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Old 28-Aug-17, 21:10
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Default These Holy virgins beat and trample on demons and their tormentors.

Juliana of Nicomedia

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St. Juliana_of_Nicomedia (ortodox icon)

Saint Juliana of Nicomedia is said to have suffered Christian martyrdom during the Diocletian persecution in 304. She was popular in the Middle Ages, especially in the Netherlands, as the patron saint of sickness.

Historical background

Both the Latin and Greek Churches mention a holy martyr Juliana in their lists of saints. The oldest historical notice of her is found in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum for 16 February, her place of birth being given as Cumae in Campania ("In Campania Cumbas, natale Julianae").[1]
It is true that the reference is contained only in the single chief manuscript of the above-named martyrology (the Codex Epternacensis). It is nevertheless clear that the notice is certainly authentic, from a letter of Saint Gregory the Great, which testifies to the special veneration of Saint Juliana in the neighbourhood of Naples. A pious matron named Januaria built a church on one of her estates, for the consecration of which she desired relics (sanctuaria, that is to say, objects which had been brought into contact with the graves) of Saints Severinus[disambiguation needed] and Juliana. Gregory wrote to Fortunatus II, Bishop of Naples, telling him to accede to the wishes of Januaria.

The legend


The Acts of Saint Juliana used by Bede in his "Martyrologium" are not at all legendary.[1] According to this account, Saint Juliana, daughter of an illustrious pagan named Africanus, was born in Nicomedia; and as a child was betrothed to the Senator Eleusius, one of the emperor's advisors. Her father was hostile to the Christians. Juliana secretly accepted holy baptism. When the time of her wedding approached, Juliana refused to be married. Her father urged her not to break her engagement, but when she refused to obey him, he handed her over to the Governor, her former fiancé. Elusius again asked Juliana to marry him, but she again refused.[5]
The holy Martyr Juliana was executed in the year 304,[5] during the persecution of Maximian. Juliana was beheaded after suffering torture. Another Christian named Barbara suffered the death of a martyr along with Juliana and was likewise sainted.
Soon after a noble lady, named Sephonia, came through Nicomedia and took the saint's body with her to Italy, and had it buried in Campania. Evidently it was this alleged translation that caused the martyred Juliana, honoured in Nicomedia, to be identified with the Saint Juliana of Cumae evidenced above, although they are quite distinct persons.

A more detailed biography-reference at martyrdom

Saint Juliana was the daughter of pagan parents, who were illustrious princes of Nicomedia when Diocletian ruled (286–305 A.D.). They betrothed her to a senator named Eleusius, who fell in love with her and was looking forward to their wedding. Juliana declined, as she wished to remain virginal. Assuming it was a girl's caprice, Eleusius sought the position of Roman governor of the capital of Bithynia. He had spent a lot of money and had his family and friends mediate for him at the court. In a fairly short amount of time he assumed the post and became governor of Nicomedia. He repeated then the marriage proposal to Juliana, but she revealed her faith to him. As a "bride of Christ", she said: "Unless you abandon the adoration of meaningless idols and you worship my Lord Christ I won't marry you, because it is impossible for our bodies to be unified if our hearts militate".
Juliana stayed constant to her decision although her parents pleaded with her. She was then arrested and taken to the court in front of the Roman governor, as a follower of the religion which was then under persecution. Her fiancé became her judge, torturer and executioner. He ordered people under his authority to remove her clothing and submit her to a series of tortures. First, she was flogged, then she was hanged by her hair and afterward it was pulled from her scalp. In prison, the devil approached her in the guise of an angel of God and advised her to agree to offer sacrifice to the pagan idols. Juliana saw through the deception, and struck out and spat on the devil. After this event she gained new powers to continue her fight. She was taken from jail and interrogated. Eleusius pleaded with her to marry him in order to get rid of the tortures and at the same time he promised her to allow her to worship her God freely. She remained constant. She was taken before a cauldron of molten lead. Juliana touched the cauldron and it tumbled over and the molten lead injured the guards. Many of the pagans who were present, 500 men and 130 women, were ready to convert to Christianity. They were beheaded on the spot on the governor’s order. Finally, Juliana was beheaded. She was 18 years old.[citation needed]

Alternate account

Juliana’s parents were pagans and they wanted to betroth her with Eleusius, a prominent officer from Antioch, but Juliana denied strongly. Her denial left her parents surprised because until then she had never opposed them and she was an obedient daughter. Eleusius' ego was sorely injured and he sought revenge. He made some queries and found out that Juliana had converted to Christianity, though her parents knew nothing about this. Eleusius impeached her before the Roman governor and as a result she was arrested and put in jail. While she was in prison, efforts to make her the wife of Eleusius continued, in order to save her from execution, but Juliana preferred to die rather than have a pagan as a husband. Then Eleusius after being ordered by the Roman governor and filled with hate flogged her in a ruthless way. After that, he burned her face with a heated iron and said at her, "Go now at the mirror to see your beauty". Juliana answered him with a light smile: "At the resurrection of the righteous, there won’t exist burnings and wounds but only the soul. So Eleusius, I prefer to have now the wounds of the body which are temporary, rather than the wounds of the soul which torture eternal." After a while, Juliana was beheaded. Eleusius was later eaten by a lion, when he was shipwrecked on an unknown island.

