Great Martyr
Great Martyr Catherine of Alexandria
† ок. 305–313
Great Martyr Catherine of Alexandria — a noble, learned virgin who defeated 50 pagan philosophers in debate, converted many to Christ, and was beheaded under Emperor Maximinus (Maxentius); her relics rest on Mount Sinai.
Great Martyr Catherine was of noble (by tradition royal) Alexandrian birth and received an exceptional education in philosophy and rhetoric. When Emperor Maximinus (Maxentius) ordered sacrifices to the pagan gods, Catherine rebuked him for idolatry; fifty of the empire's leading philosophers were assembled to refute her, but she defeated them in debate, and all subsequently converted to Christ and were executed.
Catherine herself was tortured and imprisoned, during which, according to tradition, she converted the emperor's wife and the military commander Porphyrius with his soldiers. The emperor ordered her broken on a spiked wheel, but the instrument miraculously shattered, and she was beheaded by the sword instead.
Tradition holds that angels carried her body to Mount Sinai, where her relics were later discovered and now rest in the monastery bearing her name.
Her feast is kept on November 24/December 7.
IMPORTANT CORRECTION: the name element "Peskova" has been removed as an unexplained data artifact — no saint or new martyr by that name/surname was found in any source; identification with Great Martyr Catherine of Alexandria is confirmed by direct inscriptions "EKATERINA"/"AIKATERINA" on all 3 of the entry's images. Also corrected an erroneous date "November 25" (the Catholic Gregorian format, mistakenly mixed into the old-style/new-style pairing) to the correct Orthodox "November 24/December 7."