25 November 2020
Memorial of Catherine of Alexandria, Virgin and Martyr
St. Catherine of Alexandria is a saint whose day has come and gone. At the height of her popularity, in the 16th Century, her feast day was a holy day of obligation in France and businesses would close. Since then, her popularity has waned so much that in 1969 her feast day was deleted from the Roman Catholic calendar, due to the lack of historical certainty about her life’s story. Her feast day was restored to the Roman Catholic calendar in 2002, and it stands there to this day, but few people take notice. Let us not be so quick to pass her by.
She was a virgin and martyr of 4th Century Egypt. The government, at that time, was officially hostile to Christianity. St. Catherine was martyred because she had been convincing too many people, including philosophers, to give up paganism, as she had done, and turn to Christ. She is famous in art, for the large spiked wheel by which she would have been tortured and killed, had not angels intervened to shatter the wheel. Once the wheel was broken, she resumed her course, proclaiming the truth of the gospel, drawing converts and followers for a short period until she was, at last, beheaded.
The shattering of the wheel has been an inspiration for people facing looming prospects of torture of various types: physical, mental, emotional, etc. By redoubling our efforts to cling to the truth and to proclaim it boldly, the power of the things of this world to torture us is lessened and, in some cases, completely nullified. Let us cling to the truth more firmly, then, especially by opening our hearts and minds to the Truth itself, to God who reigns ever blessed above.