St. Agatha (patron of breast cancer and rape victims)
Saint Agatha
(Patron of Breast Cancer & Rape Victims)
Find a brief biography and a quote written by Saint Agatha. The St. Agatha Chaplet has excerpts of a prayer she wrote while in prison.
BIO OF SAINT AGATHA
The Feast of Saint Agatha is on February 5th.
Saint Agatha of Sicily (circa 231-251) was born in a rich and noble family in Sicily, Italy. She made a vow of virginity and chose a life of purity. Quintanus, the governor of Sicily, was a reputed tyrant. He learned of her beauty and wealth and that she was a Christian. He made laws against Christians as a way to meet her. After imprisoning her in a brothel for a month, Quintanus tried to force her away from her vow of virginity. He wanted Agatha to marry him in exchange for her health and safety. She prayed for the protection of her purity.
HEALED BY ST. PETER THE APOSTLE
After Agatha’s refusal, he imprisoned and tortured her family. He also tortured her and even cut off her breasts, but she remained pure. Quintintanus initially planned to burn her at the stake, but an earthquake prevented that. Instead, he sent her to prison where St. Peter the Apostle appeared to her and healed her wounds. Later, she died in prison.
CANONIZATION
Saint Agatha’s name is in the Canon of the Mass. Her sainthood was pre-congregation* and confirmed by Pope Gregory I. She is the patron saint of breast disease and rape victims.
*To declare a saint, proofs of holiness are investigated. In pre-Congregation years (before 1588), it was the role of the local bishop. By the late 11th Century, councils looked after it. In 1634, Pope Urban VIII made it the role of the Apostolic See. Pope Sixtus V established the Congregation of Rites in 1588. Pope Paul VI (1969) and Pope John Paul II (1983) reorganized it. It is now the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints.
The beads (of the rosary) remind us of our many relationships, of the bond of fraternity which unites us all in Christ.
Jesus Christ, Lord of all things. You see my heart, You know my desires. Possess all that I am, You alone.
St. Agatha of Sicily
Some Thoughts
God created us and knows what we hope for and need in life. When we let go of what we think we need and open our hearts to what God knows we need, we can find true joy.
Our Lady of Grace Rosaries (February 5, 2021)
Saint Agatha Chaplet
Chaplet List
About Our Handmade Chaplets
Packaging
Each chaplet comes with a sturdy prayer card. It explains which prayers to say on which beads.
Suggestion
It is a good idea to store your chaplets and prayer cards together. Since chaplets have unique bead groupings and prayers, the prayer card and chaplet need to stay together so that you can continue to use them.
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CREDITS
The LOGO image of Our Lady of Grace is original artwork by Martin Lariviere in 2009. We have the artist’s permission (my son). It is our exclusive trademark logo image.
A beautifully photographed sky by Donald Tong inspired the website’s colour scheme. Cropped portions of it are the background for the footer Bible verse. He shared it as a free download on pexels.com.
Raphael painted The Sistine Madonna circa (1513-1514). We made circular cut-outs from the original image.
Pixabay shared the divider image for free. We added the theme colour to it.
Carlo Dolci painted St. Agathe circa his lifetime.
Our information is from general knowledge, experience, and shared internet sources. We’d like you to use it as a starting point for your research to verify facts and build a reference list.
IN REVIEW
St. Agatha (circa 231-251) was born in a rich, noble family in Sicily, Italy. She made a vow of virginity and chose a life of purity. A reputed tyrant, Quintanus (governor of Sicily) learned of her beauty, wealth, and that she was a Christian. After imprisoning her in a brothel for a month, he tried to force her away from a vow of virginity. He wanted her to marry him in exchange for her health and safety. After she refused him, he imprisoned and tortured her family. Then he tortured her and had her breasts cut off. She continued to refuse him so he sent her to prison. St. Peter the Apostle appeared to her and healed her wounds. Later, she died in prison.
St. Agatha’s canonization was pre-Congregation. In other words, a local bishop investigated the proofs of holiness.
Her feast day is February 5th.