Agatha of Sicily

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AgathaTemplate:Efn of Sicily (Template:Circa) is a Christian saint. Her feast is on 5 February. Agatha was born in Catania, part of the Roman Province of Sicily, and was martyred Template:Circa. She is one of several virgin martyrs who are commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass.<ref>Vincent Lorne Kennedy (1938), The Saints of the Canon of the Mass, Vatican City: Pontifical Institute for Christian Archaeology. Template:OCLC</ref>

Agatha is the patroness saint of Catania, Molise, Malta, San Marino, Gallipoli in Apulia,Template:Efn and Zamarramala, a municipality of the Province of Segovia in Spain. She is also the patroness saint of breast cancer patients, rape victims, martyrs, wet nurses, bell-founders, and bakers, and is invoked against fire, earthquakes, and eruptions of Mount Etna.

Early history

Agatha is buried at the Badia di Sant'Agata, Catania.Template:Efn She is listed in the late-6th-century Template:Lang associated with Jerome,<ref name=kirsch/> and the Template:Transliteration, the calendar of the church of Carthage, Template:Circa.<ref>W.H. Frere, Studies in Roman Liturgy: 1. The Kalendar (London, 1930), p 94f.</ref> Agatha also appears in one of the Template:Lang of Venantius Fortunatus.<ref>Carmen VIII, 4, De Virginitate, noted by Liana De Girolami Cheney, "The Cult of Saint Agatha" Woman's Art Journal 17.1 (Spring – Summer 1996:3–9) p. 3.</ref>

Two early churches were dedicated in her honor in Rome, Sant'Agata in Trastevere and notably the Church of Sant'Agata dei Goti in Via Mazzarino,<ref>Touring Club Italiano, Roma e dintorni [Milan, 1965], pp 444, 315)</ref> a titular church with apse mosaics of Template:Circa and traces of a fresco cycle,Template:Efn overpainted by Gismondo Cerrini in 1630. In the 6th century AD, the church was adapted to Arianism, hence its name "Saint Agatha of Goths", and later reconsecrated by Gregory the Great, who confirmed her traditional sainthood.

Agatha is also depicted in the mosaics of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna, where she appears, richly dressed, in the procession of virgin martyrs along the north wall. Her image forms an initial 'I' in the Sacramentary of Gellone, which dates from the end of the 8th century.

Life

One of the most highly venerated virgin martyrs of Christian antiquity, Agatha was put to death during the Decian persecution (250–253) in Catania, Sicily, for her determined profession of faith.<ref name=kirsch>Template:Cite web</ref>

Her written legend<ref>Acta Sanctorum IV, February vol. I (new ed. Paris, 1863) pp. 599–662</ref> comprises "straightforward accounts of interrogation, torture, resistance, and triumph which constitute some of the earliest hagiographic literature",<ref>Magdalena Elizabeth Carrasco, "The early illustrated manuscript of the Passion of Saint Agatha (Paris, Bibl. Nat., MS lat. 5594)", Gesta 24 (1985), p. 20.</ref> and are reflected in later recensions, the earliest surviving one being an illustrated late-10th-century passio.<ref>Carrasco 1985, pp. 19–32.</ref>

File:Saint-Lô Église Notre-Dame Vitrail Baie 17 Jugement de sainte Agathe 2019 08 19.jpg
Agatha in front of the judge as depicted in a stained glass window from 1515 in Notre-Dame, Saint-Lô<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

According to the 13th-century Golden Legend (III.15) by Jacobus de Voragine, 15-year-old Agatha, from a rich and noble family, made a vow of virginity and rejected the amorous advances of the Roman prefect Quintianus, who thought he could force her to turn away from her vow and marry him. His persistent proposals were consistently spurned by Agatha. This was during the persecutions of Decius, so Quintianus, knowing she was a Christian, reported her to the authorities. Quintianus himself was governor of the district.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Quintianus expected Agatha to give in to his demands when faced with torture and possible death, but Agatha simply reaffirmed her belief in God by praying: "Jesus Christ, Lord of all, you see my heart, you know my desires. Possess all that I am. I am your sheep: make me worthy to overcome the devil." To force her to change her mind, Quintianus sent Agatha to Aphrodisia, the keeper of a brothel, and had her imprisoned there; however, the punishment failed, with Agatha remaining a Christian.<ref name=italymag>Template:Cite web</ref>

Quintianus sent for Agatha again, arguing with her and threatening her, before finally having her imprisoned and tortured. She was stretched on a rack to be torn with iron hooks, burned with torches, and whipped. Her breasts were removed by tongs.