Later history



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An icon depicting Saints Paraskevi of Iconium, Barbara and Juliana.

The veneration of Saint Juliana of Nicomedia became very widespread, especially in the Netherlands. She became known as the patron saint of sickness.

At the beginning of the 13th century her remains were transferred to Naples. The description of this translation by a contemporary writer is still extant. The feast of the saint is celebrated in the Latin Church on 16 February, in the Greek on 21 December.

Since her Acts describe the conflicts which she is said to have with the devil, she is represented in pictures with a winged devil whom she leads by a chain. She is also shown enduring various tortures or fighting a dragon.

St. Juliana is the subject of an Anglo-Saxon poem, believed to have been written by Cynewulf in the eighth century.


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Holy virgin Juliana of Nicomedia beats the devil. Picture Bible, Abbey of Saint Bertin, Saint-Omer (?), ca. 1190-1200. Den Haag, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, 76F5, fol. 32r.Bibliotheek, 76F5, fol. 32r.


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Detail of a miniature of Juliana beating the devil, with an illuminated initial 'I'(ulienne), at the beginning of her legend.France, Central and N. W. (Paris and Rouen).

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This portrait of Santa Juliana hangs outside the door of the hotel room in the Parador Gil Blas in Santillana del Mar. "Santillana" is short for Santa Juliana. She appears to have subdued el Diablo.


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Saint Juliana and a demon. Illumination from the Passionary of Weissenau (Weißenauer Passionale),Fondation Bodmer, Coligny, Switzerland; Cod. Bodmer 127, fol. 44v. Between 1170 and 1200.

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Oberhausmuseum (Passau). Painting of Saint Juliana of Nicomedia ( ?; 1460s).


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Oberhausmuseum (Passau). Painting of Saint Juliana of Nicomedia (?; 1460s) - detail: Devil at a chain.

To be continued.
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Old 29-Aug-17, 05:35
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Default Re: These Holy virgins beat and trample on demons and their tormentors.

Saint Margaret of Antioch


Margaret, known as Margaret of Antioch in the West, and as Saint Marina the Great Martyr (Greek: Ἁγία Μαρίνα, Hagía Marína) in the East, is celebrated as a saint by the Eastern-Rite Orthodox Church on July 17 (Julian calendar) and on July 20 in the Western Rite Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches. Her historical existence has been questioned by Rome. She was declared apocryphal by Pope Gelasius I in 494, but devotion to her revived in the West with the Crusades. She was reputed to have promised very powerful indulgences to those who wrote or read her life, or invoked her intercessions; these no doubt helped the spread of her cultus.[3]

Narrative

According to the version of the story in Golden Legend, she was a native of "Antioch" and the daughter of a pagan priest named Aedesius. Her mother having died soon after her birth, Margaret was nursed by a Christian woman five or six leagues (15-18 miles) from Antioch. Having embraced Christianity and consecrated her virginity to God, Margaret was disowned by her father, adopted by her nurse, and lived in the country keeping sheep with her foster mother (in what is now Turkey).[4] Olybrius, Governor of the Roman Diocese of the East, asked to marry her, but with the demand that she renounce Christianity. Upon her refusal, she was cruelly tortured, during which various miraculous incidents occurred. One of these involved being swallowed by Satan in the shape of a dragon, from which she escaped alive when the cross she carried irritated the dragon's innards. The Golden Legend describes this last incident as "apocryphal and not to be taken seriously" (trans. Ryan, 1.369). She was put to death in AD 304.
As Saint Marina, she is associated with the sea, which "may in turn point to an older goddess tradition", reflecting the pagan divinity, Aphrodite.[5]

Veneration

The Eastern Orthodox Church knows Margaret as Saint Marina, and celebrates her feast day on July 17. She has been identified with Saint Pelagia, "Marina" being the Latin equivalent of the Greek "Pelagia" who—according to her hagiography by James, the deacon of Heliopolis—had been known as "Margarita" ("Pearl"). We possess no historical documents on Saint Margaret as distinct from Saint Pelagia. The Greek Marina came from Antioch in Pisidia (as opposed to Antioch of Syria), but this distinction was lost in the West.
The cultus of Saint Margaret became very widespread in England, where more than 250 churches are dedicated to her, most famously, St. Margaret's, Westminster, the parish church[6] of the British Houses of Parliament in London. Some consider her a patron saint of pregnancy. In art, she is usually pictured escaping from, or standing above, a dragon.
She is recognized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, being listed as such in the Roman Martyrology for July 20.[7] She was also included from the twelfth to the twentieth century among the saints to be commemorated wherever the Roman Rite was celebrated,[8] but was then removed from that list because of the entirely fabulous character of the stories told of her.[9] Margaret is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, and is one of the saints who spoke to Joan of Arc.




