Feastday: November 25When did St. Catherine of Alexandria live: in the second and third centuryBiography of St. Catherine of Alexandria:Catherine was a very beautiful daughter of the pagan King Costus who governed Alexandria. She was especially intelligent and through her studies, she gained brilliant eloquence. Already at young age, she decided to remain virgin or just marry somebody who exceeds her in beauty and intelligence. She soon discovered Jesus Christ and decided to serve him for the rest of her life. When she met the Roman Emperor Maxentius and tried to convince him of stopping the persecution of Christians, he organized a dispute between her and the best pagan philosophers. Since she won all the debates and converted many to Christianity, he ordered that she tortured on a spiked breaking wheel. As this instrument of turtler was miraculously distorted when she touched it, she was beheaded.Patronage: St. Catherine is patroness of unmarried girls, apologists, craftsmen who work with wheels, dying people, educators, millers, preachers, nurses, philosophers, lawyers and hat-makers.Statues and wooden sculptures representing St. Catherine of Alexandria - portrayal, imagery and emblem: St Catherine of Alexandria is represented as a noble woman with a wheel.