November 25, Feast of St. Catherine of Alexandria, Co-Patroness of the Order of Preachers

St. Catherine is a special patroness of the Order, especially for those studying philosophy. In the early days of the Order Our Lady would appear to St. Dominic with two companions: St. Cecilia and St. Catherine of Alexandria.

In the lovely video presentation above the narrator speculates as to why St. Catherine's feast, which had been dropped from the liturgical calendar in 1969 was reinserted in 2002. One bit of trivia: when our Sr. Mary Catharine of Jesus received the habit and her religious name our dear friend, Fr. Timothy Sparks, OP who was involved in promoting the causes of the saints for the Order, presented a formal petition to the Holy Father for the reinsertion of St. Catherine's feast in honor of our new novice. That was in 1992. Ten years later and a few years after Fr. Timothy Sparks went home to heaven the Servant of God, John Paul II agreed!