Martyr
Catherine the Great Martyr of Alexandria
New Calendar November 25 Old Calendar December 8
Why they are a saint
Catherine the Great Martyr of Alexandria is commemorated by the Orthodox Church on November 25. Venerated as a martyr who died for the faith in Christ; little else about her life has come down to us.
Limited historical information is available about this saint.
Life
Saint Katherine was the daughter of Konstos, governor of Alexandria in the reign of the emperor Maximian, and was renowned for beauty and learning. She said she would marry only someone who surpassed her in nobility, wealth, comeliness and wisdom. Her mother, secretly a Christian, sent her to a holy elder, who spoke to her of Christ, the Heavenly Bridegroom, and baptized her; in a vision, Christ gave her a ring as a token of betrothal.
When Maximian came to Alexandria for a pagan festival, she confronted him. He ordered fifty of the most learned philosophers of the empire to dispute with her, but she prevailed and they came to believe in Christ. Threatened with torture on wheels set with iron spikes, she confessed Christ, and an angel shattered the wheels. The Empress Augusta, the commander Porphyrios and two hundred soldiers confessed Christ and were beheaded.
Refusing the emperor's offer of marriage, she prayed and laid her head on the block. Her life says that angels carried her relics to Mount Sinai, and in the sixth century her head and left hand were found and placed in the church of the monastery on Mount Sinai.
Sources: OCA Lives of the Saints. Retold in our own words.
Traditional patronage
The cited source names no specific patronage.
Patronage / why chosen as patron
Orthodox Christians usually take Catherine the Great Martyr of Alexandria as a patron when they bear the name Catherine at baptism, or were born or baptized near the feast on November 25. As a martyr, she is also asked for courage and faithfulness under trial.
Prayer
O holy Catherine the Great Martyr of Alexandria, pray to God for us.
A short general prayer to a saint, not a liturgical text. No public-domain troparion for this saint is included.