This statue is in the central façade of seminary in Mondoñedo. It is between the two towers. Saint Catherine appears with all the attributes that allude to her martyrdom: the wheel with the knives, the sword with which she was beheaded and the palm.
"Catherine of Alexandria was a Christian martyr in the 4th century . His feast is celebrated on November 25 . His cult spread throughout Europe from the 6th century , with emphasis between the 10th and 12th centuries. It is included in the group of helper saints and is invoked against sudden death . Some modern scholars consider that the legend of Catherine was probably based on the life and death of Hypatia , with reversed roles of Christians and pagans .
The news about the life of Catherine of Alexandria is provided by very late documentation. The oldest document is the Passio , initially drawn up in Greek between the 6th and 8th centuries, well known from the 9th century on through the Latin version. There are also other hagiographic texts , among which the Conversio stands out , perhaps influenced by the Benedictine female mysticism. The content of the set of texts is summarized below.
Catherine was born around 290 into a noble family in Alexandria , Egypt . Endowed with great intelligence, she soon stood out for her extensive studies, which placed her on the same level as the great poets and philosophers of the time. One night Christ appeared to her and decided, at that moment, to consecrate her life to him, considering herself, since then, his fiancée . The theme of the mystical marriage is common in the East of the Mediterranean and Catholic spirituality.
Martyrdom of Saint Catherine, painting by Masolino da Panicale .
Emperor Maxentius (306-312) came to Alexandria to preside over a pagan festival and ordered all subjects to make sacrifices to the gods. Catherine entered the temple, but instead of sacrificing, she made the sign of the cross. And addressing the emperor he rebuked him exhorting him to know the true God. Led to the palace, she reiterated her refusal to make sacrifices but invited the emperor to a debate.
In the test of the philosophical debate, the wise men were converted to Christianity by Catherine, which provoked the anger of the emperor, who had the wise men executed, not without first proposing to Catherine that she marry one of them, to which she He flatly denied. Maxentius tried to convince her with promises, but when he failed, he had her flogged and later locked up in prison. There she was visited by the empress herself and an officer, Porfirio, who ended up converting along with two hundred other soldiers, according to Passio .
The emperor then ordered that Catherine be tortured using a machine made up of wheels fitted with sharp blades. According to Passio , the wheels broke when they touched the body of Catalina, who was unharmed. The empress tried to intercede on Catherine's behalf, but was beheaded, as were Porfirio and his two hundred soldiers.
His tomb had been found at the foot of Mount Sinai , in the monastery that bears his name, which led to pilgrimages from around the world, especially appreciated by pilgrims from the Holy Land . Legend has it that the monks of the monastery built at the foot of Mount Sinai discovered in a mountain grotto the intact body of a young woman whom they recognized as Catherine of Alexandria. According to Passio , the body had been deposited there by angels. Thus, the Passio is adorned with a set of hagiographic, not historical, common places."
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