Saint Agatha
Feast day: February 5
Saint Agatha, virgin martyr of Catania, who suffered torture rather than abandon Jesus (05/02)
Who is she?
Saint Agatha was a virgin martyr from the city of Catania, on the island of Sicily, in southern Italy. She lived in the third century. The Church honored her from very early on, and her name is said in Eucharistic Prayer I (the Roman Canon) together with other women martyrs like Saint Lucy and Saint Agnes.
Life story
What is certain about Saint Agatha is that she was a young Christian woman in Catania who was martyred and honored from very early times. According to tradition, she died around the year 251, when the emperor Decius was persecuting the faith. The other details of her life are told in an old story written many centuries later, so we say “according to tradition.”
According to tradition, Agatha was born into a wealthy family. She was very beautiful, but she had decided to give her whole life to Jesus and not to marry. The governor, Quintianus, wanted to marry her. When she refused, he ordered her arrested because she was a Christian.
The governor tried everything to make her change her mind: coaxing, threats, and then very painful tortures. Agatha calmly kept praying and said that she belonged to Jesus. The story says that at night in prison, Saint Peter the Apostle appeared and healed her wounds. In the end, she died in prison, around 5 February 251.
A year later, Mount Etna erupted, and a stream of red-hot lava flowed toward the city of Catania. According to tradition, the people of the city carried the veil that covered her tomb out in front of the lava and prayed to her, and the lava stopped. Since then, the people of Catania have taken her as their patron saint, and every year they hold a very solemn procession in her honor.
Why is she a saint?
Saint Agatha kept her promise to belong entirely to Jesus, even when she was threatened and tortured. She did not hate those who hurt her, but kept praying. The Church honors her as a virgin martyr, which means someone who lived a pure, unmarried life to belong entirely to God and who died for being faithful to the faith.
A lesson for you
- When friends try to talk you into doing something wrong, have the courage to say “no,” like Saint Agatha.
- Pray for people who are suffering because of their faith.
Identifying marks
- A dish with two round white objects: a familiar sign in pictures and statues, recalling the torments she suffered for being faithful to God.
- A palm leaf: a sign that she won the victory by dying for the faith (martyrdom).
- A red cloak and a white veil: red for the blood of martyrdom, white for purity.
- Mount Etna behind her: according to tradition, through her prayers the lava flow from Etna stopped before the city of Catania.
- A candle or a flame (*): people ask her to protect them from fire.
(*) Only in some pictures and statues.
The text on this page is the saint card in the Catholic Information app, word for word.
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