the Sixth Week after Easter
free while helping to build churches and support pastors in Uganda.
Click here to learn more!
Bible Dictionaries
Agatha
Wace's Dictionary of Early Christian Biography
Agatha , a virgin martyred at Catana in Sicily under Decius, Feb. 5, 251, according to her Acta; but under Diocletian according to the Martyrol. and Aldhelm (de Virgin. 22); mentioned by Pope Damasus A.D. 366 ( Carm. v.), and by Venantius Fortunatus c . 580; inserted in the Canon of the Mass by Gregory the Great according to Aldhelm (u.s. , and see also S. Greg. M. Dial. iii. 30); and commemorated in a homily by Methodius, c. 900. Her name is in the Carthag. Calendar of c. 450; in Ruinart, p. 695; and in the black-letter calendar in our Prayer-book. Churches at Rome were dedicated to her by pope Symmachus c. 500; by Ricimer A.D. 460, enriched with her relics by Gregory the Great; and by Gregory II. in 726. She is the patroness of Malta (Butler's Lives of Saints ). See also the homily against Peril of Idolatry , p. iii.
[A.W.H.]
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Wace, Henry. Entry for 'Agatha'. A Dictionary of Early Christian Biography. https://www.studylight.org/​dictionaries/​eng/​hwd/​a/agatha.html. 1911.