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We have little reliable information about this martyr, who has been
honored since ancient times, and whose name is included in the canon of
the Mass. Young, beautiful and rich, Agatha lived a life consecrated to
God. When Decius announced the edicts against Christians, the magistrate
Quinctianus tried to profit by Agatha's sanctity; he planned to blackmail
her into sex in exchange for not charging her. Handed over to a brothel,
she refused to accept customers. After rejecting Quinctianus' advances,
she was beaten, imprisoned, tortured, her breasts were crushed and cut
off. She told the judge, "Cruel man, have you forgotten your mother and
the breast that nourished you, that you dare to mutilate me this way?" One
version has it that Saint Peter healed her. Imprisoned further, then
rolled on live coals, she was near death when an earthquake stuck. In the
destruction, the magistrate's friend was crushed, and the magistrate fled.
Agatha thanked God for an end to her pain, and died.
Legend says that carrying her veil, taken from her tomb in Catania, in
procession has averted eruptions of Mount Etna. Her intercession is
reported to have saved Malta from Turkish invasion in 1551.
Born: in prison at Catania or Palermo, Sicily (sources vary)
Died: martyred c.250 at Catania, Sicily by being rolled on coals
Name Meaning: good
Patronage: bell-founders, breast cancer, breast disease, Catania
Italy, against fire, earthquakes, eruptions of Mount Etna, fire, fire
prevention, jewelers, martyrs, natural disasters, nurses, Palermo Italy,
rape victims, single laywomen, sterility, torture victims, volcanic
eruptions, wet-nurses, Zamarramala Spain
Representation: breasts on a dish; embers; knife; loaves of bread on
a dish; pincers; shears; tongs; veil; virgin martyr wearing a veil and
bearing her severed breasts on a silver platter
Reading
Jesus Christ, Lord of all things! You see my heart, you know my desires.
Possess all that I am - you alone. I am your sheep; make me worthy to
overcome the devil.
-Saint Agatha
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Lord, my creator, you have protected me since I was in the cradle. You
have taken me from the love of the world and given me patience to suffer.
Now receive my spirit.
-Saint Agatha
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My fellow Christians, our annual celebration of a martyr's feast has
brought us together. Agatha achieved renown in the early Church for her
noble victory. For her, Christ's death was recent, his blood was still
moist. Her robe is the mark of her faithful witness to Christ.
Agatha, the name of our saint, means "good." She was truly good, for she
lived as a child of God. Agatha, her goodness coincides with her name and
her way of life. She won a good name by her noble deeds, and by her name
she points to the nobility of those deeds. Agatha, her mere name wins all
men over to her company. She teaches them by her example to hasten with
her to the true Good, God alone.
from a homily on Saint Agatha by Saint Methodius of Sicily
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