St. Catherine of Alexandria Feast Today
I recall reading a book of anti-Catholic polemic from John Adams's library back in September when I was in Boston. And one of the author's main points seemed to be his discomforture, to put it mildly, with saints who were apparently of legendary status. How could you trust the Roman church if they had fake saints on their calendar?
As if answering these seventeenth century critics posthumously, the Second Vatican Council eliminated many of the old saints on the liturgical calendar in order to make room for new ones. According to the Magnificant, "saints Christopher, Valentine, Linus, Maurice, Edward the Confessor and saints like Catherine were eliminated...and yet St. Catherine remains a potent female figure, so much so that she was recently reinstated on the liturgical calendar."
The author of the Magnificat article is not burdened with historicity concerns. He commented on a rich medieval panel painting of St. Catherine from medieval times that too often the "stories and symbols of a rich Catholic heritage drift slowly into obscurity." I guess you might say great art covers a multitude of historical exaggerations.
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