Saint Marina the Great Martyr and Vanquisher of Demons

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Marina was born in Southern Anatolia, specifically from Pisidia in Antioch, at the end of the third century during the reign of Claudius II (268-270). She was the only daughter of noble pagan parents.
When she was five years old her mother died (some sources say she died shortly after childbirth), and since her father, Aidesios, was too busy carrying out his duties as a pagan priest to care for her properly, he turned her care over to a woman who happened to be a Christian.
This nanny lived in a small town about fifteen miles from where Marina was born. Away from her father’s idols and blasphemous practices her nanny taught her about the Christian Faith. As Marina increased in age, more so did she advance in knowledge, understanding, and compassion. Her faith in the Living God was so great that she desired the difficult path of Martyrdom. She told her father that she wished to become a Christian and to never marry so as to live a life of virginity. Her father despised her for her faith and disowned her as his daughter.
A new governor named Olymbrios was elected for the region and in time began a persecution against all Christians in the area. One day he caught a glimpse of the very beautiful fifteen year old Marina with her nanny. The Imperial Governor Olymbrios, seeing her great beauty, desired her for his wife. When asked her name, homeland, and faith, Marina answered: “My name is Marina; I am the offspring of Pisidia; I call upon the Name of my Lord Jesus Christ.” Upon learning that she was a Christian, Olymbrios tried to dissuade her by flatteries, and by threats of torture.


“Nothing Will Separate Me From Christ”




Marina frankly replied to the man: “Have no vain hope for me, O governor, that I might cower before any number of torments. Nothing will separate me from Christ – neither affliction, famine, fire, sword, nor any other harsh tribulation – not even a violent and very painful death. Think not that you will entice me with honors, gold or other wealth, because all these things are perishable and temporal.
“The soul, by the grace of God, is immortal and desires eternity. For this reason, we, the Christians, wisely disdain these fleeting luxuries and enjoyments. We endure the sorrow and distress of the day that we might attain to everlasting life and eternal rest after our repose. If you think that I lie, here I am, try me, so you will know by deed the truth. Strike me, slay me, burn me, suffocate or test me with ten thousand torments. As much as you will worsen the punishment, so much more will Christ glorify me in the future life and blessedness.
“Many times in this life Christ grants us a small consolation as a pledge of that future exaltation. He draws us out of the depths of the sea, or rescues us from fire, or saves us from other torments, to your shame and condemnation. Therefore, I do not sorrow in this transient life. Readily I give my body to death, for my deathless God and Master, as the Sinless One, out of love for me, was crucified.”
This rejection infuriated the governor and he put her to harsh torture so all the beauty of her body was disfigured. Not only the public sorrowed and wept and suffered due to her troubles but even the governor himself, unable to bear the horror of these tortures, hid his face in his hands. As broken up and destroyed as her body was, more so was her soul renewed and brighter.


“Great Is Your Faith, Marina”



Unshaken, she prayed with thanksgiving that the Lord count her worthy to be tormented for His love. As they tortured her, the Saint was looking up to heaven, and prayed: “To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O My God, I trust in you; let me not be ashamed; let not my enemies triumph over me. Indeed, let no one who waits on you be ashamed. Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause. Show me your ways, O Lord. Teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation. On You I wait all day. Remember, O Lord, Your tender mercies and Your loving kindnesses, for they have been from of old. For I withstand these pains because I confess Your holy name. Send Your mercy and compassion to me so my grief will become joy.”
As the Saint was chanting and praising the Lord, the soldiers were beating her so severely that her flesh was torn and her blood flew profusely. The Archangel Michael, then, appeared to her and said to her: “Great is your faith, Marina. Have more strength, for it is by your good confession that your soul will survive, and you will gain the holy baptism.”
The ruler ordered that Marina be thrown in prison. While she prayed there the Archangel Michael again came to comfort her and healed her of all her wounds. Seeing this the governor was amazed. He told her that he was sure then that she was a great magician. She said: “I am not a magician, but I am a worshipper of Jesus Christ. Now your defiled helpless idols have been exposed.”
The ruler was enraged. He ordered to saw her flesh with iron saws, and to cut her skin with knives. When he thought that she was dead, he ordered his soldiers to put her body back in prison until she rotted. Archangel Michael appeared to her again, strengthened her, and repeated what he said to her before. He, then, Crossed her, cured her and disappeared.

The Hammer of Saint Marina


A malicious demon, beholding that his servant, Olymbrios, could not vanquish one young woman and make her fall down before the idols of demons, became desperate and wished to test her himself. Taking on a dark and dragon-like guise, a demon appeared to Marina in the prison to frighten her. Fearlessly Christ’s athlete seized him by the hair and, finding a hammer, beat him to the ground, completely humbling him. A great light appeared and illuminated the entire prison. All of Marina’s wounds were completely healed and not even a trace of scarring remained on her body. It is for this reason that Saint Marina often holds a hammer and is sometimes depicted beating on a demon in her icons.



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The icon of Holy Martyr Marina ( beats the devil).
The icon was painted in 1857. Lazaros. Athens. The Byzantine Museum.


