NOVEMBER 25, 2024 – ST. CATHERINE OF ALEXANDRIA.

• St. Catherine of Alexandria (307). Martyr, Patron or Patroness, Virgin. Patroness of philosophers & young girls. (Current, Traditional)

CATHERINE was a noble virgin of Alexandria. Before her baptism, it is said, she saw in vision the Blessed Virgin ask her Son to receive her among His servants, but the Divine Infant turned away. After baptism, Catherine saw the same vision, when Jesus Christ received her with great affection, and espoused her before the court of heaven. When the impious tyrant, Maximin II, came to Alexandria, fascinated by the wisdom, beauty, and wealth of the Saint, he in vain urged his suit. At last in his rage and disappointment he ordered her to be stripped and scourged. She fled to the Arabian mountains, where the soldiers overtook her, and after many torments put her to death. Her body was laid in Mount Sinai, and a beautiful legend relates that Catherine having prayed that no man might see or touch her body after death angels bore it to the grave.

REFLECTION: The constancy displayed by the Saints in their glorious martyrdom cannot be isolated from their previous lives, but is their natural sequence. If we wish to emulate their perseverance, let us first imitate their fidelity to grace.

WORD OF THE DAY

SALUTARY ACT. Human action that is performed under the influence of grace and that positively leads a person to a heavenly destiny. The grace of a salutary act must be at least actual grace, whether a person is in the state of grace or not. If one is in the state of grace, the action is not only salutary but also meritorious. While the Church has not officially pronounced on the subject, it is common teaching that the justified also require actual grace for the performance of salutary acts. (Etym. Latin salus, health, well-being.)

Modern Catholic Dictionary, Fr. John Hardon SJ (Get the real one at Eternal Life — don’t accept an abridged or edited version of this masterpiece!)

This article, NOVEMBER 25, 2024 – ST. CATHERINE OF ALEXANDRIA. is a post from The Bellarmine Forum.
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