Today February 5

Today is the feast of St. Agatha, virgin (died c. 253 AD). Agatha was a highborn Sicilian, rich, beautiful and young. So perhaps it was no surprise that the consular official Quintianus desired her. There was a problem, though: he was greedy, lowborn, corrupt and a pagan. Although there is no indication that Agatha necessarily swore herself to consecrated virginity, she knew she didn't want HIM. And Quintianus, unable to persuade her with either sugared words or veiled threats, figured that if he couldn't have her, then everyone would! He sent her by force to work in a brothel under the madam appropriately named Aphrodisia. But Agatha prayed and wept and though she was sentenced there for 30 days, never prostituted herself. Aphrodisia found her quite obstinate: "It would be easier to split rocks or reduce iron to the softness of lead than to move that girl's mind from its intention."

Agatha was summoned again before the consul. She was questioned again: "What is your social standing?" Agatha: "I am freeborn and of illustrious lineage." Q: "Why does the way you live make you seem to be of servile status?" Agatha: "I am the slave of Christ." Q: "If you are of noble birth, why do you call yourself a slave?" Agatha: "Because to be a slave of Christ is proof of the highest nobility."

This answer angered Quintianus and he ordered her to be tormented: thrown in jail, stretched on a rack, and, in a particularly cruel gesture, her breast twisted for a long time and then cut off (thus her patronage of all breast disorders, especially in this day and age, breast cancer and mastectomy). Still she would not forswear Christ nor sacrifice to the gods nor be Quintianus' concubine (he was already married). She languished in prison after the torture and was denied food, water or medical care; but then an old man preceded by a boy carrying a lighted candle appeared in her cell. She was a little reluctant to have him treat her wounds as he offered, considering the delicate nature of them, but finally she relented when he said, "I am a Christian, so you need not be ashamed." He miraculously restored her breast and before leaving he said, "I am [Christ's] apostle and he sent me to you. Know that in his name you are healed." And based on those final words before he and the boy vanished, it is traditionally assumed that her visitor was St. Peter himself.

Four days later, she was taken again before Quintianus and was naturally asked how she was so surprisingly healed. "It was by Christ the Son of God!" she declared. "You dare to pronounce THAT NAME again?" thundered Quintianus, who ordered her stripped naked and rolled on broken pottery and live coals. This torment coincided with an earthquake and so the superstitious populace begged him to stop pestering the girl. He remanded her to prison, where, after praying "Lord Jesus Christ, you created me, preserved me from love of this world . . . now receive my spirit and command me to come to your mercy", she died, succumbing to her wounds. She is patroness of Syracuse and once protected the town from a deadly lava flow from the volcano there. St. Agatha, pray for us