Editing Catherine of Alexandria (section)

==Customs==
[[File:Saint Catherine carving in Sligo Abbey.jpg|alt=A carving of Saint Catherine of Alexandria from the O'Crean Tomb in Sligo Abbey dating from 1506.|thumb|upright=0.75|A carving of Saint Catherine of Alexandria from the O'Crean Tomb in [[Sligo Abbey]] dating from 1506.]]
In France, unwed women who had attained the age of 25 were called [[Catherinette|"catherinettes"]]. They would wear richly decorated bonnets on the day of her feast. This custom gave rise to the French idiom {{lang|fr|'coiffer Sainte-Catherine'}} ("don St. Catherine's bonnet"), to describe an unmarried woman between the ages of 25 and 30.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.france-pittoresque.com/spip.php?article5227 |language=fr |title=Coiffer sainte Catherine |work=La France pittoresque |date=24 November 2016}}</ref>

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. Favourites also are melons cut into circles with sherbet "hubs", or cookies shaped as spiked wheels with icing.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}}

Meanwhile, owing to several circumstances in his life, [[Nicholas of Myra]] was considered the patron of young bachelors and students, and 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 deemed appropriate 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, [[wheelwright]]s 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 [[sophist]]s, 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 Catherine which assumed such vast proportions in Europe after the [[Crusades]],{{sfn|Foley|McCloskey|2009|p=}} received additional [[wiktionary:éclat|éclat]] in France at the beginning of the 15th century, when it was rumoured that she had spoken to [[Joan of Arc]] and, together with [[Margaret of Antioch]], had been divinely appointed Joan's adviser.{{sfn|Clugnet|1908}}

Devotion to Catherine remains strong amongst [[Eastern Catholic Churches|Eastern Catholics]] and [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox Christians]]. With the relative ease of travel in the modern age, pilgrimages to Saint Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai have increased. Catherine of Alexandria is [[Calendar of saints (Church of England)|remembered]] in the [[Church of England]] with a [[Commemoration (Anglicanism)|commemoration]] on [[November 25|25 November]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Calendar|url=https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/common-worship/churchs-year/calendar|access-date=2021-04-08|website=The Church of England|language=en}}</ref> In 2022, Catherine was officially added to the [[Calendar of saints (Episcopal Church)|Episcopal Church liturgical calendar]] with a feast day she shares with [[Saint Barbara|Barbara of Nicomedia]], and [[Margaret the Virgin|Margaret of Antioch]] on 24 November.<ref>{{Cite web |title=General Convention Virtual Binder |url=https://www.vbinder.net/resolutions/24?house=HD&lang=en |access-date=2022-07-22 |website=www.vbinder.net |archive-date=13 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220913143652/https://www.vbinder.net/resolutions/24?house=HD&lang=en |url-status=dead }}</ref>