Saint Agatha, Patron Saint of Diseases of the Breast
Saint Agatha’s Story
According to tradition, Agatha was born into a wealthy family in Sicily and made a vow of virginity at a young age.
Governor Quintiamus wanted to possess her but she refused, desirous of maintaining her chastity. Due to the resistance of Agatha to the governor’s sexual advances, he ordered that her breasts be torn off with iron shears and this became the Martyrdom of St.Agatha.
She was sent to a dungeon to die and sometime later the Lord sent an angel to restore and heal her breasts. Quintiamus was filled with rage and furiously directed that Agatha be burned alive. Because of her martyrdom, Saint Agatha became the Patron Saint of diseases of the breast for the catholic church.
Agatha died around the year 251 and is one of the most revered and frequently invoked early martyrs. Her name is included in many early lists of saints and she is included in the Roman Canon (the First Eucharistic Prayer) by Pope Saint Gregory the Great.
Saint Agatha is also a special patron during times of earthquake and volcanic eruptions, because of a tradition that her intercession saved the people during an eruption of Mount Etna the year after her death.
Prayer
May the Virgin Martyr Saint Agatha
implore your compassion for us, O Lord, we pray,
for she found favor with you
by the courage of her martyrdom
and the merit of her chastity.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
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