St. Agatha: Feast Day, Patronage & Prayers
Feast day: February 5 (Memorial of St. Agatha, Virgin and Martyr)
Patron of: Catania and Sicily, nurses, and those suffering from breast disease.
About St. Agatha
St. Agatha was a young Christian woman of Sicily, probably from Catania, who was martyred around the year 251 during the persecution of the emperor Decius. She is one of the most honored virgin martyrs of the early Church, and her name is included in the Roman Canon of the Mass, alongside Sts. Lucy, Agnes, and Cecilia.
According to her traditional story, Agatha had consecrated her life to Christ, and she refused the advances of a powerful Roman official named Quintianus. When she would not give in, he had her arrested as a Christian and subjected to cruel tortures, including the cutting of her breasts. Tradition says that St. Peter appeared to her in prison and healed her wounds, and that she died in prison after further torture, praying for strength to the end. A year after her death, the people of Catania credited her intercession with stopping an eruption of Mount Etna, and they still turn to her in danger from fire and volcano. Her courage and purity have inspired Christians for nearly eighteen centuries.
Prayers to St. Agatha on Daily Catholic Prayers
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