St. Katherine of Alexandria
 This young African martyr stands as a model of courage and intellectual brilliance for all—young and old alike. She was only 18 at the time of her suffering. Born the daughter of a king, she was raised as a secret Christian by her mother after her father's death. In a vision she received a ring from the Lord Jesus Christ as a sign of her betrothal unto Him, thereby representing the multitudes of young women that would also dedicate themselves as virgins to be the brides of Christ. Miraculously this ring remains to this day!
During the persecution of Maxentius (responsible also for the martyrdom of St. Maurice and the Theban Legion), those living in Alexandria were required to offer sacrifice to the idols. With courage and eloquence Katherine came before the Emperor and publicly spoke against the errors of idolatry. Katherine excelled in Greek philosophy, medicine, rhetoric and logic. Beholding her beauty and her wisdom, he himself felt no match for her eloquence.
He quickly gathered fifty of the wisest men in Alexandria. They were supposed to shame her with their wisdom and outwit her with their skill. Instead, she spoke with such breadth of knowledge of philosophy—quoting Greek philosophers to prove her point while at the same time showing the folly of worshipping their gods—that the supposed wise ones were confounded. As it is written, "Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?"(1 Cor. 1:20) The embarrassed Emperor immediately ordered the fifty philosophers to be burned.
But holy Katherine was praying for them. It turned out that all fifty confessed Christ right before their death! Through her prayers and testimony, a total of 200 soldiers, their general Porphyrius, along with the empress herself, Augusta-Vasilissa all became Christians. They, along with Katherine, all suffered for Christ.
The symbol of St. Katherine's death is a wheel. A great wheel with spokes that raked over her body, tearing her flesh, was the method of her inhuman torture. At a point right before her death, an angel appeared and broke the wheel, at which time our Lord Jesus Christ strengthened her. After her many tortures she was beheaded by the sword.
She yielded her heroic soul into the hands of Christ our God on November 24, 310. Her body was miraculously transferred to Sinai where an ancient monastery dedicated to her still functions and preserves her relics to this day. Holy Great Martyr Katherine, pray to God for us!
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