President Evans lights community members' candles during the Feast of Saint Catherine prayer service.
Our Lady of Victory Chapel was once again aglow with candlelight as the 亚色影库 community gathered to celebrate the Feast of Saint Catherine on November 25. The annual tradition honoring St. Catherine of Alexandria, the University鈥檚 namesake, returned to the newly reopened Chapel for the first time since 2022.
At a pre-event reception in Coeur de Catherine, students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends enjoyed appetizers before making their way to Our Lady of Victory Chapel for an evening prayer service.
Through song and prayer, the service reflected on the life of St. Catherine and the wisdom she embodies, and called on that wisdom 鈥 represented by candles 鈥 to illuminate the lives of all those gathered.
鈥淚n this beautifully restored holy place, taking this time to reflect on our patron saint and recognize her in the faces of our St. Kate鈥檚 community is more important than ever,鈥 said President Marcheta P. Evans, PhD, to attendees gathered in the Chapel. 鈥淲e are all children of the same parent, created lovingly by the source of all life. We all have different joys and sorrows, different hopes and fears, yet we gather as one people to celebrate the history of this University, our present story, and our future hopes and wishes.鈥
Students enjoy refreshments during the 2024 Feast of Saint Catherine reception in Coeur de Catherine.
Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, alumni, students, and faculty and staff gathered for the reception before the prayer service.
The Feast of Saint Catherine prayer service took place in the Chapel for the first time since 2022.
Candles are a central theme of the Feast of Saint Catherine celebrations, representing the light of wisdom.
Students in the University Choir performed during the prayer service, under the direction of Roger Stratton.
Alumna Hilary Novacek Bundt 鈥08 lights her daughter's candle.
President Evans and Kathleen Holmberg, CSJ, 鈥60 (at right), the artist of the icon of Saint Catherine at center.
The first reading of the service shared the story of St. Catherine of Alexandria. According to Catholic tradition, St. Catherine was a fourth-century noblewoman and scholar who suffered martyrdom for her faith; in artwork, she is often depicted holding the 鈥淐atherine wheel鈥 upon which she was sentenced to be executed, and which miraculously broke when she touched it. Historically, the saint is likely the composite of several women from Alexandria. She is known as the patron saint of students, philosophers, and scholars, and it was for these qualities that she was chosen by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet as the University鈥檚 namesake.
The Feast of St. Catherine also served as the unofficial beginning of the holiday season at St. Kate鈥檚. All around campus, trees have been adorned with strands of lights, glowing with warmth and cheer throughout the winter season.
Learn more about the Chapel and community events:
Center for Spirituality and Social Justice
Photos by Rebecca Zenefski Slater 鈥10.