St. Catherine of Alexandria is a virgin martyr of the early fourth century who, according to her legend, out-argued the emperor’s philosophers, converted many of them, broke the spiked wheel meant to kill her, and was beheaded. For a thousand years she was one of the most popular saints in Christendom: one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, a voice heard by St. Joan of Arc, and the patron of philosophers, students and young women. Her feast is November 25, which in 2026 falls on a Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving in the United States.
The legend of St. Catherine
The 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia summarizes her Acts this way:
- A learned young noblewoman. Catherine, of noble birth in Alexandria and learned in the sciences, was about eighteen when she went before the emperor Maximinus, who was cruelly persecuting the Christians, rebuked him and argued against the worship of false gods.
- The debate. Unable to answer her himself, the emperor summoned his best scholars to argue her out of her faith. She won the debate, and several of them declared themselves Christians and were put to death at once.
- The empress converted. While Catherine was in prison the empress came to see her with Porphyry, the commander of the troops. Both believed, were baptized and were martyred.
- The wheel. Catherine was condemned to die on a spiked wheel, but at her touch the instrument of torture broke apart.
- Martyrdom. The emperor had her beheaded, and angels carried her body to Mount Sinai, where a church and monastery were later built in her honor.
The same article warns that her Acts survive only in later, much-embellished forms. Because so little can be known about her with historical certainty, her feast was removed from the general calendar in 1969, but it was restored as an optional memorial in the 2002 edition of the Roman Missal. The Church continues to honor her as a witness to the faith whose story, whatever its details, has inspired Christians for centuries.
St. Catherine’s Monastery at Mount Sinai
At the foot of Mount Sinai stands one of the oldest working Christian monasteries in the world, built in the sixth century under the emperor Justinian and known for centuries as St. Catherine’s Monastery because it holds what are venerated as her relics. The old Collect of her feast links the two: the God who gave the Law to Moses on Sinai is asked to bring us, through her prayers, to “the mountain which is Christ.”
The prayer of her feast
The Collect for St. Catherine in the traditional Roman Missal:
O God, who didst give the law to Moses on the top of Mount Sinai, where, through thy holy Angels, thou didst lay to rest the body of the blessed Virgin and Martyr, Catharine, grant, we beseech thee, that through her merits and intercession, we may be able to reach the mountain which is Christ. Who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God world without end. Amen.
A prayer to St. Catherine of Alexandria
Written for this page:
Saint Catherine, wise and fearless virgin,
you used every gift of your mind to defend the truth of Christ,
and you would not deny him even before the wheel and the sword.
Pray for students, teachers and philosophers,
that they may seek the truth with humility and find it in Jesus Christ.
Give me courage to speak of my faith with clarity and charity.
Saint Catherine, pray for us. Amen.
The Catherine wheel
The spiked wheel of her legend became her emblem in art, and it gave its name to the Catherine wheel, the spinning firework, and to round “Catherine windows” in Gothic churches. Wheelwrights, spinners and millers took her as their patron.
What is St. Catherine of Alexandria the patron saint of?
- Philosophers, students, teachers and librarians, because of her learning and her debate with the scholars. Many medieval schools and faculties of philosophy took her as their patron.
- Young unmarried women. In France, women still unmarried at twenty-five are called catherinettes and celebrate on her feast with extravagant hats.
- Wheelwrights, spinners and millers, because of the wheel.
- Preachers and apologists.
She is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, and she was among the saints whose voices St. Joan of Arc said she heard. See St. Joan of Arc and the patron saints.
Frequently asked questions
When is the feast of St. Catherine of Alexandria?
November 25, an optional memorial in the Roman calendar. In 2026 it falls on a Wednesday.
Is St. Catherine of Alexandria the same as St. Catherine of Siena?
No. St. Catherine of Alexandria was an early fourth-century martyr in Egypt. St. Catherine of Siena was a fourteenth-century Dominican mystic and Doctor of the Church, whose feast is April 29.
Was St. Catherine of Alexandria a real person?
Her existence cannot be proven from early historical records, and the details of her legend were greatly elaborated over time. For that reason her feast was dropped from the universal calendar in 1969. It was restored in 2002, and she remains a canonized saint honored by both Catholics and Orthodox.
What is the Catherine wheel?
The spiked wheel on which, according to her legend, she was to be executed, and which broke when she touched it. It is her symbol in art and the origin of the name of the spinning firework.
More saints and prayers
- Patron saint of students
- Patron saint of reading
- St. Catherine of Siena
- St. Joan of Arc
- St. Barbara
- St. Thomas Aquinas, prayer before study
- Saint of the day
- Saint feast days
Texts and sources
- Collect: The Mass Every Day of the Year (1916 daily missal), November 25, public domain (archive.org). OCR errors corrected.
- “St. Catherine of Alexandria,” Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 3 (1908), Wikisource.