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Saint Catherine of Alexandria, known as Saint
Catherine of the Wheel and The Great Martyr Saint Catherine is a figure
claimed to have been a noted scholar in the early 4th Century who, at the age
of only 18, is said to have visited the Emperor Maximinus II and to have
convinced him of the error of his ways in persecuting Christians. According to
legend, she also converted many pagans, who were subsequently murdered. The
legend of Catherine continues that she was condemned to death on the breaking
wheel (an instrument of torture), but that it broke when she touched it, so
she was beheaded.
In an elaboration of the legend, angels carried her body to Mt. Sinai, where
in the 6th century AD, the Eastern Emperor Justinian established Saint
Catherine's Monastery In another development of the
legend, having rejected many offers of marriage, she was transported to heaven
in vision and betrothed to Christ by the Virgin Mary, the ancient theme of the
mystical marriage to the deity that is familiar in the ecstatic mythology of
the eastern Mediterranean and Anatolia.
Historians believe that Catherine (literally 'the pure one') probably did not
exist. She was more an ideal exemplary figure than a historical one.
The 1908 Catholic Encyclopedia describes the historical importance of the
belief in her as follows:
Ranked with St. Margaret and St. Barbara as one of the fourteen most helpful
saints in heaven, she was unceasingly praised by preachers and sung by poets.
St. Catherine became the patroness of young maidens and female students.
Source:
Wikipedia.org
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