Today, November 25, as our Church celebrates the Memorial of Catherine of Alexandria , Virgin and Martyr, we are invited to read and reflect on a passage from the first letter of the apostle Paul to the Corinthians (7: 25-40), entitled "Christian chastity". Our treasure, which follows, is from sermon by Saint Caesarius of Arles.
St. Catherine of Alexandria was early 4th century virgin and martyr in Alexandria, Egypt. She was one of the most popular early Christian martyrs and one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers (a group of Roman Catholic saints venerated for their power of intercession). She is the patron saint of philosophers and scholars and is believed to help protect against sudden death.
Saint Catherine of Alexandria is not mentioned before the 9th century, and her historicity is doubtful. According to legend, she was an extremely learned young girl of noble birth, possibly a princess. She protested the persecution of Christians under the Roman emperor Maxentius—whose wife and several soldiers she converted while imprisoned—and defeated the most eminent scholars summoned by Maxentius to oppose her. During her subsequent torture, she professed that she had consecrated her virginity to Jesus Christ, her spouse, and she was sentenced to death. The spiked wheel by which she was to be killed broke when she touched it (from which came the term "Catherine Wheel" for such a torture device), and she was then beheaded,
After her death, angels allegedly took her body to Mount Sinai where, according to legend, it was discovered about 800. In the Middle Ages, when the story of her mystical marriage to Christ was widely circulated, she was one of the most popular saints and one of the most important virgin martyrs. Saint Joan of Arc claimed that Catherine's was among the heavenly voices that spoke to her before she led the French army in a momentous victory that repulsed an English attempt to conquer France during the Hundred Years War.
Archbishop and church man, the first in western Europe to receive the pallium from a pope. Saint Caesarius was born in Chalons, Burgundy, France, in 470, of a French-Roman family. He spent a brief time as a monk in Lerins but was forced to depart from the community when he became ill. His uncle, the bishop of Arles, ordained Caesarius and sent him to reform a local monastery. He succeeded his uncle, Fonus, as bishop of ArIes in 503. Saint Caesarius instituted many reforms, brought the Divine Office into the local parishes, and founded a convent, placing his sister St. Caesaria there as abbess, In 505, Saint Caesarius was banished by the Gothic King Alaric II because of a lie. He was restored soon after. When Theodoric the Great, King of the Ostrogoths, besieged Arles, Caesarius was arrested, but he met with Theodoric and was pardoned. He then went to Rome where Pope St. Symmachus gave him the pallium and made him the apostolic delegate to France. When the Franks captured Arles in 536, Saint Caesarius retired to St. John's Convent. He was revered for his more than forty years of service and for presiding over Church synods and councils, including the Council of Orange in 529. He died on August 27.
In his first letter to the Corinthians Paul warns against divisions within the Church and emphasizes the importance of unity among Church members. He warns members against sexual immorality, teaches that the body is a temple for the Holy Spirit, and encourages self-discipline.
