Today is the feast day of St. Agatha. I know that you’re all expert in the lives of the saints, but thought you might appreciate a brief reminder before you fall to your knees in prayer:

A beautiful Christian girl named Agatha lived in Sicily in the third century. The governor heard of Agatha’s beauty and brought her to his palace. He wanted to make her commit sins against purity, but she was brave and would not give in…

“Sins against purity”. What a nice euphemism!

The governor tried sending Agatha to the house of a wicked woman. Perhaps the girl would change for the worse. But Agatha had great trust in God and prayed all the time. She kept herself pure. She would not listen to the evil suggestions of the woman and her daughters.

After a month, she was brought back to the governor. He tried again to win her….

When he realized that she would not sin, the governor became angry. He had Agatha whipped …

…and then sent to prison. She was later martyred at Catania, Sicily, in the year 250.

The moral of the story? “Be obedient, or be whipped”, perhaps? (Let’s just forget the martyring bit!)