Today the church celebrates The Feast of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, a virgin and martyr. Catherine was a learned woman of the early 4th Century who, according to legend following her conversion at the age of 18, preached the gospel throughout Alexandria in Egypt. While imprisoned by the Emperor Magnus Maximus, she converted both the Empress and the leader of the armed forces, and for this she was martyred.

Legend has it that upon her death, after a wheel of torture known as “Catherine’s Wheel” broke, her body was carried by angels to Mount Sinai. Saint Joan of Arc was thought to have heard her voice. Venerated in the East since the 9th Century, she is a patron saint of philosophers, creatures, and young unmarried women.