Saint Agatha

martyrdom: c.250 at Catania, Sicily

Patronage: Ali, Sicily; bell-founders; breast cancer; breast disease; Catania, Sicily; against fire; earthquakes; eruptions of Mount Etna; fire; fire prevention; jewelers; martyrs; natural disasters; nurses; Palermo, Sicily; rape victims; single laywomen; sterility; torture victims; volcanic eruptions; wet-nurses; Zamarramala, Spain

Not much is known about the martyr, Saint Agatha, who has been honored since the dawn of Christianity. According to legend, she was beautiful, young and rich, and had consecrated her life to God. When the Roman emperor Decius announced the edicts against the Christians, the magistrate Quinctianus tried to blackmail her for sex in exchange for not charging her. She refused. Agatha was handed over to a brothel, where she refused to accept customers. After rejecting Quinctianus's advances, she was beaten, imprisoned, tortured, and her breasts were cut off. Imprisoned again, then rolled in live coals, she was near death when an earthquake struck the region. In the destruction, the magistrate's friend was crushed and the magistrate himself fled. Agatha thanked god for an end to her pain, and died.

Legend says that carrying the reliquary with her veil in procession has averted eruptions of Mount Etna. Her intercession is credited with saving Malta from Turkish invasion in 1551.