Happy Feast Day Catherine!

St. Catherine of Alexandria

Below is the entry from Catholic Online in the Saints and Angels section. St. Catherine of Alexandria is one of our Catherine's patron saints.

St. Catherine of Alexandria, Virgin and Martyr whose feast day is November 25th. She is the patroness of philosophers and preachers.

St. Catherine is believed to have been born in Alexandria of a noble family. Converted to Christianity through a vision, she denounced Maxentius for persecuting Christians. Fifty of her converts were then burned to death by Maxentius.

Maxentius offered Catherine a royal marriage if she would deny the Faith. Her refusal landed her in prison. While in prison, and while Maxentius was away, Catherine converted Maxentius' wife and two hundred of his soldiers. He had them all put to death.
Catherine was likewise condemned to death. She was put on a spiked wheel, and when the wheel broke, she was beheaded. She is venerated as the patroness of philosophers and preachers. St. Catherine's was one of the voices heard by St. Joan of Arc.

Maxentius' blind fury against St. Catherine is symbolic of the anger of the world in the face of truth and justice. When we live a life of truth and justice, we can expect the forces of evil to oppose us. Our perseverance in good, however, will be everlasting. (emphasis mine)

This reminds me that we should expect trouble when we are living out our faith. We may not face martyrdom, but we will most likely, at some time or another, face anger, hate, scorn, or ridicule, and yes, maybe even outright persecution because of our beliefs. May we all have the courage to face the anger of the world like St. Catherine of Alexandria.