I’m not Catholic, but I’m a fan of Saints. They give us feast days and my life goal is to return to Wales on St. David’s Day and eat some more of those amazing biscuits. They were life changing, and almost 20 years after I last had them, I still remember them and crave them in the spring. St. David’s Day, his feast day, is March 1. I’m sure he is important for a lot of reasons, but I see him as the patron saint of Welsh biscuit cookie things.
So, who is St. Agatha and why am I writing about her?
*May not be true name of flower.
She is the patron saint of breast cancer patients. Also, of Sicily and Palermo, bellfounders - people who make bells, rape victims, and wet nurses. You can celebrate her feast day on February 5th. She is often depicted in art with her breasts on a plate, making the depiction of her chest flat like mine.
My first thought on hearing that there was a patron saint for breast cancer was, “Cool!” But now that I’ve read a synopsis of her short life - approx. 231-251 A.D. - I’m slightly horrified.
She was born to a rich family, but from a very early age, she devoted her life to God. She was, by all accounts, very beautiful, so her decision to become a consecrated virgin was apparently too much for some dude to take.
One dude - Quintianus - thought he was so very important that he could force her to marry him. When she kept saying no, he did what every normal spurned man does and had her arrested under an edict from the Roman Emperor Decius that required Christians to sacrifice to the Roman gods and the emperor. Because, naturally, this made sense.
Okay. This makes no sense. It’s like that time in history where they would put animals on trial. Look it up.
Anway, Jews were exempt from the Decian persecution thing in 250 A.D., so that’s good that they weren’t being forced to sacrifice animals and stuff.
Anyway. This arrest brought her before a judge. You’ll never guess who the judge was!! Quintianus. The dude who wanted her to forego her vows and become his gorgeous wifey person. The offer was: Be my wife, or be tortured and maybe die.
She said, “No.” Well, with more words and more tears I’m guessing. She would not give up her path in life to marry this obviously well-adjusted dude who couldn’t take no for an answer.
So, he had her imprisoned in a brothel, naturally. She suffered for a month, not wavering in her faith, so Quintianus had her brought back. She still would not marry him. She’d found her freedom in Jesus Christ. She would belong to no man on earth.
Result? He sent her to prison and ordered her to be tortured. Stretched on a rack, torn with iron hooks, burned, whipped, and finally he ordered her breasts to be cut off. He sent her back to prison with no wound care, not even a band-aid, and she miraculously healed after St. Peter came to her in a vision.
Quintianus pretended that hadn’t happened and had her rolled over hot coals that they’d also added sharp shards to because, well, who wouldn’t think of that? After this torture, she prayed to join God in heaven and passed to Heaven. Even a future saint can only take so much of this earthly torture.
As I said, I’m horrified. But also happy that I can now and forever refer to her torturer as Mr. Anus. You know, for short.
Conclusions: Don’t question anyone else’s path in life as long as it’s not physically hurting anyone. People are going to go different ways, and it may seem odd to you, but it’s better if everyone is just able to be who they are. In fact, I recommend being friends or acquaintances with as many different people from different walks of life/different backgrounds as you can. You learn stuff and oftentimes they have some really amazing food that I did not eat growing up in the Midwest USA. Seriously.
And abuse should never be used on someone you claim to love or who claims to love you. I mean, I’m not sure he ever loved her - he just wanted arm candy - but you know what I mean. If you need to escape abuse, visit thehotline.org or call 800-799-7233. If you’re unable to talk, text LOVEIS to 866-331-9474. Love shouldn’t hurt you physically *or* emotionally.
I’ll leave here with St. Agatha’s prayer:
Saint Agatha, you suffered sexual assault and indignity because of your faith and purity. Help heal all those who are survivors of sexual assault and protect those women who are in danger. Amen.