St. Catherine of Alexandria was a mystic and martyr and one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers who appeared to St. Joan of Arc. Catherine has been venerated in the East since the tenth century. She is traditionally recorded as being born in Alexandria, Egypt, to a noble Roman family.

Catherine was converted by a vision and personally denounced Emperor Maxentius for his persecutions. Arrested, Catherine debated with fifty pagan philosophers, who were converted by her arguments and then slain.

Refusing the imperial offers made for her to recant, Catherine was imprisoned, yet she is credited with converting to the faith the empress, an officer, and two hundred soldiers. The emperor condemned her to death on a spiked wheel. An angel destroyed the wheel, so Catherine was beheaded. An angel carried her body to Mount Sinai, where she is buried. St. Catherine’s monastery is still found there today.

Catherine is the patroness of Valais, the University of Paris, libraries, hospitals, virgins, pupils, teachers, theologians, universities, and others. Catherine is shown as a woman wearing a crown with a spiked wheel.

Catherine is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers who are a group of saints venerated together in Catholic tradition because their intercession is believed to be particularly effective against specific diseases and dangers. Each saint is invoked for aid regarding particular ailments or needs. The Fourteen Holy Helpers are: Acacius, Barbara, Blaise, Catherine of Alexandria, Christopher, Cyriacus, Denis, Erasmus of Formia, Eustace, George, Giles, Margaret of Antioch, Pantaleon, and Vitus.