Baptized in Water and in Blood


The demented governor tortured her the next day by fire and water but Marina endured it all as if not in her own body. The ruler gave his orders to tie her to a pole and burn her. They did. Then he ordered that they tie her hands and legs, and put her in boiling water. When she was in the water, St. Marina looked up to heaven and said: “O God who dwells in heaven, I ask You to untie me, and to make this water a baptism for me. Dress me with the robe of salvation through it. Take away from me the old man and put on me the new man. Make me, with this baptism, worthy to inherit the life eternal, and make my faith steadfast.” A great earthquake then shook the place, Marina’s ties were loosened, and she immersed herself in the water three times in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. She came out of the water praising God. A voice came from heaven, and all the people who were gathered there heard it. The voice said: ”You are blessed, Marina. You were baptized, and became worthy of the crown of virginity.” Many of those who witnessed these events declared their faith, became Christians and were baptized. The ruler ordered all of them to be killed. They were beheaded, and gained the wreath of martyrdom. It is estimated that they numbered in the thousands.
Seeing that he could not overcome the Saint, the wicked governor finally sentenced Marina to death by beheading. She was beheaded at the age of fifteen in the time of Diocletian (284-305), but is numbered with the armies of martyrs, and remains alive in soul and power in heaven and on earth.
The sufferings of the Great Martyr Marina were described by an eyewitness of the event, named Theotimos.
Up until the taking of Constantinople by Western crusaders in the year 1204, the relics of the Great Martyr Marina were in the Panteponteia Monastery. According to other sources, they were located in Antioch until the year 908 and from there transferred to Italy. Now they are in Athens, in a church dedicated to the holy Virgin Martyr. Her venerable right hand was transferred to Mount Athos, to the Vatopaidi monastery. However, atop Mt. Langa in Albania overlooking Lake Ochrid, there is a monastery dedicated to St. Marina with a portion of her miraculous relics. Countless miracles have occurred and still occur in this monastery, whose witnesses are not only Christians but many Muslims as well. So much did the Turks have respect for this holy place that they never dared disturb either this holy place or the property of this monastery. At one time a Turk was the guardian of the monastery.
Saint Marina is especially invoked for deliverance from demonic possession and cures innumerable diseases including cancer.


Saint Marina As A Role Model For Young Women


What a role model for Orthodox Christian young women today! This 15 year old girl was raised a pagan, had a mother that died when she was young, her father shunned her for accepting Christ and desiring virginity, she rejected a life of marital happiness and love to live for Christ and abide in His love, she further rejected all the fame and fortune and worldly comforts associated with nobility, for her strong resolve in following Christ she was tortured brutally, she endured a demonic manifestation and temptations courageously, and finally she was tortured and martyred ruthlessly yet with a joyful heart with a desire to imitate the Saints.
Most teenagers today would probably find the early tragedies of Marina’s life demoralizing, but her love for Christ overcame all her insecurities and strengthened her against all the temptations every teenage girl faces. She could have lived any type of life she wanted, but she chose a path that brought her supreme joy that no worldly happiness could ever surpass.
And now Saint Marina lives forever and is one of Orthodoxy’s most powerful and beloved Saints. She still answers prayers, cures illnesses by the grace she received in enduring bravely for Christ, and is a notable vanquisher of demons. Saint Marina was no damsel in distress, but a true female heroine.
Before there was a Hollywood female heroine, there was Saint Marina the Vanquisher of Demons. Those are fiction, but her story is real and her miraculous icons and relics are a testimony to this besides her many visitations to the faithful. Her superpower was her faith and the grace of the Holy Spirit. There could be no better female teenage role model, as she herself imitated the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary who it is said also bore Christ at the age Saint Marina was martyred.
Maybe most young women won’t have to go to such extreme tortures for their faith, but to be a faithful Christian in our society today will innevitably invite public ridicule, peer pressure, misunderstanding, unflattering stereotypes, insults and all sorts of temptations. Even in the midst of these types of “tortures”, the example of Saint Marina can be a model on how to courageously endure and be strong. Young Marina’s confident faith and great love for God should serve as an inspiration to look beyond all vanity of this life and focus on that which truly matters.
Feast Day: July 17

Apolytikion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone


O Glorious Marina, once betrothed to the Logos, you relinquished all worldly concerns and brilliantly gave struggle as a virginal beauty. You soundly trounced the invisible enemy who appeared to you, O Champion, and you are now the world’s wellspring of healing grace.


Kontakion in the Third Tone


Adorned with the beauty of Purity, O Virgin; crowned with the stigmata of martyrdom; stained with the blood of your struggles; and brilliantly radiant with healing wonders, piously, O Marina, you received the trophy of victory for your struggles.



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The Icon Of Saint Marina by Svetlana Bogatova (Saint Petersburg), 21st century.




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The icon of Saint Marina (Margaret) of Antioch trampling the devil. 21st century.



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D. A. Kuzmichev. In explanation of the icon "Marina of Antioch beats the devil"




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Saint Margaret and the Dragon by Adriaen van der Werff Date painted: 1714 Oil on panel, 43 x 31 cm Collection: Gloucester Museums Service Art Collection. UK.



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St. Margaret of Antioch (St. Marina)

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Margaret of Antioch, Saint, circa 300 AD, martyr and virgin, riding on a dragon, Germany, circa 1880


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Altdorfer, Albrecht (1480-1538). Die Hl. Margareta, auf dem Teufel stehend (1509)

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Coptic Saints. Saint Marina.

