Saint
Agatha (also known as: Agatha of Sicily; Agatha of Palermo; Agatha of
Catania) has been honored since ancient times, and her name is
included in the canon of the Mass. We have little reliable
information about her, except that she was a martyr. The following is
according to her Latin Acts which is from around the sixth century.
Saint
Agatha was a young, wealthy and beautiful woman who lived a life
consecrated to God. When the Roman Emperor Decius (Caius Messius
Quintus Trajanus Decius 249-251) announced his edicts against
Christians, the Roman magistrate Quinctianus tried to profit by
Agatha's sanctity; he planned to blackmail her into sex in exchange
for not charging her. Saint Agatha was handed over to a brothel, but
she refused to accept customers. After rejecting Quinctianus'
advances, she was beaten, imprisoned, tortured, her breasts were
crushed and cut off. One version says that Saint Peter appeared to
her and healed her. She was imprisoned further and rolled onto live
coals. She was near death when an earthquake struck. In the
earthquake the magistrate's friend was crushed, and the magistrate
fled. Agatha thanked God for an end to her pain, and died. Her death
occurred around 250 A.D.
Legend
says that carrying her veil, taken from her tomb in Catania, in
procession has averted eruptions of Mount Etna. Her intercession is
also reported to have saved Malta from Turkish invasion in 1551.
Her
popular veneration is of a very early date; her name occurs in the
prayer, "Nobis quoque peccatoribus," in the Canon of the
Mass, and in some places bread is blessed after the Consecration of
the Mass on her feast and called Agatha bread.
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