Saint Saint Catherine of Alexandria, Virgin and Martyr

Saint Saint Catherine of Alexandria, Virgin and Martyr

287–305 · Early Church

Feast day: November 25

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If you are ruled by the mind you are king, if by the body you are a slave.

Biography

Catherine of Alexandria, also spelled Katherine, was, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, who was martyred in the early 4th 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 age 14, converted hundreds of people to Christianity, and was martyred around age 18. The Eastern Orthodox Church venerates her as a great martyr and celebrates her feast day on 24 or 25 November, depending on the regional tradition. In Catholicism, Catherine is traditionally revered as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, and she is commemorated in the Roman Martyrology on 25 November. Her feast was removed from the General Roman Calendar in 1969 but restored in 2002 as an optional memorial. In the Episcopal Church, St. Catherine is commemorated on 24 November, together with the martyrs Barbara of Nicomedia and Margaret of Antioch, while in the Church of England her feast day is 25 November. Some modern scholars consider that the legend of Catherine was probably based on the life and murder of the virgin Saint Dorothea of Alexandria and the Greek philosopher Hypatia, with the reversed role of a Christian and neoplatonist in the case of the latter. On the other hand, Leon Clugnet writing in the Catholic Encyclopedia states "although contemporary hagiographers look upon the authenticity of the various texts containing the legend of St. Catherine as more than doubtful, it is not therefore meant to cast even the shadow of a doubt around the existence of the saint". According to the traditional narrative, Catherine was the daughter of Sabinella and Constus (or Costus), the governor of Alexandria during the reign of the Emperor Maximian (286–305). She was a Greco-Egyptian. From a young age she devoted herself to study. A vision of the Virgin Mary and the Child Jesus persuaded her to become a Christian.

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Prayers

  • Novena in Honor of Saint Catherine of Alexandria

    novena

    Preparatory Prayer. Almighty and eternal God! With lively faith and reverently worshiping Thy divine Majesty, I prostrate myself before Thee and invoke with filial trust Thy supreme bounty and mercy. Illumine the darkness of my intellect with a ray of Thy heavenly light and inflame my heart with the fire of Thy divine love, that I may contemplate the great virtues and merits of the saint in whose honor I make this novena, and following his example imitate, like him, the life of Thy divine Son. Moreover, I beseech Thee to grant graciously, through the merits and intercession of this powerful Helper, the petition which through him I humbly place before Thee, devoutly saying, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Vouchsafe graciously to hear it, if it redounds to Thy greater glory and to the salvation of my soul. Amen. Prayer in Honor of St. Catherine. O God, who didst distinguish Thy holy virgin and martyr Catherine by the gift of great wisdom and virtue, and a victorious combat with the enemies of the Faith; grant us, we beseech Thee, through her intercession, constancy in the Faith and the wisdom of the saints, that we may devote all the powers of our mind and heart to Thy service. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. Invocation of St. Catherine. St. Catherine, glorious virgin and martyr, resplendent in the luster of wisdom and purity; thy wisdom refuted the adversaries of divine truth and covered them with confusion; thy immaculate purity made thee a spouse of Christ, so that after thy glorious martyrdom angels carried thy body to Mount Sinai. Implore for me progress in the science of the saints and the virtue of holy purity, that vanquishing the enemies of my soul, I may be victorious in my last combat and after death be conducted by the angels into the eternal beatitude of heaven. Amen. Concluding Prayer. My Lord and my God! I offer up to Thee my petition in union with the bitter passion and death of Jesus Christ, Thy Son, together with the merits of His immaculate and blessed Mother, Mary ever virgin, and of all the saints, particularly with those of the holy Helper in whose honor I make this novena. Look down upon me, merciful Lord! Grant me Thy grace and Thy love, and graciously hear my prayer. Amen.

    — Mary, Help of Christians, and the Fourteen Saints Invoked as Holy Helpers (Bonaventure Hammer), 1909 edition, p. 234 (Novena in Honor of St. Catherine)

Patronages

Sources: Wikipedia (71) · Wikidata (1). Wikipedia content used under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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