To be continued.
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Old 29-Aug-17, 08:45
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Default Re: These Holy virgins beat and trample on demons and their tormentors.

Excellent finds, Bob! Thank you for sharing!
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Default Re: These Holy virgins beat and trample on demons and their tormentors.

Seriously?
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Old 29-Aug-17, 19:40
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Saint Catherine of Alexandria


Saint Catherine of Alexandria, or Saint Catharine of Alexandria, also known as Saint Catherine of the Wheel and The Great Martyr Saint Catherine (Greek: ἡ Ἁγία Αἰκατερίνα ἡ Μεγαλομάρτυς) is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the pagan emperor Maxentius. According to her hagiography, she was both a princess and a noted scholar, who became a Christian around the age of fourteen, converted hundreds of people to Christianity, and was martyred around the age of 18. More than 1,100 years following her martyrdom, Saint Joan of Arc identified Catherine as one of the Saints who appeared to her and counselled her.[3]
The Eastern Orthodox Church venerates her as a Great Martyr and celebrates her feast day on 24 or 25 November (depending on the regional tradition). In Catholicism she is traditionally revered as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. In 1969 the Roman Catholic Church removed her feast day from the General Roman Calendar;[4] however, she continued to be commemorated in the Roman Martyrology on 25 November.[5] In 2002, her feast was restored to the General Roman Calendar as an optional memorial.
According to modern scholarship, the legend of Catherine was probably based on the life and murder of the Greek philosopher Hypatia (who was murdered by Christian fanatics), with reversed roles of Christians and pagans.[6]

Legend


According to the traditional narrative, Catherine was the daughter of Constus, the governor of Egyptian Alexandria during the reign of the emperor Maximian (286–305).[7] From a young age she devoted herself to study. A vision of the Madonna and Child persuaded her to become a Christian. When the persecutions began under Maxentius, she went to the emperor and rebuked him for his cruelty. The emperor summoned fifty of the best pagan philosophers and orators to dispute with her, hoping that they would refute her pro-Christian arguments, but Catherine won the debate. Several of her adversaries, conquered by her eloquence, declared themselves Christians and were at once put to death.


Torture and martyrdom



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Icon of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, with scenes from her martyrdom.
Catherine was then scourged and imprisoned, during which time over 200 people came to see her, including Maxentius' wife, Valeria Maximilla; all converted to Christianity and were subsequently martyred.[9] Upon the failure of Maxentius to make Catherine yield by way of torture, he tried to win the beautiful and wise princess over by proposing marriage. The saint refused, declaring that her spouse was Jesus Christ, to whom she had consecrated her virginity. The furious emperor condemned Catherine to death on a spiked breaking wheel, but, at her touch, it shattered.[8] Maxentius finally had her beheaded.

Burial

A tradition dating to about 800 states that angels carried her corpse to Mount Sinai. Her body is said to have been discovered around the year 800 at Mount Sinai, with hair still growing and a constant stream of healing oil issuing from her body.[10] In the 6th century, the Eastern Emperor Justinian had established what is now Saint Catherine's Monastery in Egypt (which is in fact dedicated to the Transfiguration of Christ).

Historicity


Donald Attwater dismisses what he calls the "legend" of Saint Catherine, arguing for a lack of any "positive evidence that she ever existed outside the mind of some Greek writer who first composed what he intended to be simply an edifying romance."[11] Harold T. Davis claims that "assiduous research has failed to identify Catherine with any historical personage" and has theorized that Catherine was an invention inspired to provide a counterpart to the story of the slightly later pagan philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria (c. AD 350–370 – March 415).[12][13] Modern scholarship supports Davis’ assumption that the legend of Catherine of Alexandria was probably based on the life and murder of Hypatia, with reversed roles of Christians and pagans.[14]
Hypatia was a Greek mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher, who was brutally murdered by a Christian mob after being accused of exacerbating a conflict between two prominent figures in Alexandria, the governor, Orestes, and the bishop, Cyril of Alexandria.[15][16]
Sometimes cited as a possible inspiration of Saint Catherine, comes from the writer, Eusebius, who wrote around the year 320, that the Emperor had ordered a young Christian woman to come to his palace to become his mistress, and when she refused, he had her punished, by having her banished, and her estates confiscated.[17] Although Eusebius did not name the woman, she had been identified with Dorothea of Alexandria.
The earliest surviving account of Saint Catherine's life comes around 600 years after the traditional date of her martyrdom, in the menologium a document compiled for Emperor Basil II (976), although the rediscovery of her relics at Saint Catherine's Monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai was about 800,[18] and presumably implies an existing cult at that date (the common name of the monastery developed after the discovery). The monastery was built by order of Emperor Justinian I (reigned 527–565), enclosing the Chapel of the Burning Bush ordered to be built by Helena, the mother of Constantine I, at the site where Moses is supposed to have seen the burning bush; the living bush on the grounds is purportedly the original. It is also referred to as "Saint Helen's Chapel." The main church was built between 548 and 565, and the monastery became a major pilgrimage site for devotees of Catherine and the other relics and sacred sites there. Saint Catherine's Monastery survives, and is a famous repository of early Christian art, architecture and illuminated manuscripts that remains open to tourists and visiting scholars. The site is sacred to Christianity and Islam.
In her book The Cult of St Katherine of Alexandria in Early Medieval Europe Christine Walsh discusses "the historical Katherine", and argues, "As we have seen, the cult of St Katherine of Alexandria probably originated in oral traditions from the 4th-century Diocletianic Persecutions of Christians in Alexandria. There is no evidence that Katherine herself was a historical figure and she may well have been a composite drawn from memories of women persecuted for their faith. Many aspects of her Passio are clearly legendary and conform to well-known hagiographical topoi.

