05 — Sinai and the Cult

The Monastery of St Catherine at Mount Sinai and the spread of her cult: the Justinianic foundation dedicated to the Theotokos, the late and constructed tradition that angels translated her relics to Sinai, and the relic-driven expansion that made Catherine one of the most popular saints of the medieval world. This section sets firm institutional history against the legend that drove it per METHODOLOGY §3.5.

Tradition: Pan-Orthodox (Great-Martyr)

This section follows the legend out of the Passio and into the cult. The Monastery of Sinai sets the firm history of the monastery — built by Justinian (c. 548–565), dedicated to the Theotokos and the Transfiguration, renamed “St Katherine’s” only by 1328 — against the medieval relic-translation tradition, and follows the monastery as the cradle of the Eastern cult and the link to Sinaite monasticism. The Spread of the Cult traces the cult’s expansion: the relic-fragments carried west, the Crusader-era pilgrimage, Catherine’s place among the Fourteen Holy Helpers and as a voice of Joan of Arc.

Section Contents

• The Monastery of Sinai — the Justinianic monastery; the tradition of angels translating her relics to Sinai; the relics today; the link to Sinaite monasticism
• The Spread of the Cult — her place among the most popular medieval saints; the relic-driven spread; the Fourteen Holy Helpers; Joan of Arc

See Also

• The Beheading and the Milk — the translation tradition in the Passio
• Feast and Relics — the relics at Sinai and the feast
• The Absence of Early Evidence — the silence of the early Sinai pilgrims
• Modern Scholarship — Walsh on the relic-driven cult
• St John Climacus — the Sinaite contemplative tradition the monastery embodies

References

• Walsh, Christine. The Cult of St Katherine of Alexandria in Early Medieval Europe. Ashgate, 2007.
• “Saint Catherine’s Monastery.” Encyclopædia Britannica.
• Foley, Michael P. “The Life and Afterlife of St. Catherine of Alexandria.” New Liturgical Movement, 24 November 2021.
• Trial of Condemnation of Joan of Arc, 27 February 1431.