Catherine wheels & other miracle stories

Stunning fireworks: human Catherine wheel 

St Catherine of Alexandria by Caravaggio, 1595-1596, Thyssen-Bournemisza Museum,
Madrid. St. Catherine of Alexandria is the patron saint of potters.  

A 'Catherine wheel' is a type of firework but originally it was St Catherine's torture device: a hooked wheel upon which bodies were restrained in a spreadeagle position. The Catherine wheel was better known as a breaking wheel and the name speaks for itself: we can imagine the painful saint's path to death as the expression 'coup de grâce' (tr. final straw) comes from this ancient punishment practice. But St Catherine escaped her death with the help of a miracle. According to the legend, the wheel of torture fell into pieces once St Catherine touched it. St Catherine of Alexandria is among the saints who didn't die as a consequence of the original death to which they were sentenced. Later on, St Catherine's wheel was translated into the potters' wheel and became a symbol of creativity. 

St. Sebastian by Perugino (1495 circa), Hermitage
Museum, St. Petersburg 

A similar story is that of St Sebastian. He also escaped his original punishment: shooting to death by arrows. St Sebastian's body was pierced with arrows like a strainer and left for dead but he recovered from his wounds. This is the reason why he was venerated as one of the anti-pestiferous saints and a symbol of a healthy body. St Sebastian is nowadays the patron saint of athletes.

St Januarius is the patron saint of Naples 
and of blood banks. 
Little holy picture. 

Lions were merciful to St Januarius (San Gennaro).  

The most famous saint who escaped his first sentence to death is probably St Januarius, affectionately known as San Gennaro, patron saint of Naples. He was originally thrown to the lions but the lions reacted as if they were not hungry that day. St Gennaro tamed the lions in some way and kneeled to the saint's charisma. 


St Catherine of Alexandria with St Sebastian and St Januarius were sentenced to death by martyrdom in the 4th century A.D. 

San Gennaro (St Januarius) is famous
for the annual miracle of
the liquefaction of his blood that takes
place in Naples every 19th September.

Last but not least is St Stephen's story, the closest saint to Jesus as he was the first martyr of the Christian church (36 A.D.). His legend is beautifully described by a series of frescoes in the Cathedral of Prato. St Stephen was originally sentenced to death by starvation when he was born. St Stephen was replaced with another child, so that his cradle was not empty, taken to the woods where no one would have looked for him. Here the saint was nurtured by a deer who saved st Stephen's life and he grew up as a healthy young man.  But St. Stephen's story is unique. 

St Stephen, fresco, Church of Villafranca Piemonte, Italy

Siena pattern by Cama, reproduction of sitting deers from the
marble Cathedral of Siena. St Stephen was saved by a deer as a newborn.
St Stephen is the patron saint of altar servers.

The saints' end of the story is a tragic one for in the 4th-century emperor Diocletianus sentenced to death the highest number of  Christians in all times. A few men and women did not die in the initial assault thanks to the miracles performed either by the saints themselves or by angels.
However, most of them were coldly beheaded later. Had I been them I would not have argued with the Emperor again. Then I would have lived!  I would have proved that miracles do exist. Miracles are a true blessing and a wonderful gift that can be expressed and shared in many ways. 

'St Stephen Born and Replaced by Another Child' by Filippo Lippi, 1452-1465,  Cathedral of Prato, Italy  (on the right the deer watching over St Stephen and waiting for him in the woods where he was taken to die of starvation). 

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Original Posts by Roberta Niccacci -

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