Catherine of Alexandria

For the 2015 film, see Katherine of Alexandria (film). For other uses, see Saint Catherine of Alexandria (disambiguation).

Saint

Catherine of Alexandria
Caravaggio, Saint Catherine of Alexandria, 1598–99, Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum
Virgin and martyr
Bornc. 287
Alexandria, Roman Egypt[1]
Diedc. 305 (aged 17–18)
Alexandria, Roman Egypt
Venerated inEastern Orthodox Church
Catholic Church
Oriental Orthodox Churches
Anglican Communion
Lutheranism
CanonizedPre-Congregation
Major shrineSaint Catherine's Monastery
Feast
  • 25 November
Attributesbreaking wheel; sword; with a crown at her feet; hailstones; bridal veil and ring; dove; surrounded by angels, scourge; book; woman arguing with pagan philosophers[2]
PatronageUnmarried girls; apologists; craftsmen who work with a wheel (potters, spinners); archivists; dying people; educators; girls; jurists; knife sharpeners; lacemakers; lawyers; librarians; libraries; Balliol College; Massey College; maidens; mechanics; millers; milliners; nurses; philosophers; preachers; scholars; schoolchildren; scribes; secretaries; spinsters; stenographers; students; tanners; theologians; St. Catherine University; University of Oviedo; University of Paris; haberdashers; wheelwrights; Aalsum, Germany; Żejtun, Malta; Żurrieq, Malta; Katerini, Greece; Grude, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Pagbilao, Quezon, Philippines; Gerona, Tarlac, Carcar, Cebu, Porac, Pampanga, Arayat, Pampanga, Dumaguete, Santa Catalina, Negros Oriental, Santa Catalina, Ilocos Sur, Santa, Ilocos Sur, Leon, Iloilo, Tayum, Abra, Diocese of Dumaguete, Negros Oriental, University of Santo Tomas; Bagac, Bataan, Santa Catarina (state), Brazil.

Catherine of Alexandria, also spelled Katherine[a] (Greek: Αίκατερίνη) is, 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. 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.[3]

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.[4] Her feast was removed from the General Roman Calendar[5] in 1969 but restored in 2002 as an optional memorial.

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.[6][7][8] 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".[9]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference orthodox was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Wednesday of the Thirty-Fourth Week of Ordinary Time; Optional Memorial of St. Catherine of Alexandria, virgin and martyr – November 25, 2020 – Liturgical Calendar". www.catholicculture.org.
  3. ^ Williard Trask, Joan of Arc: In Her Own Words (Turtle Point Press, 1996), 99
  4. ^ Martyrologium Romanum (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2001 ISBN 88-209-7210-7)
  5. ^ Calendarium Romanum (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1969), p. 147
  6. ^ Walsh 2007, pp. 3–26.
  7. ^ Deakin 2007, pp. 135, 202.
  8. ^ Maria Dzielska: Hypatia of Alexandria, Cambridge (Massachusetts) 1995, p. 21; Christian Lacombrade: Hypatia. In: Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum, Bd. 16, Stuttgart 1994, Sp. 956–967, here: 966; Gustave Bardy: Catherine d'Alexandrie. In: Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, Bd. 11, Paris 1949, Sp. 1503–1505, here: 1504.
  9. ^ Clugnet 1908.


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