Although
we have evidence that Agatha was venerated at least as far back as the
sixth century, the only facts we have about her are that she was born in
Sicily and died there a martyr.
In the legend of her life, we are told that she belonged to a rich, important family. When she was young, she dedicated her
life to
God
and resisted any men who wanted to marry her or have sex with her. One
of these men, Quintian, was of a high enough rank that he felt he could
force her to acquiesce. Knowing she was a
Christian in a
time
of persecution, he had her arrested and brought before the judge - -
himself. He expected her to give in to when faced with torture and
possible death, but she simply affirmed her
belief in
God by praying: "Jesus Christ,
Lord
of all, you see my heart, you know my desires. Possess all that I am. I
am your sheep: make me worthy to overcome the devil."
Legend
tells us that Quintian imprisoned her in a brothel in order to get her
to change her mind. Quintian brought her back before him after she had
suffered a month of assault and humiliation in the brothel, but Agatha
had never wavered, proclaiming that her freedom came from Jesus.
Quintian sent her to prison, instead of back to the brothel -- a move
intended to make her more afraid, but which probably was a great relief
to her. When she continued to profess her
faith in Jesus, Quintian had her tortured. He refused her any medical care but
God gave her all the care she needed in the
form
of a vision of St. Peter. When she was tortured again, she died after
saying a final prayer: "Lord, my Creator, you have always protected me
from the cradle; you have taken me from the love of the world and given
me patience to suffer. Receive my soul."
Because
one of the tortures she supposedly suffered was to have her breasts cut
off, she was often depicted carrying her breasts on a plate. It is
thought that
blessing of the bread that takes place on her feast may have come from the mistaken notion that she was carrying loaves of bread.
Because
she was asked for help during the eruption of Mount Etna she is
considered a protector against the outbreak of fire. She is also
considered the patroness of bellmakers for an unknown
reason -- though some speculate it may have something to do with the fact that
bells were used as fire alarms.
Prayer:
Saint
Agatha, you suffered sexual assault and indignity because of your
faith. Help heal all those who are survivors of sexual assault and
protect those women who are in danger.
Amen
from Wikipedia
For communities named after St. Agatha, see Sainte-Agathe.
Saint Agatha of Sicily (died ca. 251) is a Christian saint. Her memorial is on 5 February. Agatha
[3] was born at Catania, Sicily, and she was martyred in approximately 251. She is one of seven women, who along with the Blessed Virgin Mary, are commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass.
[4]
She is the patron saint of Catania, Molise, Malta, San Marino and Zamarramala, a municipality of the Province of Segovia
in Spain. She is also the patron saint of breast cancer patients,
martyrs, wet nurses, bell-founders, bakers, fire, earthquakes, and
eruptions of Mount Etna.
Contents
- 1 Early history
- 2 Life
- 3 Veneration
- 4 Patronage
- 5 Iconography
- 6 Legacy
- 7 See also
- 8 References
- 9 External links
Early history[edit]
Agatha is buried at the Badia di Sant'Agata, Catania.
[5] She is listed in the late 6th-century
Martyrologium Hieronymianum associated with Jerome,
[6] and the
Synaxarion, the calendar of the church of Carthage, ca. 530.
[7] Agatha also appears in one of the
carmina of Venantius Fortunatus.
[8] Two early churches were dedicated to her in Rome,
[9] notably the Church of Sant'Agata dei Goti in via Mazzarino, a titular church with apse mosaics of ca. 460 and traces of a fresco cycle,
[10] overpainted by Gismondo Cerrini in 1630. In the 6th century the church was adapted to Arian Christianity, hence its name "Saint Agatha of Goths", and later reconsecrated by Gregory the Great,
who confirmed her traditional sainthood. Agatha is also depicted in the
mosaics of Sant' Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, where she appears, richly
dressed, in the procession of female martyrs along the north wall. Her
image forms an initial
I in the Sacramentary of Gellone, from the end of the 8th century.
Life[edit]
One of the most highly venerated virgin martyrs of Christian antiquity, Agatha was put to death during the persecution of Decius (250-253) in Catania, Sicily, for her steadfast profession of faith.
[6]
Her written legend
[11] comprises "straightforward accounts of interrogation, torture, resistance, and triumph which constitute some of the earliest hagiographic literature",
[12] and are reflected in later recensions, the earliest surviving one being an illustrated late 10th-century
passio bound into a composite volume
[13] in the Bibliothèque nationale de France, originating probably in Autun, Burgundy; in its margin illustrations Magdalena Carrasco detected Carolingian or Late Antique iconographic traditions.
