The Church celebrates the martyr Saint Catherine of Alexandria, a young woman docile to God and unyielding to evil

Newsroom (25/11/2021 08:22, Gaudium Press) Catherine[1] was born in Alexandria, Egypt’s main city, at the end of the third century.

Of noble family, indeed of royal lineage – for she descended directly from the country’s governors – she saw the future smiling before her. From a very young age, she was entrusted by her father to the two greatest sages of Egypt, under their tutelage, she showed an uncommon intelligence, to the point that, at the age of thirteen, she already mastered seven free arts: eloquence, poetry, music, sculpture, plastics, architecture, and choreography…

This girl of unquestionable intellectual capacity will be called by God to face one of the greatest men of the time, the Roman Emperor Maximian Daia, showing the world that it is through simple and humble souls that God conquers the powerful.

 A mysterious dream that changed her life

After the death of her father, King Costus, Catherine retreated with her mother Sabinella to the mountains of Cilicia, where she learned about the Christian religion through contact with a “kind and communicative” priest named Ananias, who instructed her in the supernatural realities surrounding the Holy Gospels. Assailed by doubts, Catherine did not immediately bow down before the Savior’s Cross.

Her mother, committed to her daughter’s conversion, sought at all costs a husband who would seal her surrender to Christ. However, she did not find in any suitor someone who was up to the task… God had already reserved her for Himself.

A mysterious dream, however, completely changed Catherine’s attitude towards Christianity and put an end to her – already excessive – spirit of criticism. In the dream, she was promised a treasure that she could only acquire if she received baptism and accepted the religion of the Savior. Moved by grace, she quickly learned the true faith and received holy baptism.

With the death of her mother, Catherine sought increasingly intense relations with the Alexandrian faithful, even turning her home into a veritable abode of Christians. She learned the truths of the faith so quickly that at the age of eighteen, in public discussions, she could easily confound the greatest philosophers of the time.

Before the wicked: assisted by the Holy Spirit

At that time, Emperor Maximian Daia began a cruel persecution against Christians. Having learned of St. Catherine’s keen intelligence, the emperor promised a prize to the philosophers who, confronted with her, would emerge victorious in the discussion.

Gathered in a public square, 50 volunteers came forward. As soon as they saw her, they began to laugh, for they could not believe that this “harmless” maiden could surpass the intelligence of the greatest sages of the city.

However, from the very beginning of the discussion, the clarity and wisdom of the young woman silenced her opponents one by one. Each victory was followed by a thunderous acclamation from the people watching her, and she was so assisted by the Holy Spirit that all those boastful philosophers eventually humbly converted to Christianity.

Remaining faithful

Upon learning of this, Emperor Maximian increased his zeal to corrupt the wise maiden. However, promises, threats, flattery, and bribes were not enough to change her mind.

Unable to changer the young woman’s mind, the emperor condemned her to the martyrdom of the wheel, a terrible death in those days, which slowly mutilated the unfortunate tied to this instrument of torture.

Before being bound, Saint Catherine made a great sign of the Cross in order to commend herself to the One to whom she had dedicated her life. As soon as she had finished prostrating herself, the wheel cracked, and those watching the scene were overwhelmed with joy at her release from the cruel and repulsive torture.

The emperor, enraged, locked her in a dungeon for twelve days, after which the saint emerged even more beautiful and robust than she had entered.

Seeing his plan to kill her by starvation and mistreatment frustrated, Maximian had her beheaded, as was the custom to do to Roman citizens.

Catherine was 18 years old. Her memory is liturgically commemorated on November 25.

Great Intercessor of the Faithful

St. Catherine of Alexandria, by her life and example, was graced in heaven by the devotion of the faithful, and today is called the patroness of artisans, archivists, educators, youth, jurists, lawyers, librarians, shredders, nurses, philosophers, preachers, scholars, students, scribes, secretaries, teachers, theologians, and young bachelors.

The University of Paris and Balliol College, in Oxford, England were consecrated to the wise and chaste martyr.

By Renan Costa
compiled by Camille Mittermeier

[1] Bibliographic data extracted from: ZIVIANI, Berenice; PETRY, M. Cecilia. Brave Girl: Life of Saint Catherine of Alexandria. São Paulo: Gráfica Serrana, 2001.