St Catherine was born in 282AD in Alexandria, Egypt to King
Costus and Queen Sabinella. She was
exceedingly well-versed in all the arts, sciences and in philosophy. She converted to Christianity and became a
bride of Christ. She approached the
Emperor Maximinus II in relation to his persecution of Christians. In response Maximinus II organised fifty philosophers
to debate against St Catherine. His
attempt to defeat her not only failed but she also succeeded in converting the
philosophers to Christianity. Enraged by
this, Maximinus II had the philosophers burned alive. The Emperor asked St Catherine to marry him,
to which she refused. Maximinus II had Catherine
imprisoned and scourged. She proceeded
to convert the Emperors wife along with two hundred soldiers, who were then
beheaded along with the Empress. The
Emperor then had Catherine put over four
wheels joined together with sharp pointed spikes, that, when the wheels moved
her body might be torn to pieces. As the
torture began the wheels broke apart and killed and injured many of the
spectators, after which the Emperor finally ordered to have Catherine beheaded.
It is said that at her beheading milk
poured from Catherine’s veins instead of blood. Her body was removed from Alexandria and taken
to Mount Sinai in Egypt. The Monastery
of St Catherine, founded between 548 and 565, still survives to this day in the
Sinai Peninsula. The location of the
monastery was selected at the site where Moses saw the burning bush.
In the 12th and 13th century’s the crusaders
returned to Europe with tales of St Catherine and the monastery in her name,
which caused the cult of St. Catherine to gain mass popularity.
The popular story of the introduction of the cult of St.
Catherine is that a party of monks were making a voyage on the west coast of Ireland.
The boat was caught in a great storm and
the monks prayed to St. Catherine “patron saint of sea farers” to protect them
and take them safely to shore. They
vowed if they reached land they would dedicate a holy well in her honour. The monks arrived safely in Killybegs and
dedicated the well to St. Catherine.
The feast day of St. Catherine of Alexandria is celebrated
on the 25th of November.
