The priest Gonzalo Martín shares with the readers of Exaudi this article on the figure of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, the truth in the encounter with faith, whose feast is celebrated today, 25 November.
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“Almighty and eternal God, who gave to your people the virgin and unconquered martyr Saint Catherine, grant us, through her intercession, to be strengthened in a constant faith and to work tirelessly for the unity of the Church”. So pray to the Church on the Memorial Day of St. Catherine of Alexandria, every 25th November, to ask for that strength that every Christian should have, after the example of the martyr, to bear witness to our Saviour.
Everything that surrounds this saint is a story that extols the virtues of this intelligent and wise young woman who, seeking and defending the truth, not only lived the faith but also bore witness to it, even to the point of martyrdom, in the face of the powerful and intellectuals of the time. Tradition tells us of an intelligent and beautiful young woman, born into a noble family in Alexandria. She was a great connoisseur of the philosophical currents of the time and a tireless seeker of truth, which is what made her interested in discovering the Christian faith, which led her not only to be baptised but to consecrate her entire life in virginity to Christ.
We do not know the veracity of her story, but all agree that on a pagan feast before the emperor Maxentius, sacrifices had to be offered to the gods, to which Catherine not only made no offering, but made the sign of the Cross in front of everyone. Thus began her ritual of martyrdom, as she then addressed the emperor and challenged him to know God through a debate.
The emperor sent his wise men, who cannot defeat Catherine, who eloquently speaks of God and even the one who was to be converted to paganism, is the one who converts the debaters to the Christian faith. This angered the emperor himself, creating many enemies, who, unable to defeat her with dialectics, tried to do so with weapons, with the approval of the emperor, who, moved by anger, ordered her life to be ended.
Her martyrdom is known as the “martyrdom of the wheel”, as she was embedded in a wheel of spikes which, as they passed through her body, jumped and wounded not the saint, but her executioners. When they did not succeed in killing her, they beheaded her with a sword, cutting off her head. Although before dying, and in prison, she did not cease to bear witness to the faith, even converting an officer and many soldiers.
Her remains rest on Mount Sinai in the monastery that bears her name. She is considered to be the patron saint of philosophers, students and people who work with wheels. According to some “acts” found in reference to the saint, it is said that from a young age she was distinguished for her intelligence and beauty, and that many nobles and rich people wanted to marry her, to which Catherine replied to her relatives: “if you want me to marry, find me someone who equals me in beauty and erudition”.
Through an anchorite, Catherine had a dream, a vision, where she discovered who the Bridegroom was, who was superior in everything to her, and who went hand in hand with the Virgin Mary. Thus, the saint, virgin, and martyr discovered that her life had to be committed to Christ and the only goal that enthused her and filled her with peace was to live for Christ. Her life was a continuous knowledge of the Truth, and a profound experience of faith, demonstrating that there can only be one wise man, the Creator of all, who with his perfection is far above all those pagan gods who tried to prove their existence to Catherine, but that she with her eloquence, truth, and faith, demonstrated that their reasoning about pagan religion did not hold water. And one after another she refuted, convinced, and converted many of her interlocutors.
In the year 527, the Emperor Justinian built a fortified monastery for the hermits of Sinai, where, it is said, the alleged relics of the Saint were transferred in the 8th or 9th century. We can say on this day of Saint Catherine of Alexandria that she was that beautiful and intelligent woman who sought the Truth that is Christ and defended and spread the faith that she herself encountered along the way, even to the point of giving her own life in martyrdom.