File:AgatheRouenCathedral.jpg
St Agatha as depicted in a stained glass window in Rouen Cathedral

After further dramatic confrontations with Quintianus, represented in a sequence of dialogues in her passio that document her fortitude and steadfast devotion, Agatha was then sentenced to be burnt at the stake; however, an earthquake prevented this from happening, and she was instead sent to prison, where St. Peter the Apostle appeared to her and healed her wounds.<ref name=stracke>Template:Cite web</ref>

Agatha died in prison, probably in the year 251 according to the Template:Lang. Although the martyrdom of Agatha is authenticated, and her veneration as a saint had spread beyond her native place even in antiquity, there is no reliable information concerning the details of her death.<ref name=kirsch/>

Osbern Bokenam, A Legend of Holy Women, written in the 1440s, offers some further detail.<ref>Osbern Bokenham, (Sheila Delany, tr.) A Legend of Holy Women (University of Notre Dame) 1992, pp. 157–167.</ref>

Veneration

According to Maltese tradition, during the persecution of Roman Emperor Decius (AD 249–251), Agatha, together with some of her friends, fled from Sicily and took refuge in Malta. Some historians believe that her stay on the island was rather short, and she spent her days in a rock-hewn crypt at Rabat, praying and teaching Christianity to children. After some time, Agatha returned to Sicily, where she faced martyrdom. Agatha was arrested and brought before Quintianus, praetor of Catania, who condemned her to torture and imprisonment.<ref name=malta/>

The crypt of St. Agatha is an underground basilica, which from early ages was venerated by the Maltese. At the time of St. Agatha's stay, the crypt was a small natural cave, which, later on, during the 4th or 5th century, was enlarged and embellished.<ref name=malta/>

After the Reformation era, Agatha was retained in the calendar of the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer with her feast on 5 February. Several Church of England parish churches are dedicated in her honor.

A feast day to honor Agatha on 5 February was given final authorization in the Episcopal Church in 2022.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The translation of her relics is commemorated on 10 March and 17 August.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Festival of Saint Agatha in Catania

Template:See also The Festival of Saint Agatha in Catania is a major festival in the region, it takes place during the first five days of February. The Catania Cathedral (also known as Template:Lang) is dedicated in her honor. Unfortunately, the Festival of Saint Agatha has also been the subject of investigations by the Catania Prosecutor's Office for "Proven Mafia Infiltration"<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Patronage

File:Mons Ste Agathe 919.JPG
Saint Agatha's breasts sculpted in the fortification walls at Mons, Var in the south of France

Saint Agatha is the patroness saint of rape victims, breast cancer patients, wet nurses, and bellfounders (due to the shape of her severed breasts). She is also considered to be a powerful intercessor when people suffer from fires. Her feast day is celebrated on 5 February.

She is also a patroness saint of Malta, where in 1551 her intercession through a reported apparition to a Benedictine nun is said to have saved Malta from Turkish invasion.<ref name=malta>Template:Cite web</ref>

She became the patroness saint of the Republic of San Marino after Pope Clement XII restored the independence of the state on her feast day of 5 February 1740.<ref>Nevio and Annio Maria Matteimi The Republic of San Marino: Historical and Artistic Guide to the City and the Castles, 2011, p. 23.</ref>

She is also the patron saint of Catania, Sorihuela del Guadalimar (Spain), Molise, San Marino and Kalsa, a historical quarter of Palermo.

She is claimed as the patroness of Palermo. The year after her death, the stilling of an eruption of Mount Etna was attributed to her intercession. As a result, apparently, people continued to ask her prayers for protection against fire.<ref name=foley>Foley O.F.M., Leonard. Saint of the Day, (revised by Pat McCloskey O.F.M.), Franciscan Media Template:Webarchive Template:ISBN</ref>

In Switzerland, Agatha is considered the patroness saint of fire services.

In the United Kingdom, Agatha is the patroness saint of bell ringers in service of the Catholic Church.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Iconography

File:Minnuzze di sant'aita.jpg
Template:Lang, a typical Sicilian sweet shaped as a breast, representing the cut breasts of Saint Agatha

Saint Agatha is often depicted iconographically carrying her excised breasts on a platter, as in Bernardino Luini's Saint Agatha (1510–1515) in the Galleria Borghese, Rome, in which Agatha contemplates the breasts on a standing salver held in her hand.

The tradition of making shaped pastry on the feast of St. Agatha, such as Agatha bread or buns, or so-called Template:Lang ("Breasts of St. Agatha") or Template:Lang ("Breasts of the virgin"), is found in many countries.

Legacy

The Basque people have a tradition of gathering on Saint Agatha's Eve (Template:Langx) and going door-to-door through their village. Homeowners can then choose to hear a song about Agatha's life, which is accompanied by the beats of the choir's walking sticks on the ground or else a prayer for the household's deceased. After that, the homeowner donates food to the choir.<ref>J. Etxegoien, Orhipean, Gure Herria ezagutzen (Xamar) 1996 [in Basque].</ref> The song's lyrics vary according to each local tradition and the Basque language dialect spoken locally. In 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, a version of the song in Spanish was composed. In the lyrics, this Spanish version praised the Soviet ship Komsomol, which had sunk while carrying Soviet weapons to the Second Spanish Republic.

An annual festival to commemorate the life of Saint Agatha takes place in Catania, Sicily, from 3 to 5 February. The festival culminates in an all-night procession through the city.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

St. Agatha's Tower is a former Knight's stronghold located in the north west of Malta. The seventeenth-century tower served as a military base during both World Wars and was used as a radar station by the Maltese army.<ref name=malta/>

St. Agatha is also commemorated in literature. The Italian poet Martha Marchina wrote an epigram in Template:Lang that commemorates her martyrdom. In it, Marchina characterizes Agatha as powerful and she reclaims that power because she has become more beautiful through her wounds.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Agatha of Sicily is honored with a Lesser Feast on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> on 5 February.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In art

Template:See also Agatha is a featured figure on Judy Chicago's 1979 installation piece The Dinner Party, being represented as one of the 999 names on the Heritage Floor.<ref name="Agatha">Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

Further reading

Notes

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References

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