St. Catherine of Alexandria: A Model of Virtue and Learning

Fr. Hugh Gillespie, SMM

St. Catherine of Alexandria: A Model of Virtue and Learning

Today’s Gospel underscores how difficult it is to understand the signs given to us by the Lord.

It is important that Christians not to pre-occupy their daily lives with understanding signs. The Lord tells us everyone will not know the day or the hour of His Coming! The ambiguity is important. If you were able to know the date, many people would say I do not have to worry until just before the date. Jesus tells us more, listen to the Homily.

St. Catherine of Alexandria

Today, we celebrate a saint. For hundreds of years, the memorial has a great devotion. Then, it waned, and the Church did not include it in the liturgical calendar.

Pope Benedict XVI restored this feast day to the Church’s calendar during his papacy. Why would the Holy Father insert this feast day back into the calendar? What drove him toward that? What was it about her life that made this action important to the Holy Father?

Saint Catherine was a virgin and martyr. Catherine was a young woman from a wealthy family in Alexandria. She was a virgin from her youth and was determined to remain so. She was also remarkably well educated.

Her most notable thing about her is her education. She is a remarkable example of combining virtue with learning. Hear more about this saint and how she is a model for our own spiritual life.