St. Catherine of Alexandria
Catherine was said to have lived in the early fourth century, the daughter of an aristocratic family in the Egyptian city of Alexandria. She studied philosophy, rather unusual for a young lady at the time, and became convinced of the truth of Christianity. At eighteen, determined to convert the emperor, she allowed him to have her tested by fifty of the top minds of his court. They could not dispute anything she argued, and so they converted. Then they were burned to death.
The emperor was so impressed with Catherine he asked her to be his consort. She declined and was imprisoned. While incarcerated, Catherine converted the emperor's wife. Then the torture began. The legend goes that everyone who came in contact with her — her jailer, the imperial guards — was killed.
Catherine was next. She was subjected to four wheels, each studded with sharp nails. Two wheels turned in one direction and two in the other, two of them coming down on her body from the top and the other two mauling her from below. She was to be mangled to death. To this day, a wheel with spikes projecting from the rim is known as a Catherine wheel.
E-FACT
St. Catherine was one of the most beloved saints of the Middle Ages, and was considered “one of the fourteen most helpful saints in heaven.” Preachers loved to incorporate her story into their sermons, and she was the subject of much poetry, despite some of the fantastical elementsof her story.
The wheel, however, could not claim her. An angel struck the contraption before it hurt Catherine. There is no happy ending here, however, unless you consider her moving on to glory: she was finally beheaded. St. Catherine of Alexandria is the patron saint of librarians, lawyers, maidens/virgins, and craftsmen. Her feast day, November 29, was dropped from the liturgical calendar in 1969.
