FEBRUARY 5TH, ST. AGATHA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR
Month in honor of the Holy Family of JMJ.
The Maiden Agatha was a Sicilian of noble birth. The citizens of Palermo and Catania dispute as to which city had the honour of being her birthplace. It was at Catania that, during the persecution under the Emperor Decius, she won the crown of a glorious martyrdom. She was equally celebrated for her beauty and her chastity, and Quintianus, Praetor of Sicily, conceived a passion for her. He tried every sort of device to overcome her modesty, and when he found it impossible to make her consent to his wishes, he caused her to be arrested on a charge of Christian superstition, and handed over to a woman named Aphrodisia to be corrupted. The company, however, of this woman had no effect in shaking her constancy in the Christian worship, nor her settled determination to preserve her purity. Aphrodisia therefore reported to Quintianus that she was only throwing away her pains on Agatha. He ordered her to be brought before him. Thou, said he, art the daughter of a noble family dost thou feel no shame in living the degraded and slavish life of a Christian? Agatha answered him, The lowliness and bondage of a Christian are far nobler than the estate and pride of a king. Then the Praetor, being incensed against her, gave her the alternative of either sacrificing to the gods, or being submitted to the torture; and as she remained firm in the faith, she was buffeted and sent back to prison. The next day she was brought forth, and, because her resolution was still unshaken, she was stretched on the rack and tortured with pieces of white-hot metal. Then her breasts were cut off. When Agatha received this injury she cried out to Quintianus, Cruel tyrant, art thou not ashamed to do this to me, having thyself sucked at a mother's breast? She was remanded again to prison and put in irons. That night an old man, who called himself an Apostle of Christ, came to her, and healed her wounds. The following day she was brought for the last time before the Praetor. Her constancy was unmoved, and she was rolled on sharp potsherds and live embers. At that time the whole city was shaken with a great earthquake, and two of the Praetor's dearest friends, Silvinus and Falconius, were killed by falling walls. The townspeople were in an uproar, and Quintianus, in fear of a riot, ordered Agatha, who was half dead, to be carried back to prison quietly. Then she made the following prayer O Lord, Who hast been my Keeper from my childhood, Who hast taken from me all love for this present world, Who hast strengthened me so that I am more than conqueror over the cruelty of the executioners, receive my spirit, and with these words she passed to heaven. She finished her testimony on the 5th day of February, in the year of our Lord 251. Her body was buried by the Christians.