St. Agatha

Who they were

Agatha was a young Christian woman of Catania, in Sicily, martyred in the persecution under Decius around 251. Like Lucy's, her veneration is ancient and her name is in the Roman Canon. The accounts of her death say she refused the advances of a Roman official, was tortured, and that the torture included the cutting off of her breasts, the detail that, however grim, is exactly why women facing mastectomies and breast cancer have asked for her prayers for centuries. She is said to have been consoled in prison by a vision of St. Peter, and to have died in her cell. Catania still carries her in procession every February, one of the largest religious festivals in Europe.

Why people turn to St. Agatha

She is held to have suffered in her body the exact thing the person praying is facing. Invoked before biopsies, through treatment, and before and after mastectomy.

How to ask their intercession

By name, and specifically. Ask her to pray for the person, for the medical team, and for courage on the mornings of appointments. ---