5 February 2020
Memorial of Saint Agatha, virgin and martyr
St. Agatha has the distinction of being one of seven women who is commemorated in the Roman Canon, along with the Blessed Virgin Mary. Although we do not have an exact biography of life, her heroic martyrdom has always stood as a formative narrative for the church. Agatha, according to most of the hagiographies, was a faithful Christian with admirable physical qualities in addition to strong faith. The vow of virginity she promised no doubt stood in the way of the amorous advances of a Roman soldier who denounced her to the authorities, authorities taking their cue from Emperor Decius. The story behind the Decian persecutions is worth telling. The emperor held the opinion that Christianity was particularly harmful to the Empire and he promoted an edict stating that everyone had to sacrifice to the gods and to the well being of the emperor. One even received a certificate stating that one had done so. No doubt, Agatha stood firm in her resolve not to deny her faith, and like so many, died or were tortured as a result. The story of her spiritual and physical courage no doubt was served up as a challenge to the early church, particularly to men who perhaps viewed women as the weaker vessel. The accounts of martyrdom always seem a bit fantastic to us, but the story of these saints comes home every day in the media where we hear of persecutions of Christians, particularly in the Middle East. We pray for the day that other religions will take the dramatic step which The Catholic Church did in the document on Religious Freedom written by Pope Paul VI in 1965. Although the Vatican Council did not diminish the necessity of the Catholic faith as the means given to humanity to move people towards God, it recognized that this movement involves the mystery of God’s providence acting over time. As we recognize today the Martyrdom of St. Agatha, our pride may be extended to our church that has recognized human dignity and humanity’s search for God. We pray especially on the feast of martyrs that other world religions will follow this divinely inspired action.