The excellent writer in the L/mdon /2me«,wfaom we have dted, makes the following just remarks upon the aovns of the false views of the Cathari, as existing in aU ages: " Is there no overt lianichaeism dfeplayed in oar own day in the false asceticism of the Puseyite ; and if there be no latent Manichieism in the views of
the extremely opposite section of Protestants, whence the tendency to treat human nature as intrinsically evil, not as merely subjected to evil ; to make human powers, physical and mental, evil in their use, and not merely in their abuse ; to identify society and its insti- tutions with *the world,' against which the Christian is forewarned ? No ; however it may disguise itself^ and however its manifestations may be varied, that has ever been on^ and the same instinct of self-justifi- cation, hidden in the recesses of the heart, which treats sin as a something external to the will, and, to a cer- tain extent, inevitably imposed ; which makes holiness and faithfulness to God consist in something easier than the abdication of the idol self. This insidious instinct stops at no sacrifices provided it can maintain itself. It inspired the stem * Touch not, taste not, handle not,' of the earliest Gnostics of the apostolic times (CoL ii, 21) ; and it has worked, with more or less intensity, in every age of the Christian Church."
lY. IMenUnrt. — ^The Roman sources are BonacorsI, in D' Achery, Spidl, i, 206 ; Moneta, adc, Catharot ef Vaideiue$ (Rom. 174S); Rainerius (about 1250), whose account is analyzed by Maitland, Facts and Documenti <m the Hittory, etc. of ike AOigmses <md Waldemtes (Lond. 1882). The recent writers are Neander, Ch, Hid. iv, 565 sq. ; Maitland (as above) ; Schmidt, Higt. et Doct. de la SecU des Caihares (Par. 1849, 2 vols. 8vo); Hahn, GetchichU d, Ketzer m MkteUdier (Stuttgardt, 1845-47). See also London Review^ April, 1856, art. i ; Gieseler, Ch. ffittory, ii, § 84, 87 ; Hahn, in Siudien «. Kritiken, 1852, Heft, iv ; Schmidt, in Herzog's lUal-Encyldop^ diey vii, 461 sq.
CatJiarine, the name of several so-called sainti of the Greek and Rcnnan churches.
1. A martyr, who suffiered at Alexandria under liaximin II. The Greek and Roman accounts, which are not at all to be depended on, state that she was a rich and noble lady, who, having entered upon a dis- putation with certain heaUien phUosophers at the com- mand of Maximin, and vanquished and converted them to the faith, was, together with them, put to death. She is said to have been put upon an engine made of wheels armed with spikes to lacerate her body, but when the machine was put into motion her bonds were miraculously broken, but she was immedi- ately beheaded. Hence the name of Caiharine'wheel, Eusebius (Eod. Hist, viii, 14) speaks of a fiimous Alex- andrian woman, who, when other women of the city yielded to the lust of the tyrant Maximin, resolutely resisted and overcame him, for which she was pun- ished with exile and the loss of all her property. Jo- seph Assemanni thinks that this b the only account of St. Catharine that can be depended on. Her remains are said to be still kept in a marble chest in the mon- astery of Mount Sinai, in Arabia (Pocock's Travelt, i, 140, fbl.). She is commemorated on Nov. 25. — But- ler, Litw ofSaintt, Nov. 25 ; Landon, Ecd, Diet, s. v.
2. Of Sweden, a princess, bom about 1880, who, be- ing contracted in marriage to a young nobleman named Egard, persuaded him to join her in making a vow of perpetual chastity I She died abbess of the monastery of Yatzen, Ifarch 24, 1881. — Butler, Lives ofSamtt, Nov. 22 ; Landon, Ecde*. Dictumwry, s. v.
3. Of Sienna, was bom at Sienna in 1847, and early devoted herself to an austere life. In 1865 she re- ceived the habit of the third order of St. Dominic, and soon became celebrated for her recluse life, revela- tions, and miraculous powers of conversion ! She in- duced Pope Gregory XI to restore the pontifical throne to Rome fh>m Avignon. She used all her efibrts to catise Urban YI to be recognised as the lawfril suc- cessor of Gregory. She died April 29, 1880. Pius II published the boll ibr her canonization June 29, 1461, and her festival is observed on April 80.— A. Butler, Li»e$ ofSaints, April 80; Chavin, Vie de St. Catharim (1846) ; Landon, Ecdee, Dictionary^ s. v.
4. Of Bologna, bora of noble parents Sept. 8, 1418.
CATHARINUS
158
CATHOLIC
In 1427 she entered among the nuns of St. Francis at Ferrara, who soon after adopted the severe rule of St. Clare. Afterwards she became abbess of a new con- vent of the order in Bologna. She is said bj Roman writers to have had the gifts t>f prophecy and miracles ! She died March 9, 1463, on which day she is commem- orated. A Bparions book of her Revelations was pub- lished at Bologna in 1511. — Butler, Lifoet of Scuntif March 9.
5. Of Genoa, daughter of James Fieschi, viceroy of Naples, was bom at Genoa in 1448, and at about six- teen was married, against her will, to a gay young profligate named Julius Adoma, who for many years caused her the greatest affliction. Being left a widow, she devoted herself to the care of the sick and poor. She died Sept. 14, 1510, leaving a few works of devo- tion.— Butler, Lives of Sainis, Sept. 14 ; Upham, Life of Cath, Adoma (N. Y. 1856, 12mo).