Plato's philosophy in
addition to the Holy Scriptures, and she also possessed a knowledge of
rhetoric.

VII. AN ASSEMBLY IN PARADISE (Continuation and End)

St. Catherine entered the assembly, her head encircled by a crown of
emeralds, sapphires, and pearls, and she was clad in a robe of cloth
of gold. She carried at her side a blazing wheel, the image of the one
whose fragments had struck her persecutors.

The Lord having invited her to speak, she expressed herself in these
terms:

"Lord, in order to solve the problem you deign to submit to me I
shall not study the habits of animals in general nor those of birds in
particular. I shall only remark to the doctors, confessors, and pontiffs
gathered in this assembly that the separation between man and animal is
not complete since there are monsters who proceed from both. Such are
chimeras--half nymphs and half serpents; such are the three Gorgons and
the Capripeds; such are the Scyllas and the Sirens who sing in the
sea. These have a woman's breast and a fish's tail. Such also are the
Centaurs, men down to the waist and the remainder horses. They are a
noble race of monsters. One of them, as you know, was able, guided
by the light of reason alone, to direct his steps towards eternal
blessedness, and you sometimes see his heroic bosom prancing on the
clouds. Chiron, the Centaur, deserved for his works on the earth
to share the abode of the blessed; he it was who gave Achilles his
education; and that young hero, when he left the Centaur's hands, lived
for two years, dressed as a young girl, among the daughters of King
Lycomedes. He shared their games and their bed without allowing any
suspicion to arise that he was not a young virgin like them. Chiron,
who taught him such good morals, is, with the Emperor Trajan, the only
righteous man who obtained celestial glory by following the law of
nature. And yet he was but half human.

"I think I have proved by this example that, to reach eternal
blessedness, it is enough to possess some parts of humanity, always on
the condition that they are noble. And what Chiron, the Centaur,
could obtain without having been regenerated by baptism, would not the
penguins deserve too, if they became half penguins and half men? That
is why, Lord, I entreat you to give old Mael's penguins a human head
and breast so that they can praise you worthily. And grant them also an
immortal soul--but one of small size."

Thus Catherine spoke, an