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Katherine of Alexandria was a virgin of great beauty and intellect, daughter of King Constus. She refused to marry the Emperor because she had received a wedding ring from the Lord Himself in a vision. When she successfully defended the faith against the arguments of fifty pagan philosophers who had been called in to convince her of the errors of Christianity, she was tortured on a wheel of spikes. This wheel is evoked by the patterns on her shoulders in this icon. An angel of God appeared and broke the wheel. After many tortures, she was beheaded with the sword at age eighteen in 310. Milk flowed from her body instead of blood. Her relics are preserved at the monastery named for her at Mount Sinai. With her wealth, beauty, education, and high social class, it would have been very tempting for Saint Katherine to deny Christ, save her worldly life, and go back to an easy, privileged lifestyle. Instead, she chose to follow her faith.
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