(A.D. 251.)
[Roman Martyrology and all others. Famous also among the Greeks.
There are various editions of the Acts of her Martyrdom in Latin and
in Greek. The latter are not as trustworthy as the former, which are
very ancient, and though apparently tampered with by copyists, are
on the whole to be relied upon. The Latin Acts were written by
eye-witnesses, as appears from a passage in them, "From this we
supposed he was her angel." There is an older version of the Greek
Acts than that given by Metaphrastes (fl. 867), and there is a
sermon on S. Agatha by S. Methodius. The name of S. Agatha occurs in
the Canon of the Roman Mass; among the first five Virgin Saints
enumerated in _Nobis quoque peccatoribus_.]
The honour of being the birth-place of S. Agatha is claimed by Catania
and Palermo, in Sicily. The probabilities in favour of either are
nearly equally divided, though there seems to be a slight superiority
in the claims of Catania. It certainly was the scene of her martyrdom,
which took place during the persecution of Decius in A.D. 251, as all
her acts testify. If these are not in all particulars to be relied on,
their main facts seem to be pretty well established. According to
these, S. Agatha was the daughter of an illustrious and wealthy house
in Sicily, and was famed for her beauty and her gentle and amiable
manners. But her love was consecrated to God from her very earliest
youth. Quintianus the Consular of Sicily, as the Governor was then
called, admired her exceedingly, and the holy virgin retired to
Palermo to avoid his importunities. As often happened in those days of
heathen cruelty, his love was turned into hatred when he discovered
that she was a Christian. She was seized and brought to Catania; and
all the way thither she could only weep and pray to the Lord to
strengthen her for the conflict which awaited her. Every means was
tried during the space of a month to prevail on her to forget her vow;
but she was supported by continual prayer, and at last came off
victorious from this lingering martyrdom. She was privately examined
before Quintianus as to her faith, and confessed Christ with undaunted
firmness, declaring the service of the Lord Jesus to be the highest
nobility and the truest freedom: she was then sent to prison, to which
she went joyfully, recommending herself to God, and entreating His
aid. The day after she was tortured on the rack, and suffered with
calmness and constancy. And, when she was put to the cruel torment of
having her breasts cut off, she mildly reproached the inhuman
Quintianus with the remembrance of his own infancy, and with the
tenderness of his mother. She was then led again to prison, and all
sustenance and medical aid were denied her. Four days afterwards she
was put to still further tortures, and then, being taken back to
prison, sweetly fell asleep in the Lord, and was buried by the people
with great honour.
Relics in Catania, and some in the Church of S. Méry, at Paris.
Patroness of Catania, La Mirandola, and the Order of Malta.
In Art S. Agatha is represented as a majestic virgin wearing a long
veil, and over this, in early figures, a crown, the symbol of her
victory over death; she usually holds a clasped book in her left hand,
and a palm branch in the right; occasionally the place of this latter
emblem is supplied by a pair of pincers, having a nipple between the
teeth, in allusion to the fearful torture to which she was subjected.
Sometimes she carries both her breasts cut off in a dish, or a sword
is passed through them.