Agatha, (d. ca. 250) was a beautiful, wealthy young Christian from Catania, Sicily, who consecrated her life to God during the days of the early Church. When she refused to marry a Roman consul named Quintian, he tried to punish her by forcibly putting her in a brothel. When she refused to be shamed into living such a life, he turned her in to the authorities, denouncing her as a Christian. To try to make her give up her faith, they tortured her, in which onlookers said she prayed deeply to Jesus Christ. Her torturers were careful not to torture her to death and threw her back into prison. After praying to be released from this world, she died. All this occurred during the persecution of Christians under the Roman emperor Decius. (Adapted from Saints: Becoming an Image of Christ Every Day of the Year, by Beutner)
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