O God, who among other miracles of Thy power hast granted even to the weaker sex the victory of martyrdom, grant, we beseech Thee, that we who celebrate the festival of blessed Agatha, Thy Virgin and Martyr, may draw nearer to Thee by her example. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
This Prayer to St. Agatha is the traditional Collect of her feast, honoring the virgin martyr of Sicily whom the Church names in the Roman Canon. Her own prayers, as handed down in Butler’s Lives of the Saints, follow.
St. Agatha, by Francisco de Zurbarán (1630–1633), Musée Fabre, Montpellier. Public domain.
Jesus Christ, Lord of all things, you see my heart, you know my desire — possess alone all that I am. I am your sheep, make me worthy to overcome the devil.
Lord, my Creator, you have ever protected me from the cradle; you have taken me from the love of the world, and given me patience to suffer: receive now my soul.
Pray on February 5, her feast, or whenever you ask courage in suffering. St. Agatha is invoked especially by those with diseases of the breast, including breast cancer; name the person you are praying for and add an Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be. The Collect is from the traditional Roman Missal, as printed by the Institute of Christ the King, New Brighton; her own prayers follow EWTN.
St. Agatha was a young Christian of Sicily who consecrated her virginity to Christ and was martyred at Catania in the persecution of Decius, about the year 251. She is one of the women martyrs named in the Roman Canon of the Mass.
The ancient account of her martyrdom tells that her breasts were cut off during her torture. Because she remained faithful to Christ through this cruelty, Christians have long asked her prayers for those with diseases of the breast. Sacred art, like Zurbarán’s painting, shows her carrying them on a plate as the sign of her martyrdom.
Her feast is February 5. She is the patroness of Catania, where she is invoked against fire and the eruptions of Mount Etna.
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