We shall speak about saint Catherine whose feast day is today.
Saint Catherine lived in the
third century after Christ. She was born in Alexandria. Her father
Constas, a representative of the emperor, and her mother were idolaters.
Thus she too was an idolater. Now the small daughter had a great
inclination for learning. She studied all the sciences and read the
writings of the Greeks and Latins. At the age of 18 she was the most
educated daughter of Alexandria.
In her demeanor she was a
beautiful woman full of grace. With such gifts, physical and
intellectual, she was the most sought after bride. Prominent young men
proposed to her. But she would say that she didn’t want to marry,
despite all the pressures of her own people.
If someone wants to marry, it is
a sin to obstruct him. But if this is a sin once, it is a sin a
hundred-fold to obstruct a person, man or woman, who wants to give his
or her heart to God. Marriage is silver; virginity is gold. Choose and
take. In all the years that I have served the Lord, I never, ever
obstructed a person from entering marriage. But I also supported women
and men who wanted to devote themselves to God and to become missionary
and monastic persons. God gave freedom; compulsion is prohibited,
especially when it comes to these issues.
So they pressured, badly so,
saint Catherine. She didn’t hate marriage, but as a superior intellect
she wanted to be without distraction. And there is not only this
marriage, the usual one. Others marry the fatherland, others science,
others religion.
St. Catherine, in order to
escape the pressures, used an ingenious pretext. For the Christian is
smart; he must have intelligence not of this world but of God. So she
says to her parents: – since you pressure me so much, I accept
marriage, but on one condition. – What condition, my child? – If a young
man is found to be superior to me in beauty, in riches, in knowledge
and science, I’ll take him.
They began to search; and many
presented themselves. Others were rich, but not handsome. Others were
rich and handsome, but not cultivated. It is a rare thing for wealth
and beauty and cultivation to be found in a single person. Thus not a
single man could be found, and the parents were inconsolable.
They sent her to some
philosopher ascetic, who lived in a cave outside of Alexandria. She
went and sought his advice. He said to her: – My daughter, I now a young
man. There is no other like him in the world. Handsome, rich,
powerful, wise as no one else. Catherine got enthused and said: – I
would like to see him. The ascetic tells her: – Will you do whatever I
tell you? – I’ll do it. – Listen then (said the ascetic, and he took
out from his chest pocket an icon of our All-Holy Mary with our Lord
Jesus Christ). Take this icon, go to your home, close yourself in your
room, and pray. And the All-Holy Mary will reveal to you what you will
do.
Truly Catherine took the icon,
closed herself in her house, and prayed a great deal,
beyond midnight. Tired, she fell asleep. She sees then a vision. She
saw the All-holy Mary shining like the moon and the Divine infant in her
bosom shining like the sun; but the face of Christ was turned away so
as not to see Catherine. Says the All-holy Mary:
- My child, look at
this young girl. She came from so far away; she is looking for someone
who will love her and be devoted to her.
- The Divine infant responded in anger:
- I don’t want to look at her.
- Why not, my child? She is the most beautiful daughter of Alexandria.
- No Mother of God: she’s ugly (she was ugly because she was not yet baptized).
Catherine left weeping. She went to the ascetic and told him the vision.
- He spoke correctly,
he says. That’s why, if you want to see Christ, believe in him and be baptized.
In a few days that great figure
of Alexandria was baptized and finally became Christian. Then she saw a
vision again. This time the Divine child looked at her and heaven came
into her heart. From that moment on, Catherine became completely
devoted to Christ. She became a missionary.
The king Maximinus learned of
this and called her to dialogue. In the end, he was forced to say: I
can’t compete with you, but I’ll call the wise men and scientists, the
mathematicians and physicists and astronomers, so you can converse with
them.
The next day, 150 wise men were at the palace of Maximinus. Opposite them was saint
Catherine standing alone. The conversation began and lasted all day.
The proofs of the sages were toppled. The holy Spirit enlightened saint
Catherine and she reduced them to silence. Each of them, one after the
other, said: I agree with Catherine, I believe in Catherine’s God. The
king? He became wilder and ordered all the heads of the wise men to be
cut off. Thus those 150 wise men confessed Christ and martyred.
After this, Maximinus threw
saint Catherine in jail. And even when she was jailed, she had new
victories. There she brought to the faith many who came to visit her.
Among them was the wife of Maximinus, the queen Faustina, and her
bodyguard Porphyrios together with 200 of his soldiers. All these
people, upon hearing her words, believed in Christ. But Maximinus, with
a satanic stubbornness, not only remained unpersuaded, but even
ordered that all these people, too, be decapitated. He didn’t even feel
sorry for his wife! 150 souls were caught by
the preaching of Saint Catherine!
After a short while finally her
end approached. I won’t narrate the details to you. The series of
tortures she suffered was long, of which the most fearful was her being
tied to a wheel. And if you’re even a rock, you will be moved if you
read the end of saint Catherine. Having kneeled down, she raised her
hands and prayed for the whole world. Then she bent her head and was
decapitated. Thus she gave up her holy soul, which like a white dove
flew to the heavens.
Her holy relic is saved
incorrupted. Those who don’t believe, let them go and see it. It is at
Mount Sinai. This nest of Christ through the centuries is held by Greek
monks. Let’s thank God for that. Perhaps these are the last monks; for
the children of Greece no longer go to become monks at Sinai or at
Mount Athos: they prefer other pursuits…
Israelies, Egyptians, Venoudies,
Germans and Russians as pilgrims go there to venerate the sacred relic
of the saint, whom God crowned with three crowns: that of virginity,
of martyrdom, and of wisdom and science.
If we look at her icon, she has a
ring. What does this mean? In the second vision that she saw, Christ
gave her a ring, that is, became engaged. An engagement that differs
from earthly engagements. The moment that a girl becomes devoted to
God, she now already becomes devoted to Christ, who is the “bridegroom
who is the most beautiful among men.” (From aposticha hymns of Great
Tuesday).
***
Saint Catherine, my beloved, is a
rebuke of our generation. A rebuke, in the first place, to women,
because they have their mind only on physical beauty and are
indifferent towards spiritual beauty, or beauty of the soul. In the
second place she a rebuke to men, because they are shown to be inferior
to woman. AND THIRD, SHE IS A CENSURE AND REBUKE
TO US CLERICS BECAUSE WE DO NOT BRING SOULS TO CHRIST LIKE SHE DID,
BUT INSTEAD WE CHASE THEM AWAY!
I finish and wish that from
women there may come mothers who will raise their heroes, and from men
may come martyrs. This miracle I hope to be realized by the mother,
from woman. Amen.
+ Bishop Augustine
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