by Sr. Lini Sheeja MSC –
The life stories of the early male martyrs of the Church relate tales of extreme torture by their Roman captors. But the life stories of the women martyrs often relate something more – sexual humiliation. No male martyrs are known to have suffered similar indignities. St Agatha and others were not only physically tough to endure the pain they did, but also mentally and spiritually powerful to have resisted to death the public embarrassment and degradation particular to them as women. They were the strong ones. It was their male captors who looked weak.“A true virgin, she wore the glow of a pure conscience and the crimson of the lamb’s blood for her cosmetics” were the words attributed to St Agatha.
The meaning of Agatha means good and honourable. This article narrates St Agatha’s life and her love for the one who created, called and loved her. St Agatha is one of the seven women, excluding the Blessed Virgin Mary commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass. Information about her life is included in the “Martyrologium Hieronymianum”. Her written legend gives accounts of interrogation, torture, resistance, and triumph, which constitute some of the earliest hagiographic literature. St Agatha dedicated her virginity to God. She was from a family of wealth and nobility, and she rejected advances of young men from nobility to get married. This article presents the life-story of St Agatha, a 3rd century Christian martyr who is honoured for her courage in suffering and in remaining pure for the sake of Christ.
Early Life
St Agatha was born in 231 A.D. into a wealthy and noble Christian family in Catania, Sicily. She was a beautiful young virgin, and at the age of 15 Agatha expressed her desire to live a life consecrated to God.
Teacher of Christianity to Children
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 Christianity to children. After some time, Agatha returned to Sicily, where she faced martyrdom.
Little Angel’s Love for God
15 year-old Agatha, from a rich and noble family, made a vow of virginity and rejected the amorous advances of the Roman prefect Quintianus, who thought he could force her to turn away from her vow and marry him. His persistent proposals were consistently spurned by Agatha. This was during the persecutions of Decius, so Quintianus, knowing she was a Christian, reported her to the authorities. Quintianus himself was governor of the district.
Saint Pushed to Brothel House
The prefect of Catania at that time was a man named Quintianus. Legend says that Quintianus, upon seeing Agatha, fell madly in love with her. It is more likely, though, that his true desire was to gain control of her family’s property and lands. To force her to change her mind, Quintianus sent Agatha to Aphrodisia, the keeper of a brothel, and had her imprisoned there; however, the punishment failed, with Agatha remaining a Christian. She refused to accept customers and was sent back to Quintianus.In response to their threats to sacrifice to the idols and submit to Quintianus, St Agatha responded, “My courage and my thought be so firmly founded upon the firm stone of Jesus Christ, that for no pain it may not be changed, your words be but wind, your promises be but rain, and your menaces be as rivers that pass, and how well that all these things hurtle at the fundament of my courage, yet for that it shall not move”.
Little Angel’s Firm Faith
Quintianus expected Agatha to give in to his demands when faced with torture and possible death, but Agatha simply reaffirmed 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.”
Imprisonment and Torture
Quintianus sent for Agatha again, arguing with her and threatening her, before finally having her imprisoned and tortured. She was stretched on a rack to be torn with iron hooks, burned with torches, and whipped. Amongst the tortures, the most horrible torture she underwent was the excision of her breasts with pincers. After further dramatic confrontations with Quintianus, represented in a sequence of dialogues in her passio that document her fortitude and steadfast devotion, Agatha was then sentenced to be burnt at the stake; however, an earthquake prevented this from happening, and she was instead sent to prison.
Death Sentence
When she continued to profess her faith in Jesus, Quintianus 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 in prison. Quintianus, had a horrible hatred of Agatha, and ordered that she be burned on a bed of coals. While she lay burning on the coals her red veil stayed miraculously intact.An earthquake struck Catania during this last torture of Agatha, and Quintianus became fearful for his safety, he had her returned to prison and then he fled the city. Agatha died a few hours later in prison on February 5, at the age of 22.
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.”Of all the men drawn to her, she desired only one.
Courageous Warrior
She attacked the Roman pagan images as idols with philosophical arguments, saying the idols were not gods, but were devils that were in the idols. Quintianus told her to choose one or two, or do sacrifice to our gods, or she would suffer pain and torments. She refused, and he decided that she would suffer torments. She said that she would rather suffer the torments for a short time, than to give up her faith in Christ.
Patron Saint
Agatha is the patron saint of Catania, Molise, Malta, San Marino, Gallipoli in Apulia, 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 and is invoked against fire, earthquakes, and eruptions of Mount Etna.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 bell-makers for an unknown reason, though some speculate it may have something to do with the fact that bells were used as fire alarms.She is the patron saint of wet nurses and breast cancer because of her story of torture where her breasts were torn off and miraculously healed. She is also patron saint of Jewellers, Martyrs, Natural Disasters, Nurses, Rape victims, Single Laywomen and Torture Victims. Her feast day is celebrated on February 5.
Most Revered Martyr
Pope Saint Gregory the Great reigned as the Supreme Pontiff of the Church from 590–604. His family loved Sicily and had property there, so the young Gregory was familiar with that beautiful island’s saints and traditions. When he became Pope, Saint Gregory inserted the names of two of Sicily’s most revered martyrs, Agatha and Lucy, into the heart of the Mass, the Roman Canon. Saint Gregory even placed these two Sicilians just before the city of Rome’s own two female martyrs, Agnes and Cecilia, who had been part of the Roman Canon for many centuries prior. It was this papal decision that has preserved St Agatha’s memory more effectively than anything else.
Festal Blessings
“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”, these very words of St Agatha challenges each of us of our commitment on this day as we celebrate her feast. She underwent tortures and humiliations by being thrown into brothel houses. The great men of the city were failed in front of this little girl who possessed God alone in her life. Being in brothel houses and in prison she grew closer to God. She embraced the humiliations with love for the Master who called her.
The paintings of St Agatha portray her as a lovely young woman, dressed in what looked like very fine clothing and in her hands she holds a silver platter and on it her severed breasts. Amongst the tortures, the most horrible torture she underwent was the excision of her breasts with pincers. What more a woman can go through? Every saint has left footprints for us. A lovely young beautiful woman said no to all that the world offered and received the crown of martyrdom. She was tortured and killed for the love of Christ. As we celebrate her feast on 5 February, let us learn to trust God through humiliations and sufferings.
On this day, as we celebrate her feast let us surrender all the victims of sexual abuse, trafficked and rape victims, the children and women in brothel houses and pray for the healing touch of the Lord. Let us also surrender all the men who abuse their power to victimize women and pray for their conversion and sanctification of our broken humanity. Festal Blessings of St Agatha, the Virgin and Martyr!
Sr Lini Sheeja MSC, belongs to the Congregation of Missionary Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. She worked as the team member of Child-line, BOSCO Bangalore. She served as the Chief-Editor for Prison Voice, a national monthly magazine and she authored a book named, Prison Ministry: The Dreamers’ Mission in which she invites the dreamers to join hands together to do wonders for the broken humanity.