Saint Katherine, the glorious holy Martyr of Christ, came from the metropolis of Alexandria. She struggled during the reign of the ungodly and pagan Emperors Maximian (306-308 A.D., Maxentius (308-312 A.D.), and Maximinus (308-314 A.D.). The blessed one's life and martyrdom is so marvelous, sweet, and compunctious that each soul who reads it with care and attention will greatly rejoice and be inspired by the fruit garnered there from.

And suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of the heavenly host" (St. Luke, Ch. 2)

Impious worship of the Angels spread throughout many lands in the days of the Holy Apostles. The Holy Apostle Paul sought to root it out when he wrote to the Colossians, saying, "Let no man beguile you in voluntary humility and worshipping of Angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding the Head" (Col., Ch. 2), which is Christ; for there were at the time certain heretics who made a show of humility but proudly imagined that they were like the Angels because of their abstinence and the purity of their lives.

Saint John Maximovitch (1896-1966) writes that Mary was settled in the quarters for virgins which existed in the Temple. She spent so much time in prayer in the Holy of Holies that one might say that she lived in it. She desired to fulfill the commandment of God, "Ye shall be holy; for I the Lord your God am Holy (Leviticus 19:2)."

The High Priest Zacharias, the husband of Anna's niece Elizabeth, was the future father of Saint John the Baptist and Forerunner. When he beheld the Virgin's approach, he rejoiced in the Spirit, and said, "Mary, the Lord God has magnified thy name to all generations and, by thee, to the very end of time, the Lord will show His redemption to the children of Israel." The High Priest Zacharias unites in his person two traditions--priestly and prophetic. Rejoice, Mary, preaching of the Prophets and the fulfillment of their words! The Prophets prophesied of thee and have thee as their boast.

When the Most Pure and divine Maiden, the Most Blessed Virgin Mary the Theotokos, reached the age of three, her holy and righteous parents, Joachim and Anna, remembered the vow they had made when they prayed to be delivered from childlessness, promising to offer their offspring as a gift to God. Therefore, as all the ancient Holy Fathers testify, they called together their relatives living in Nazareth, persons of royal and high-priestly lineage, for the righteous Joachim was of royal stock and his spouse Anna was of the high-priestly line.

Here is a man of God and a mighty wonderworker, who was called a second Moses! Born of wealthy and eminent pagan parents, Gregory at first studied Hellenic and Egyptian philosophy, but, seeing its barrenness and insufficiency, he turned to Christian teachers, particularly Origen of Alexandria, with whom he studied for several years and by whom he was baptized. Pure in soul and body, he desired to consecrate himself utterly to Christ, to which end he withdrew to the desert, where, in painful asceticism, he spent many years.