Name

Rufinus states that her first name was Dorothea (Greek: Δωροθέα), and that at her christening she acquired the name Aikaterina (Αικατερίνα), a name that signifies her pure, clean and uncontaminated nature (from Greek αιέν καθαρινά 'ever clean').

Medieval cult


Saint Catherine was one of the most important saints in the religious culture of the late Middle Ages, and arguably considered the most important of the virgin martyrs, a group including Saint Agnes, Margaret of Antioch, Saint Barbara, Saint Lucy, Valerie of Limoges and many others. Her power as an intercessor was renowned and firmly established in most versions of her hagiography, in which she specifically entreats Christ at the moment of her death to answer the prayers of those who remember her martyrdom and invoke her name.
The development of her medieval cult was spurred by the reported rediscovery of her body around the year 800 at Mount Sinai, with hair still growing and a constant stream of healing oil issuing from her body.[18] There are several pilgrimage narratives that chronicle the journey to Mount Sinai, most notably those of John Mandeville and Friar Felix Fabri.[20] However, the monastery at Mount Sinai was the best-known site of Catherine pilgrimage, but was also the most difficult to reach. The most prominent Western shrine was the monastery in Rouen that claimed to house Catherine's fingers. It was not alone in the west, however, accompanied by many, scattered shrines and altars dedicated to Catherine, which existed throughout France and England. Some were better known sites, such as Canterbury and Westminster, which claimed a phial of her oil, brought back from Mount Sinai by Edward the Confessor.[21][22] Other shrines, such as St. Catherine's Hill, Hampshire were the focus of generally local pilgrimage, many of which are only identified by brief mentions in various texts, rather than by physical evidence.[23]
St. Catharine's College, Cambridge was founded on St Catharine’s Day (25 November) 1473 by Robert Woodlark (the then-provost of King's College Cambridge) who sought to create a small community of scholars who would study exclusively theology and philosophy. Wodelarke may have chosen the name in homage to Catherine of Valois, mother of Henry VI of England, although it is more likely that it was named as part of the Renaissance cult of Saint Catharine, who was a patron saint of learning. At any rate, the college was ready for habitation and formally founded on Saint Catharine’s Day, 1473.
Saint Catherine also had a large female following, whose devotion was less likely to be expressed through pilgrimage. The importance of the virgin martyrs as the focus of devotion and models for proper feminine behavior increased during the late middle ages.[24] Among these, St. Catherine in particular was used as an exemplar for women, a status which at times superseded her intercessory role.[25] Both Christine de Pizan and Geoffrey de la Tour Landry point to Catherine as a paragon for young women, emphasizing her model of virginity and "wifely chastity."[26] From the early 14th century the Mystic marriage of Saint Catherine first appears in hagiographical literature and, soon after, in art. In the Western church, the popularity of her cult began to reduce in the 18th century.[27]

