Saint Agathe (Salha) was born in the early third century AD in the city of Benorme on the island of Sicily. She was of great beauty, very rich, of great fame, and of honorable origin, and she was also above the joys of the world and its mortal embellishments, as her pure soul was attached to Jesus the Redeemer, the divine circumcision of virgins. Candianus, the Roman governor during the reign of the Roman king Decius, learned of her and wanted her for himself to satisfy his desires. He had her for a while, but she was ignoring him, so he arrested her under the pretext that she was a Christian and put her in prison. He explained to himself that the promise and threat would eliminate her reluctance, so she would submit to him submissively, and in order to weaken her resistance, he handed her over to his hands. Women to seduce her, but when they failed, he brought her back to him and tried to convince her with threats and intimidation if she returned to worshiping his God, so he sent her back to prison to think about her bad fate if she remained in her faith.
When she was brought to his council after prison, he asked her: Have you thought about her salvation and salvation? She replied, “My salvation is Christ.” So he ordered her to be tortured and dismembered, and she was severely beaten. Then the executioner cut off her breast and returned her to the prison, bleeding from her. He ordered that no doctor should enter upon her, and that she be deprived of water and food. The night had not yet reached, and Aghati was in pain. Until she saw a distinguished old man entering her, with medicines, and a child leading him carrying a lamp, and he said to her: “I was present while you were suffering, and I came to treat your wounds.” She said to him, “Isn’t it a shame for me to have little confidence in God, whom I have trusted since my childhood?” I cannot be satisfied with medicine.” The sheikh asked her why? She said: “Because Jesus is my Savior, and He is able to heal me with His word.” The old man smiled and said: “I am the Apostle Peter, and he himself sent me to you, and I am his messenger, and in the name of Jesus your health will return to you.”
When he said this, he disappeared, and behold, her wounds were healed, so she prostrated to the Lord, praying and giving thanks, and the prison was illuminated with a heavenly light so that the guards were afraid and fled. After four days, the ruler brought her back and tried to persuade her to offer sacrifices to the gods. Otherwise, a more violent and bitter torment would befall her. She said to him: “Can I return these woods and stones that you call gods, and turn away from the true God who healed me and restored my breasts and my health?” He asked her: “Who is the one who healed you?” She replied: “He is Jesus Christ, the blessed Son of God.” He became angry and ordered that the prison floor be covered with pieces of broken ceramic, and that the virgin girl be stripped of her clothes and roll on those jagged pieces. The jailer obeyed his command, and the barbaric torment had hardly begun until the place shook and The people felt the city of Katana shaking violently, and they were terrified and certain that heaven was avenging that pure girl who was being unjustly tortured. So they gathered their crowds and marched against the governor’s house, seeking him in anger. He disappeared from sight and ordered her to be returned to the prison. She was returned to him, and she was praying and beseeching the Lord to accept her soul into his hands. She almost finished her prayer until she screamed loudly and surrendered her soul into the hands of her Creator.
When the believers learned of this, they carried her body and placed it in a new grave. Suddenly, a young man with a beautiful appearance arrived in front of the grave, with about a hundred children in white silk clothes. He came forward and placed a white marble plaque on the girl’s head, on which was written: A pure soul, an apostolic soul, it is the glory of God and the guardian of the homelands. Then He disappeared. The news spread that the angel Agathi had come to her grave to glorify her, and the people of Sicily and Italy began to honor her and take her as their intercessor.
As for Candianus, after Agathi’s death, he rode his horse and went with his companions to seize her property. They went down in a boat to cross a river there, and while they were in the middle of the river, Candianus's horse flinched and struck his companion's horse. The horses became furious and struck Candianus with their hooves, throwing him into the water and drowning, and his body was not found. A year after her death, the Athna volcano near the city of Qatani erupted, and the lava and fiery torrent flowing from its nozzle overwhelmed the earth and the surrounding villages. The people were defeated, and the believers went to Agathi’s grave, humbled and humbled. They carried the cover that covered her grave and raised it in front of the overwhelming torrent, so it stopped and she was saved. The city was saved from destruction, and Saint Agathe became the patron saint of Italy and will remain an example for Christian virgins forever with her purity.
The saint was martyred in the year 254 AD. Our church celebrates its feast on the fifth day of February.
Troparia in the fourth tune
Your ewe, Jesus, cries out to you with a loud voice, saying: O my circumcised, I long for you and struggle seeking you, and I will be crucified and buried with you through your baptism, and I will suffer for you so that I may reign with you, and I will die for you so that I may live in you. But as a blameless sacrifice, you will receive with eagerness what was sacrificed for you. Through her intercessions, since You are merciful, save our souls.
Qandaq with the fourth tune
Today, let the church be decorated with a glorious pearl, dyed from the pure blood of the martyr Agathe, and shout out: Peace be upon you, O honor and pride of Qatani.
