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Agatha
was a rich Sicilian girl born in the third century. When she
declined an offer of marriage from a powerful senator, she was
betrayed to the authorities as a Christian. She was sent to
be deflowered in a whorehouse run by Aphrodisia and her six
daughters, but her purity prevailed. Next, she was stretched
on a rack and burned with torches. “Make me worthy to
overcome the Devil,' she cried to Jesus, and maintained her
resolve. Enraged by her cheerfulness throughout the ordeal,
the senator ordered for her breasts to be crushed and ripped
from her body. She was then thrown into a dungeon without food
or medical attention. St. Peter appeared with a “celestial”
ointment and rubbed it on her wounds, healing her. Finally,
she was rolled naked over hot coals and potsherds, and died
as she was carried back to the dungeon. After her death, Agatha’s
scarf was said to have stopped a volcano's flow. It is a currently
maintained tradition in Sicily on her feast day to make loaves
of bread in the shape of breasts, then take them to church on
a platter to be blessed. Agatha is also the patron of Malta,
nurses, jewelers and wet nurses, and she's invoked against breast
diseases, fires and volcanoes. Her feast day is February 5. |
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| St.
Agatha
Patron St. of
Bells and Volcanos |
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