Lives of the Saints

by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. edition

[1894]

November 25.—ST. CATHERINE OF ALEXANDRIA.

CATHERINE was a noble virgin of Alexandria. Before her Baptism, it is said, she saw in vision the Blessed Virgin ask her Son to receive her among His servants, but the Divine Infant turned away. After Baptism, Catherine saw the same vision, when Jesus Christ received her with great affection, and espoused her before the court of heaven. When the impious tyrant Maximin II. came to Alexandria, fascinated by the wisdom, beauty and wealth of the Saint, he in vain urged his suit. At last in his rage and disappointment he ordered her to be stripped and scourged. She fled to the Arabian mountains, where the soldiers overtook her, and after many torments put her to death. Her body was laid on Mount Sinai, and a beautiful legend relates that Catherine having prayed that no man might see or touch her body after death, angels bore it to the grave.

Reflection.—The constancy displayed by the Saints in their glorious martyrdom cannot be isolated from their previous lives, but is their natural sequence. If we wish to emulate their perseverance, let us first imitate their fidelity to grace.

Saint Catherine of Alexandria, Virgin and Martyr Rv 20:1-4, 11—21:2/Lk 21:29-33 (507).

https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/saints/catherine-of-alexandria-516
CATHOLICISM SAINTS ST. CATHERINE OF ALEXANDRIA

*St. Catherine of Alexandria – Caravaggio.

Saint Catherine of Alexandria kneels beside the wheel, which miraculously broke when she was placed on it, holding the sword of her martyrdom. Artwork by Caravaggio.

**Catherine of Alexandria (also spelled Katherine) is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, who was martyred in the early fourth century at the hands of the emperor Maxentius. According to her hagiography, she was both a princess and a noted scholar who became a Christian around the age of 14, converted hundreds of people to Christianity and was martyred around the age of eighteen. More than 1,100 years after Catherine’s martyrdom, Joan of Arc identified her as one of the saints who appeared to and counselled her.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_of_Alexandria

The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice . . . The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all peoples see his glory.

Ps 97:1, 6