Life and Martyrdom

It is well documented that St. Agatha was martyred, and there was widespread veneration of her in the early church, but the rest of her life is obscured by the mists of time.  Sources say she died in 251 or 253 A.D. in Catania, a city on the Italian island of Sicily under the reign of the Roman Emperior Decius (which took place 250 – 253 A.D.).  There is a Latin and a Greek version of her Acts of Marytrdom, the Latin having been written no earlier than the 6th century.  It is said that she came from a wealthy family, was young and beautiful, but devoted herself to God and refused all offers of marriage.

Her beauty drew the attention of a Roman official, Quinctianus, who ordered her arrest so that he might intimidate her into renouncing her faith and having his way with her. By one account she fled the island of Sicily to avoid persecution and took shelter on the island of Malta. Eventually, Quinctianus’s men found her and brought her back to Catania.  She refused Quinctianus’s advances, so he had her thrown into a brothel where she was horribly mistreated, yet managed to preserve her virginity, all the while refusing to renounce her faith.  Furious over her resolute devotion, Quinctianus then ordered that her breasts be cut off and thrown into the dungeon without any medical attention.

While in prison, St. Peter appeared to her, healed her wounds and relieved her pain.  By some accounts her death came from being rolled over hot coals, another says she was burned at the stake.  Faithful to the end, at the point of death she prayed

“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.  

Receive my soul.”

There is some evidence that she was as young as fifteen when she earned her heavenly reward.

Veneration

The Sicilian cities of Palermo and Catania claim her as their patroness and both claim to have been her birthplace.  A year after her death, an erruption of Mt. Etna was stilled due to her intercession.  The Maltese were some of the earliest to have venerated St. Agatha.  With this long history of devotion to her, is it any wonder that she appeared to a Benedictine nun in 1551 and by her intercession averted an invasion of Malta by the Turks.

 

 

The tomb of St. Agatha.  Her body was found to be incorruptable in the 11th century.

 

 

There is a beautiful Cathedral bearing her name in Catania.

The festival of the Feast of St. Agatha runs from February 3rd through the 5th every year in Catania.

 

 

 

Patronage

St. Agatha is the patron saint of breast cancer patients, victims of sexual assault, wet-nurses, fire fighters, bakers and many more.

For More Information Visit:

• Catholic Encyclopedia
• American Catholic
• Roman Catholic Saints
• Wikipedia
• Catholic Saints