ST. AGATHA, CANCER SAINT
Today is the Feast of St. Agatha in the Catholic liturgical calendar. She is the saint invoked especially for/by patients who have and those who have survived breast cancer. Many healings have been attributed through the help of this saint who lived in the 3rd Century.
Born in Catania, Sicily, Agatha was a young, beautiful and wealthy Christian girl. Her beauty caught the eye of Quintianus, a Roman magistrate who actively and brutally persecuted the Christians. Knowing she was a Christian, he had her arrested and brought to him who also was a judge. When she refused his advances, she was tortured severely which included the amputation of her breasts. It is said that St. Peter appeared to Agatha in a vision, dressed her wounds and helped her to survive. When all attempts to break her spirits failed, she was burned at the stake. During this torture of fire, there was a mysterious earthquake. Her torturers took it as a sign from God and they ran away. Surviving even this torture, she was returned to her prison cell where she finally died with a prayer on her lips, "Lord, my Creator, you have always protected me from the cradle, you have taken me from the love of the world and have given me patience and strength to suffer. Receive my soul."
Because one of the tortures St. Agatha suffered was to have her breasts cut off, she is shown in pictures carrying her breasts on a plate. She is also the patroness of Malta since her intercession is reported to have saved Malta from Turkish invasion in 1551. A church of great historical importance to Spain is Santa Gadea (St. Agatha) in Burgos, Spain.
She is the patron saint of Sicily, Italy. She is one of the seven women excluding the Blessed Virgin Mary, commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass.
Prayer to St. Agatha
St. Agatha, you suffered assault and indignity because of your faith. Help heal all those who are survivors of sexual assault and protect those women who are in danger. Pray for those women who are suffering from malignancey or have survived it so that they may have the strength to offer their affliction and pain to God, our Divine Healer. Through your prayers, St. Agatha, may they feel and enjoy the healing power of our Lord! Through Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.
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