Saint Catherine of Alexandria
Virgin and Martyr
- Feast Day
- November 25
- Life
- d. 305
- Born
- Alexandria, Egypt (traditional)
Catherine of Alexandria was traditionally venerated as a noblewoman of fourth-century Alexandria, martyred in the persecution of the Emperor Maximinus II (or possibly Maxentius) around 305-313. Her legendary Acts, which circulated widely in the East from at least the seventh century, present her as a learned Christian virgin who, when summoned by the emperor to defend her faith in public disputation, confounded fifty pagan philosophers, who were converted and executed; condemned to be broken on a spiked wheel, she was delivered when the wheel itself shattered; and was finally beheaded.
The historical core of her cult is uncertain - she is not mentioned in the most ancient martyrologies - but her veneration was firmly established by the ninth century and exploded in the Latin West after the discovery of relics venerated as hers at the great monastery of Mount Sinai (now Saint Catherine's Monastery), an attribution that gave the monastery and the surrounding mountain her name. In the Middle Ages she was counted among the Fourteen Holy Helpers and was one of the heavenly voices Saint Joan of Arc identified at her trial. The feast was removed from the General Roman Calendar in the 1969 reform because of the legendary character of much of her Acts; Pope Saint John Paul II restored her in 2002 as an Optional Memorial in recognition of the persistent and widespread devotion to her, particularly among Eastern Christians and in the Catholic East.
Whatever the historical details, the figure of Catherine became the medieval emblem of the Christian intellectual, the patroness of all who use reason in service of the faith. The spiked wheel of her legend gives the firework called the Catherine wheel its name. She remains a patron of philosophy, theology, and the apologetic defense of the Gospel.
Patronages
philosophers · students · unmarried young women · preachers · the Dominican Order
Catholic Churches Named After Saint Catherine of Alexandria
20 parishes on Catholic Church Times share Saint Catherine of Alexandria's name. Find their Mass times, confession schedules, and adoration hours:
- St Catherine with St Chad, Walsall — Walsall, ENG
- St Patrick's & St Catherine's Catholic Church — Harthill, SCT
- St. Catherine of Alexandria Parish — Sta. Catalina, NEGROS ORIENTAL
- St. Catherine of Alexandria Cathedral — Dumaguete City, NEGROS ORIENTAL
- St. Catherine of Alexandria Parish — Agno, PANGASINAN
- Shrine of Our Lady of Namacpacan (St. Catherine of Alexandria Parish) — Luna, LA UNION
- St. Catherine of Alexandria Parish — Sta. Catalina, ILOCOS SUR
- St. Catherine of Alexandria Parish — Tayum, CAR
- Saint Catherine — Lac la Biche, AB
- St. Catherine of Siena Parish — Bambang, NUEVA VIZCAYA
- St. Catherine of Alexandria Parish — Gattaran, CAGAYAN
- St. Catherine of Alexandria Parish — SULTAN KUDARAT
- St. Catherine of Alexandria Parish — CAPIZ
- St. Catherine / St. Mary Magdalene Parish — Aledo, IL
- St. Catherine Mission — Hagerman, NM
- St. Catherine Laboure (North Balornock) — Glasgow, SCT
- St. Catherine of Alexandria — Arnaudville, LA
- St. Catherine of Siena Church — Houston, TX
- St. Catherine Laboure — Concord, MI
- St Catherine — McMinnville, TN
Sources