[14]
Although the martyrdom of St. Agatha is authenticated, and her
veneration as a saint had even in antiquity spread beyond her native
place, there is no reliable information concerning the details of her
death.
[6]
According to Jacobus de Voragine,
Legenda Aurea of ca. 1288,
[15] having dedicated her virginity to God,
[16] Fifteen year old Agatha, from a rich and noble family, rejected the amorous advances of the low-born Roman prefect Quintianus, who then persecuted her for her Christian faith.
[17] He sent Agatha to Aphrodisia, the keeper of a brothel.
Saint Peter Healing Agatha, by the Caravaggio-follower Giovanni Lanfranco, ca 1614
The madam finding her intractable, Quinitianus sends for her, argues,
threatens, and finally has her put in prison. Among the tortures she
underwent was the cutting off of her breasts. After further dramatic
confrontations with Quintianus, represented in a sequence of dialogues
in her
passio that document her fortitude and steadfast devotion.
Saint Agatha was then sentenced to be burned at the stake, but an
earthquake saved her from that fate; instead, she was sent to prison
where St. Peter the Apostle appeared to her and healed her wounds.
[18] Saint Agatha died in prison, according to the
Legenda Aurea in "the year of our Lord two hundred and fifty-three in the time of Decius, the emperor of Rome."
Osbern Bokenham,
A Legend of Holy Women, written in the 1440s, offers some further detail.
[19]
Veneration[edit]
Catania's duomo
Catania Cathedral (Cattedrale di Sant'Agata) is dedicated to Saint Agatha.
According to Maltese tradition, during the persecution of Roman
Emperor Decius (AD 249-251), Agatha, together with some of her friends,
fled from Sicily, and took refuge in Malta. Some historians believe that
her stay on the island was rather short, and she spent her days in a
rock hewn crypt at Rabat, praying and teaching the Christian Faith to
children. After some time, Agatha returned to Sicily, where she faced
martyrdom. Agatha was arrested and brought before Quintanus, praetor of
Catania, who condemned her to torture and imprisonment. The crypt of St.
Agatha is an underground basilica, which from early ages was venerated
by the Maltese. At the time of St. Agatha's stay, the crypt was a small
natural cave which later on, during the 4th or 5th century, was enlarged
and embellished.
[20]
Patronage[edit]
Saint Agatha's breasts sculpted in the fortification walls, Mons, Var
She is the patron saint of Catania, Sorihuela del Guadalimar (Spain), Molise, San Marino and Malta.
Saint Agatha is a patron saint of Malta, where in 1551 her
intercession through a reported apparition to a Benedictine nun is said
to have saved Malta from Turkish invasion.
[20]
Agatha is the patron saint of bell-founders because of the shape of her severed breasts,
[17] and also of bakers, whose loaves were blessed at her feast day. More recently, she has been venerated as patron saint of breast cancer patients.
She is claimed as the patroness of Palermo. The year after her death,
the stilling of an eruption of Mt. Etna was attributed to her
intercession. As a result, apparently, people continued to ask her
prayers for protection against fire.
[21]
Iconography[edit]
Saint Agatha is often depicted iconographically carrying her excised breasts on a platter, as by Bernardino Luini's
Saint Agatha (1510–15) in the Galleria Borghese, Rome, in which Agatha contemplates the breasts on a standing salver held in her hand.
Legacy[edit]
Burial of St Agatha, by Giulio Campi, 1537
Basques have a tradition of gathering on Saint Agatha's eve (
Santa Ageda bezpera in Basque)
and going round the village. Homeowners can choose to hear a song about
her life, accompanied by the beats of their walking sticks on the floor
or a prayer for those deceased in the house. After that, the homeowner
donates food to the chorus.
[22] This song has varying lyrics according to the local tradition and the Basque language. An exceptional case was that of 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, when a version appeared that in the Spanish language praised the Soviet ship
Komsomol, which had sunk while carrying Soviet weapons to the Second Spanish Republic.
An annual festival to commemorate the life of Saint Agatha takes place in Catania, Sicily,
from February 3 to 5. The festival culminates in a great all-night
procession through the city for which hundreds of thousands of the
city's residents turn out.
St. Agatha's Tower is a former Knight's stronghold located in the
north west of Malta. The seventeenth-century tower served as a military
base during both World Wars and was used as a radar station by the
Maltese army.
[20]
Agatha in art[edit]
Agatha is a featured figure on Judy Chicago's installation piece
The Dinner Party, being represented as one of the 999 names on the
Heritage Floor.[23]
