The relics of Saint Catherine of Alexandria , also known as Catherine of Alexandria, are highly revered Christian relics. This saint lived in the 4th century and is considered one of the most important virgin martyrs in Christian history. His relics are kept in many places around the world and are venerated by millions of people each year.
The head and hand of Saint Catherine of Alexandria
Saint Catherine was an educated young woman from a noble family in the city of Alexandria in Egypt. She was known for her beauty and intelligence, and was educated in science and philosophy. She was converted to Christianity and dedicated her life to her faith.
When Emperor Maximin II ordered the persecution of Christians, Saint Catherine bravely defended her faith before him and converted many others to the Christian religion. She was eventually arrested, tortured and beheaded because of her faith. According to the when she is decapitated, milk squirts from her neck as blood.
Relic of Saint Catherine at Relics.es
Then angels take his body, carry it to Mount Sinai, more than twenty days' journey, and bury it with great honor. “From his bones flows oil that heals the bodies of all the sick.
A few centuries later, monks from a monastery built at the foot of Mount Sinai (where Moses is said to have received the Ten Commandments) miraculously discover on the top of a nearby mountain the intact body of a beautiful young woman who is recognized as the one of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, placed there by angels. The monastery was placed first under the patronage of Notre-Dame, then of the Transfiguration, before being under the patronage of Saint Catherine in the 8th century. The monks of Saint Catherine's Monastery in Sinai become the guardians of the saint's tomb. Members of the Order of Saint Catherine of Mount Sinai will have the task of defending the tomb and the monastery against the enemies of Christianity.
The relics kept in this monastery include a hand and part of his skull.
It was during the Crusades that his legend spread throughout the West, creating the motif of great devotion that inspired many artists. These represent the saint with a tricolor halo: white for virginity, green for knowledge and red for martyrdom. The wheel of her torture very often appears near her.
Some of the saint's relics are said to have been brought to the Rouen Benedictine abbey formerly called Sainte-Trinité du Mont and now Sainte-Catherine du Mont abbey by Saint Syméon, a monk from Sinai who died in Trier in 1035 and passed to Rouen in 1028. In the Golden Legend, it is a monk from Rouen who, after spending seven years on Mount Sinai in the service of Saint Catherine, asks him to possess some fragment of her body. “Immediately a phalanx is detached from one of his fingers” which he carries off happily towards his monastery.
Other relics of Saint Catherine are also venerated in other churches and monasteries around the world. In Venice, Italy, relics of the saint include an entire arm and part of her head. Saint Catherine's relics are also kept in the churches of Saint Catherine of Siena in Rome and Saint Catherine in Bethlehem.
Saint Catherine's relics are highly revered by Christians around the world, who consider them to have miraculous properties. Pilgrims often come from afar to touch or kiss the relics and ask for favors. The relics were also used for healing ceremonies and exorcisms.
