Catherine of Alexandria

Who they were

Catherine's story comes from her Passion, written between the fifth and seventh centuries. It tells that when the emperor Maxentius came to Alexandria and ordered everyone to sacrifice to the gods, a beautiful girl of eighteen stood before him and told him to learn to love the God who made the world and His only Son Jesus Christ, who freed mankind by the cross.

He set her to debate with his philosophers, who were converted. She was tortured on a wheel of spikes that broke when it touched her, and was led out of the city, praying for the people, to be beheaded.

The miracles

There was never a formal cause: Catherine has been honoured as a martyr since the early centuries. The Vatican News account notes the legendary style of her Passion, which does not take away the truth of her martyrdom. Tradition says her body was carried to Mount Sinai.

Why that counted as sanctity

Catherine is honoured for her wisdom put at the service of the faith and for her courage in dying for Christ.

Connected on this site

• Dorothea of Alexandria Saint
  “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 according to some sources the Greek philosopher Hypatia, despite her death occurring 110 years later, with the reversed role of a Christian and neoplatonist being…” — Wikipedia
• Saint Lucy Saint
  “She is one of the best known virgin martyrs, along with Agatha of Sicily, Agnes of Rome, Cecilia of Rome, and Catherine of Alexandria.” — Wikipedia