Veneration


Her principal symbol is the spiked wheel, which has become known as the Catherine wheel, and her feast day is celebrated on 25 November by most Christian churches. However, the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates it on 24 November. The exact origin of this tradition is not known. In 11th-century Kyivan-Rus, the feast day was celebrated on 25 November. Saint Dimitry of Rostov in his Kniga zhyttia sviatykh (Book of the Lives of the Saints), T.1 (1689) places the date of celebration on 24 November. A story that Empress Catherine the Great did not wish to share her patronal feast with the Leavetaking of the feast of the Presentation of the Theotokos and hence changed the date is not supported by historical evidence. One of the first Roman Catholic churches to be built in Russia, the Catholic Church of St. Catherine, was named after Catherine of Alexandria because she was Catherine the Great's patron.
The 1908 Catholic Encyclopedia describes her historical importance:
Ranked with St Margaret and St Barbara as one of the fourteen most helpful saints in heaven, she was unceasingly praised by preachers and sung by poets. It is believed that Jacques-Benigne Bossuet dedicated to her one of his most beautiful panegyrics and that Adam of St. Victor wrote a magnificent poem in her honour: Vox Sonora nostri chori.
In many places her feast was celebrated with the utmost solemnity, servile work being suppressed and the devotions attended by great numbers of people. In several dioceses of France it was observed as a Holy Day of Obligation up to the beginning of the 17th century, the splendour of its ceremonial eclipsing that of the feasts of some of the Apostles. Numberless chapels were placed under her patronage and her statue was found in nearly all churches, representing her according to medieval iconography with a wheel, her instrument of torture.
In France, unwed women who have attained the age of 25 wear richly decorated bonnets on the day of her feast. This custom gave rise to the French idiom coiffer Sainte-Catherine ('don St. Catherine's bonnet'), to describe an unmarried woman between the ages of 25 and 30.[28]
In memory of her sacrifice in some homes, Egyptian and other Middle Eastern foods are offered for her feast, such as hummus or tabbouleh salads. Favorites also are melons cut into circles with sherbet "hubs," or cookies shaped as spiked wheels with icing. Those with a more sardonic nature (in memory of the flaming St. Catherine's wheel) consume more spicy foods, either with chili peppers or curry.[citation needed]
Meanwhile, owing to several circumstances in his life, Saint Nicholas of Myra was considered the patron of young bachelors and students, and Saint Catherine became the patroness of young maidens and female students. Looked upon as the holiest and most illustrious of the virgins of Christ after the Blessed Virgin Mary, it was natural that she, of all others, should be worthy to watch over the virgins of the cloister and the young women of the world. The spiked wheel having become emblematic of the saint, wheelwrights and mechanics placed themselves under her patronage. Finally, as according to tradition, she not only remained a virgin by governing her passions and conquered her executioners by wearying their patience, but triumphed in science by closing the mouths of sophists, her intercession was implored by theologians, apologists, pulpit orators, and philosophers. Before studying, writing, or preaching, they besought her to illumine their minds, guide their pens, and impart eloquence to their words. This devotion to Saint Catherine which assumed such vast proportions in Europe after the Crusades,[10] received additional éclat in France in the beginning of the 15th century, when it was rumoured that she had spoken to Joan of Arc and, together with Saint Margaret, had been divinely appointed Joan's adviser.[8]
Devotion to Saint Catherine remains strong amongst Eastern Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians. With the relative ease of travel in the modern age, pilgrimages to Saint Catherine's Monastery at Mount Sinai have increased. Pilgrims to her monastery on Mt Sinai are given a ring, which has been placed on the relics of the saint as an evlogia (blessing) in remembrance of their visit.

Legacy


The pyrotechnic Catherine wheel, from which sparks fly off in all directions, took its name from the saint's wheel of martyrdom.

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Illustration of St. Catherine, from the Burnet Psalter. 15th Century (University of Aberdeen (Scottland) Special Libraries and Archives).

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St. Catherine of Alexandria trampling Emperor Maximian, ivory, Rhineland c.1400, Louvre OA 3456


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Statuette of St Catherine; wood; once painted; represented as young woman with long hair and wearing royal crown and heavy mantle; holds sword before her and tramples on the emperor, Maximian, who appears at her left side; Germany, late medieval.


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A German walnut figure, c.1530, representing Saint Catherine of Alexandria; she is shown with her symbolic attributes, a broken wheel, a sword and a holy book; a pagan philosopher lies beneath her feet as a symbol of her triumph. (Metropolitan Museum of Art).

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Saint Catherine of Alexandria Date ca. 1450–1500 Culture. North Spanish.

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Saint Catherine of Alexandria, by workshop of Jan Crocq. Date ca. 1475–1525, made in Lorraine, France.

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Claudio Coello (Madrid, Spain, 1642 - 1693). Saint Catherine of Alexandria Dominating the Emperor Maxentius (1664 - 65)

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16th century Flemish stained glass: St Catherine of Alexandria trampling on the Emperor Maxentius.

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Statue of Saint Catherine of Alexandria Treading Emperor Maxentius Underfoot.
Antonio D'Incaroio, end of 15th century.

To be continued

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Default Re: These Holy virgins beat and trample on demons and their tormentors.

Saint Barbara

Saint Barbara (Greek: Αγία Βαρβάρα), Feast Day December 4, known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an early Christian Greek saint and martyr. Accounts place her in the 3rd century in the Greek city Nicomedia, present-day Turkey or in Heliopolis of Phoenicia, present-day Baalbek, Lebanon.[1][2] There is no reference to her in the authentic early Christian writings nor in the original recension of Saint Jerome's martyrology. Her name can be traced to the 7th century, and veneration of her was common, especially in the East, from the 9th century.[3]
Because of doubts about the historicity of her legend,[4] she was removed from the General Roman Calendar in the 1969 revision, though not from the Catholic Church's list of saints.[5]
Saint Barbara is often portrayed with miniature chains and a tower. As one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, Barbara continues to be a popular saint in modern times, perhaps best known as the patron saint of armourers, artillerymen, military engineers, miners and others who work with explosives because of her old legend's association with lightning, and also of mathematicians. Many of the thirteen miracles in a 15th-century French version of her story turn on the security she offered that her devotees would not die without making confession and receiving extreme unction.[6]


