Catherine of Alexandria

Catherine of Alexandria was a young woman of noble birth and great learning who became a Christian around the age of 14. She had a vision of the Virgin Mary and the Child Jesus, who gave her a ring as a symbol of her mystical marriage to Christ. She boldly confronted the Roman emperor Maxentius, who was persecuting Christians, and challenged him to a debate with his best pagan philosophers. She refuted them all with her eloquence and wisdom, and converted many of them to Christianity. She was then tortured on a spiked wheel, which broke at her touch, and finally beheaded. According to legend, angels carried her body to Mount Sinai, where a monastery was later built in her honor. She is venerated as one of the most popular saints in the Christian tradition, and is the patroness of philosophers, scholars, students, and many other professions and places. She is also one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, a group of saints who are invoked for their intercession in times of need.