- Holy Martyr Agatha of Palermo in Sicily (251)
- She is one of the best loved and most
venerated Martyrs of the West. She was born to a noble family in Catania or Palermo in
Sicily. At an early age she consecrated herself to the Lord and, though very beautiful,
sought only to adorn herself with the virtues. During the persecution under Decius
(251), she was arrested as a Christian; at this time she was about fifteen years old.
Quintinian, the Governor of Sicily, was taken by her beauty and offered to marry her,
thinking in that way not only to possess her body but her riches as well. When she
spurned his advances, and continued to mock the idols, he grew angry and decided to
have her tortured. She was gruesomely tormented and cast bleeding into a dungeon to
die; but in the night her Guardian Angel brought the Apostle Peter to her, and he
healed her wounds. The following day, the Governor ordered that she be subjected to
further torments, but at his words the city was shaken by an earthquake and part of the
palace collapsed. The terrified people stormed the palace and demanded that Agatha
be released, lest they be subject to the wrath of her God. The Saint was returned to her
prison cell, where in response to her prayers she was allowed to give up her soul to
God.
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At Agatha's burial, attended by many, her Guardian Angel appeared and placed
a marble slab on her tomb, inscribed with the words 'A righteous mind, self-
determining, honor from God, the deliverance of her fatherland.' Quintinian died soon
thereafter, thrown from his chariot.
-
On the first anniversary of Agatha's death, Mt Etna erupted and Catania was
about to be engulfed in lava. Christians and pagans together, remembering the
inscription on her tomb, took the slab from the tomb and bore it like a shield to the river
of lava, which was immediately stopped. The same miracle has happened many times
in the following centuries, and Saint Agatha is venerated as the Protectress of Catania
and Sicily, loved and honored by Christians of the East and the West.
source: http://www.abbamoses.com
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