Life of Saints: Sant'Agata

Sant'Agata, Virgin, martyr, c. Third century
February 5 - Memorial (Optional memorial if the day of the Lenten week)
Liturgical color: Red (purple if the day of the Lenten week)
Patron of Sicily, breast cancer, rape and bell rape victims

Of all the men attracted to her, he only wanted one

Pope San Gregorio Magno reigned as Supreme Pontiff of the Church from 590 to 604. His family loved Sicily and had properties there, so the young Gregorio knew the saints and traditions of that beautiful island. When he became pope, San Gregorio inserted the names of two of the most revered Sicilian martyrs, Agata and Lucia, in the heart of the Mass, the Roman canon. San Gregorio even placed these two Sicilians right in front of the city of two martyred women, Agnese and Cecilia, who had been part of the Roman canon for many centuries before. It was this papal decision that preserved St. Agatha's memory more effectively than anything else. The liturgy is intrinsically conservative and protects the oldest memories of the Church. So on the lips of thousands of priests every day there are the names of some of the most revered female martyrs of the Church:

Not much is known about the life and death of Sant'Agata, but the long tradition provides what is missing from the primary documents. Pope Damasus, who reigned from 366 to 384, may have composed a poem in his honor, indicating how widespread his reputation was at that time. Sant'Agata came from a wealthy family in Sicily in Roman times, probably in the third century. After dedicating her life to Christ, her beauty attracted powerful men like a magnet to herself. But he rejected all the suitors in favor of the Lord. Perhaps during the persecution of Emperor Decius around 250, she was arrested, interrogated, tortured and martyred. She refused to give up her faith or surrender to the powerful men who desired her. An ancient homily tells: "A true virgin, she wore the glow of a pure conscience and the crimson of lamb's blood for her cosmetics".

It is also a constant tradition that his torture included sexual mutilation. While Saint Lucia shines in art with her eyes on a plate, Sant'Agata is usually shown holding a plate on which her own breasts rest, since they were cut by her pagan tormentors before her execution. This peculiar image is, in fact, carved in the wall above the entrance of the XNUMXth century church of Sant'Agata in Rome, a church dedicated by Pope San Gregorio himself long ago.

Men commit most of the physical violence in the world. And when their victims are women, violence can be particularly vicious because their victims are so helpless. The stories of the early male martyrs of the Church tell stories of extreme torture by their Roman kidnappers. But the stories of martyred women often refer to something more: sexual humiliation. It is not known that no male martyr has suffered such outrages. Sant'Agata and others were not only physically difficult to endure for the pain they felt, but also mentally and spiritually powerful for resisting to death, embarrassment and degradation of the public especially for them as women. They were the strong ones. It was their male captors who looked weak.

It was the exaltation of Christianity by women, children, slaves, prisoners, the elderly, the sick, foreigners and the marginalized who slowly leavened the vast leaven of the Church in the Mediterranean world. The Church did not create a class of victims who complained of a privileged class. The Church preached the dignity of people. The Church has not even preached the equality of individuals or taught that governments must enact laws to protect the unprotected. It's all so modern. The Church spoke in a theological language and taught that every man, woman and child was made in the image and likeness of God and therefore deserved respect. He taught that Jesus Christ died for every person on the cross. The Church gave, and gave, total answers to total questions, and those answers were and are convincing. The feast of Sant'Agata is still widely celebrated on February 5 in Catania, Sicily. Hundreds of thousands of faithful proceed on the streets in honor of the patron saint of the island. The ancient traditions continue.

Saint Agatha, you were a virgin married to Christ himself, a bride of the Lord who has preserved herself only for Him. Your vow to love God above all else has hardened you to endure temptations, torture and degradation. That we can be as determined as you are when any type of persecution, however slight, seeks us.