Life


According to the hagiographies,[7] Barbara, the daughter of a rich pagan named Dioscorus, was carefully guarded by her father who kept her locked up in a tower in order to preserve her from the outside world. Having secretly become a Christian, she rejected an offer of marriage that she received through him.
Before going on a journey, he commanded that a private bath-house be erected for her use near her dwelling, and during his absence, Barbara had three windows put in it, as a symbol of the Holy Trinity, instead of the two originally intended. When her father returned, she acknowledged herself to be a Christian; upon this he drew his sword to kill her, but her prayers created an opening in the tower wall and she was miraculously transported to a mountain gorge, where two shepherds watched their flocks. Dioscorus, in pursuit of his daughter, was rebuffed by the first shepherd, but the second betrayed her and was turned to stone and his flock changed to locusts.
Dragged before the prefect of the province, Martinianus, who had her cruelly tortured, Barbara held true to her faith. During the night, the dark prison was bathed in light and new miracles occurred. Every morning her wounds were healed. Torches that were to be used to burn her went out as soon as they came near her. Finally she was condemned to death by beheading. Her father himself carried out the death-sentence. However, as punishment for this, he was struck by lightning on the way home and his body was consumed by flame. Barbara was buried by a Christian, Valentinus, and her tomb became the site of miracles.[8]
According to the Golden Legend, her martyrdom took place on December 4 "in the reign of emperor Maximianus and Prefect Marcien" (r. 286–305); the year was given as 267 in the French version edited by Father Harry F. Williams of the Anglican Community of the Resurrection (1975).


Veneration


The name of Saint Barbara was known in Rome in the 7th century;[9] her cult can be traced to the 9th century, at first in the East. Since there is no mention of her in the earlier martyrologies, her historicity is considered doubtful.[10]
Her legend is included in Vincent of Beauvais' Speculum historiale (xii.64) and in later versions of the Golden Legend[11] (and in William Caxton's version of it).
Various versions, which include two surviving mystery plays, differ on the location of her martyrdom, which is variously given as Tuscany, Rome, Antioch, Baalbek, and Nicomedia.[12]
Saint Barbara is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. Her association with the lightning that killed her father has caused her to be invoked against lightning and fire; by association with explosions, she is also the patron of artillery and mining. Her feast on December 4 was included in the Tridentine Calendar, having been introduced in Rome in the 12th century. In 1729, that date was assigned to the celebration of Saint Peter Chrysologus, reducing that of Saint Barbara to a commemoration in his Mass.[13] In 1969, because the accounts of her life and martyrdom were judged to be entirely fabulous, lacking clarity even about the place of her martyrdom, it was removed from that calendar.[14] But she is still mentioned in the Roman Martyrology,[15] which, in addition, lists another ten martyr saints named Barbara.
In the 12th century, the relics of Saint Barbara were brought from Constantinople to the St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery in Kiev, where they were kept until the 1930s, when they were transferred to St. Vladimir's Cathedral in the same city. A small part of St. Barbara's relics were brought to The United States by His Holiness Patriarch Filaret of The Ukrainian Orthodox Church Kyivan Patriarchate in November 2012, they are permanently on display for veneration at St. Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral in Bloomingdale, Illinois.
Her feast day for Catholics,[5] Eastern Orthodox and Anglicans is December 4.


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Saint Barbara, sculptor: Meester van Koudewater. c. 1470. Material: walnut (hardwood)

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St Barbara Crushing her Infidel Father, with a Kneeling Donor by Domenico Ghirlandaio, 1473.

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Ghirlandaio Domenico. st.Barbara, 1471

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Cercina, Castel Fiorentino (Toscana, Italia) - Pieve di Sant'Andrea - Domenico Ghirlandaio - 1471-1472 circa

Saint Barbara is one of the fourteen Holy helpers and is often depicted surrounded by other saints.

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The Italian painter Cosimo Rosselli. Saint Barbara tramples her pagan father Dioscorus.To the left of St. Barbara stands St. John the Baptist.To the right of St. Barbara stands St. Matthew the Evangelist.


I don't like dictator Putin

To by continued

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Default Re: These Holy virgins beat and trample on demons and their tormentors.

Multiple image

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St.Catherine of Alexandria (left) and St. Barbara (right). 1490-1500, Brabant, Belgium.

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The Virgin and Child and St Catherine with the Emperor Maxentius.

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St Elizabeth of Hungary with St Catherine of Alexandria and St. Dorothy. St Catherine tramples her persecutor Maxentius. Master of the View of Ste-Gudule (circa 1480 – 1499). Brussels.


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Triptych of Saint Virgins from Olesno (15 century), late gothic. National Museum, Wroclaw (Poland).
Centre: Most Holy Virgin Mary with Infant Jesus tramples lion, St Catherine of Alexandria with a sword stands on her persecutor - Maxentius, St Barbara with a tower tramples her father - a pagan Dioscorus. Wings: St Margaret stands on a dragon-satan, St Dorothy tramples her torturer Sapricius and receives from a little boy (an angel in disguise) - a basket of paradise fruit.

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Late Gothic Triptych of Saint Virgins, Church of Christ the King, Olesno near Lubin, early 90s of the 15th century, hall VI, National Museum in Wroclaw. Fine art photography by Zbigniew Halat.
St Dorothy tramples her torturer Sapricius and receives from a little boy (an angel in disguise) - a basket of paradise fruit.
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Why do so few people put "Thanks"?
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Default Re: These Holy virgins beat and trample on demons and their tormentors.

Не расстраивайтесь, Боб! Данная тема освещает довольно узкую нишу. Уверен, любители подтянутся рано или поздно. Благодарю за усилия и прекрасные находки!
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Default Re: These Holy virgins beat and trample on demons and their tormentors.

Ну, тогда я вытираю слёзы
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