hard and stayed positive even when it was hard to do so. When she was around the age of 14, the emperor Maxentius started to persecute Christians. St. Catherine decided to visit the emperor to condemn his cruelty.
The emperor decided to summon fifty orators and philosophers to debate against her beliefs. Even though St. Catherine had to debate against fifty orators, she was filled with the Holy Spirits guidance and wisdom and spoke with a lot of clarity in the defense of her faith. The words that St. Catherine spoke were so strong and moving that many pagan believers converted to Christianity, however this decision they made led to their execution.
The Emperor was unable to defeat her arguments and had trouble trying to convince her to reject her beliefs, therefore he decided to torture and imprison her.
St. Catherine was later arrested and scourged. Even with all the torture that St. Catherine had to endure, she did not reject or leave her faith. The information about St. Catherine’s arrest and the power of her faith was able to spread pretty quick and more then 200 people visited her due to her faith. St. Catherine is believed to have converted the emperors wife Valeria Maximilla.
After St. Catherine was imprisoned, Maxentius tried to persuade her a final time to abandon her faith and proposed marriage to her as an option. If St. Catherine were to accept Maxentius’ option of marriage she would have become empress. However, St. Catherine refused and told the emperor that she was already married to Jesus Christ and that her virginity was fully dedicated to Jesus.
After St. Catherine refused the emperors marriage option, he sentenced her to execution and he wanted her to be executed on a breaking wheel. The breaking wheel was a common form of execution used during ancient times. When someone was executed using the breaking wheel, their limbs where threaded among the spokes and their bones were shattered by someone who used a very heavy stick. This type of punishment usually resulted in a long and painful death. This punishment was usually used for terrible criminals.
However when St. Catherine was brought in front of the wheel a miracle had occurred. After St. Catherine touched the wheel the wheel shattered instantly. Due to the fact that the wheel shattered the Emperor decided to have her beheaded.
St. Catherine's body was taken by angels to Mount Sinai. Emperor Justinian during the sixth century decided to have a monastery be built in her name. The monastery that was built in her name ( St. Catherine) still exist today and is one of the oldest in the world.
During the year 800 it is believed that St. Catherine’s body had been found and her hair was still growing. They also noted that a stream of oil was coming from her body.
St. Catherine is venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church as a martyr and St. Catherine is also venerated in the Roman Catholic Church and is known as one of the great virgin saints.
St. Catherine was a very powerful and famous saint during the medieval period. Also, many art works were dedicated to St. Catherine during the Renaissance period.
St. Catherine’s feast day is celebrated on November 25, and she is the patron saint of students, girls and other places and things.
Prayer to St. Catherine:
St. Catherine intercede that we may be able to keep our eyes, mind and soul pure so that we may be able to deepen our devotion to God and be prepared and willing to do his will, whatever it may be. St. Catherine guide us so that we may be able to be more loving towards other people and spread God’s love and respect to other people. St. Catherine help us to be able to strengthen our love and devotion to the lord so that we may be able to do God’s will and lead other people to Christ. St. Catherine please protect all the women in this world, keep them safe and protected from any abuse, trials, stress, illness, pain, and suffering that they may encounter. St. Catherine help them to be able to stay strong and live a life close to Mary so that they may be guided by her love.
We ask this through Christ Our Lord and Mary Our Mother in Heaven
Amen
St. Catherine pray for us
St. Joseph pray for us
With all the craziness and uncertainty we are living in right now, it is important that we pray to St. Catherine of Alexandria, so that we may be able to strengthen our devotion to Christ but also keep our selves pure so that we may overcome any moments of uncertainty, persecution, temptation or other trials we may encounter during our lives. It is also extremely important that we pray to St. Catherine of Alexandria and ask her to protect our mothers, sisters, daughters, spouses and every women in this world so that they may be kept away from all suffering and dangers and be able to live a life close to Mary so that Mary may guide them with her love and keep them away from all evil.
May we continue to strengthen our journey to sainthood and keep others in our prayers.
Works cited:
Information (read from, not taken):
Catholic Online. “St. Catherine of Alexandria.” St. Catherine of Alexandria - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online. Accessed 29 March 2021.
Images:
St. Catherine of Alexandria. March 29, 2021.
St. Catherine of Alexandria. March 29, 2021.
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