<p>According to legend, Catherine was a woman of learning in 4th-century Alexandria, Egypt, who at the age of 18 converted to Christianity. She was imprisoned for speaking publicly against the Emperor Maximinus' persecution of Christians. While in prison, she was visited by the Empress and the leader of the armed forces, both of whom she converted. For this she and they were martyred. Tortured by being strapped to a spiked wheel, Catherine was eventually beheaded about 310 A.D.

<p>According to Mosaic law, a new mother was 'unclean' for 40 days after she had given birth. She would then enter the temple with her child, bringing an offering of either a lamb and a dove or pigeon, or two doves or pigeons, to be cleansed by prayers. Today's feast commemorates Mary's purification and the presentation of Jesus in the temple.</p>

<p>In the 16th century Christian missionaries went to live among the people of Vietnam. From the 17th to 19th centuries, some 130,000 Christians were martyred. Andrew Dung-Lac (born 1785) and Peter Thi, Vietnamese priests, were beheaded on December 21, 1839.</p>
<p>A letter written in 1843 by Paul Le-Bao-Tinh, an imprisoned martyr, describes his faith in God's love and mercy:</p>

<p>Pope Clement I is recognized as 3rd in succession to Peter. Other than the fact that he lived in the 1st century, little is known about his life or death. Tradition has it that Clement was a contemporary of Peter and Paul, perhaps a former slave of the imperial court. He was martyred in exile about AD 99.</p>

<p>Legend claims that a Roman woman named Cecilia was martyred for the faith sometime in the second or third century, a few days after her husband Valerian and his brother Tiburtius were beheaded for refusing to sacrifice to the gods. Her association with music - she is a patron saint of musicians - stems from the story that at her wedding feast she sang to God in her heart.</p>

<p>An Armenian bishop, Blase suffered martyrdom during the persecution of Licinius, in the early 4th century. According to legend, he performed a miraculous cure on a boy who was choking to death. Blase has long been associated with cures for afflictions of the throat, and the blessing of throats may take place on this day in memory of St Blase. He is the patron of wild animals, woolcombers and of all who suffer from afflictions of the throat.</p>
<p><strong>Saint Ansgar</strong></p>

<p>This feast originated as a commemoration of the dedication of the basilica of St Mary's the New in Jerusalem in 543. An apocryphal source recounts that Mary's parents brought their three-year-old daughter to the Temple in Jerusalem to offer her to God, as was the custom. Inspired by a priest's vision, they left her there to serve God. This custom continued for centuries (see St Gertrude, November 16).</p>

<p>This feast celebrates the dedication of two of the great basilicas of Rome. Saint Peter's was begun in 323, over the tomb of the apostle. In 1506 a new church was begun. Paul V and Michelangelo were involved in its development. It was finished and dedicated 120 years later, on November 18, 1626.</p>

<p>Also known as Elizabeth of Thuringia. She was born in 1207 to King Andrew II of Hungary and Gertrude of Andechs-Meran. At age four, she was betrothed to Ludwig of Thuringia and was sent to live in his family's castle. They married when Elizabeth was 14, and by all accounts they enjoyed a happy though brief life together. Elizabeth built hospitals to care for the needy and the sick, but many of the nobles resented the expense.

<p>Agatha is known mainly through legend. She died during the time of the Decian persecution (249-251). It is alleged that she was sent to a brothel to force her to give up her faith. After she was tortured, the Apostle Peter is supposed to have appeared and cured her. The following day she died in prison of new cruelties.</p>