Agatha of Catania

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Francisco de Zurbarán : St. Agatha (1630–1633, detail)
Mosaic in the Cathedral of Monreale (around 1180)

Agatha of Catania ( Italian Agata , Spanish Águeda , French Agathe ; * around 225 in Catania in Sicily , † around 250 there ) probably died under Emperor Decius between 249 and 251 as a consecrated virgin and martyr . She is venerated as a saint in the Orthodox Churches and the Roman Catholic Church .

Life

According to tradition, Agatha was born in Sicily to wealthy parents. As a consecrated virgin, she refused the marriage proposal of the pagan governor of Sicilia , Quintinianus, because she had vowed virginity for the sake of the kingdom of heaven . Because Agatha rejected him, the governor had her deported to a cathouse for a month . Since she still refused him after this time, Quintinianus arranged for her to be sentenced and had her breasts cut off. According to legend, after this torture , St. Peter appeared to her at night and tended her wounds. When this was noticed, the governor had Agatha laid on glowing coals, whereby she died.

About a year after her death, Mount Etna erupted and the people of Catania wore the veil of saints towards the lava flow, which then came to a standstill.

According to Maltese tradition, she first fled to Malta , where she hid for some time in the catacombs of today's city of Rabat , which are now called St. Agatha's catacombs.

Worship and customs

Skullcap of St. Agatha

The Agatha cult spread in the 5th / 6th Century from Rome. In both the Catholic and Orthodox Churches , the day of remembrance of the saints is celebrated on February 5th ( obligatory day of remembrance in the general Roman calendar ). Saint Agatha is one of the saints named in the Mass Canon .

Agatha is buried in the Cathedral of Catania , where most of the relics are also located; the largest bone relic, the skullcap, is venerated in the Kamp monastery . She is the patron saint of the Maltese , the city of Catania, the poor and shepherdesses, the bell and ore casters, the weavers and the goldsmiths. She is considered a helper in breast diseases, cattle diseases, earthquakes and outbreaks of Mount Etna. In the more northern German-speaking areas and Switzerland, St. Agatha is the patron saint of fire departments .

Numerous churches and chapels are dedicated to the saint, especially in southern and central Europe. In many areas, St. Agatha bread blessed ( " Agatha bread "); in some places " Agatha notes " were distributed, which were also blessed.

presentation

High medieval depictions of the saints are extremely rare. Late medieval and modern paintings and sculptures often show her with an open vessel in which her cut off breasts lie, or with a palm branch as an attribute of martyrdom.

Trivia

  • Weather rule : "Saint Agatha, the bride of God, makes snow and ice like to thaw."
  • The so-called “Sankt-Agatha-Brüstchen” are a popular dessert (not only in Italy).
  • Saint Agatha of Catania is also jokingly called the patron saint of “Catan”, the fictional island around which Klaus Teuber's popular board game “ The Settlers of Catan ” revolves. In the most recent expansion set of “Catan - The Card Game for Two Players” published in 2006, Agatha received a homage on its own card in the form of a chapel dedicated to her .

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : St. Agatha  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Agathe altar Jörg Greimolts in Weilheim
  2. ↑ On the homepage of the Cathedral of Catania there is an online "Act on the Martyrdom of Saint Agatha" (Atti del Martirio di Sant'Agata) , which was compiled in 1735 from 16 texts written in Latin. It goes on to say: "Et cum complesset orationem suam, respiciens ad omnes maculas corporis sui, salvata esse omnia membra sua cognovit, nam et restaurata erat mamilla eius", that is: "And when she had finished her prayer and looked at all the wounds in her body , she realized that all of her limbs were healed, for her chest was also restored. "
  3. ↑ St. Agatha's breast - recipe
personal data
SURNAME Agatha of Catania
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Saint, virgin, martyr
DATE OF BIRTH at 225
PLACE OF BIRTH Catania
DATE OF DEATH at 250
Place of death Catania