February 5: [Agatha of Sicily, Martyr, 251]

The Collect of the Day

Agatha of Sicily

Almighty and everlasting God, who strengthened your martyr Agatha with constancy and courage: Grant us for the love of you to make no peace with oppression, to fear no adversity, and to have no tolerance for those who would use their power to abuse or exploit; Through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with you and the Holy Spirit be all honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

Agatha of Sicily

Almighty and everlasting God, who didst strengthen thy martyr Agatha with constancy and courage: Grant us for the love of thee to make no peace with oppression, to fear no adversity, and to have no tolerance for those who wouldst use their power to abuse or exploit; Through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be all honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

Judith 9:1–4, [5–9], 10–14
Psalm 125
Mark 9:42–50

Agatha of Sicily was one of the most highly venerated virgin martyrs from the early church. It is believed that she was born around 231 to a rich and noble family. From a very young age, she chose to dedicated her life to God as a consecrated virgin, but this did not stop men from making unwanted advances towards her.

One of those men was Quitianus, the local Roman prefect, who thought that he could use his status and power to compel her to give up her vow. He tried to blackmail her by threatening to expose her as a Christian, but she would not yield to him. Because she consistently spurned his advances, he denounced her as a Christian during the Decian persecution. When she came to the trial, she learned that he was both her accuser and her judge.

In spite of this, Agatha refused to change her mind, and so Quitianus sentenced her to be imprisoned in a brothel. While she remained confined there for a month, she never waivered in her resolve that she would never willingly give herself to him or to any other man.

Eventually Quitianus grew impatient with her fortitude and sentenced her to be tortured to death. She was killed in the year 251. Counted as a virgin martyr because of her refusal to consent, she is regarded as the patron of all those who are subjected to sexual harassment or assault. Because of her popularity, she was one of the very few saints who were retained on the calendar of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer after the Reformation.

Lessons and Psalm

First Lesson

Psalm

¹Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, *which cannot be moved, but stands fast for ever.

²The hills stand about Jerusalem; *so does the Lord stand round about his people, from this time forth for evermore.

³The scepter of the wicked shall not hold sway over the land allotted to the just, *so that the just shall not put their hands to evil.

⁴Show your goodness, O Lord, to those who are good *and to those who are true of heart.

⁵As for those who turn aside to crooked ways, the Lord will lead them away with the evildoers; *but peace be upon Israel.

Gospel

¹Then Judith prostrated herself, put ashes on her head, and uncovered the sackcloth she was wearing. At the very time when the evening incense was being offered in the house of God in Jerusalem, Judith cried out to the Lord with a loud voice, and said: ²‘O Lord God of my ancestor Simeon, to whom you gave a sword to take revenge on those strangers who had torn off a virgin’s clothing to defile her, and exposed her thighs to put her to shame, and polluted her womb to disgrace her; for you said, “It shall not be done”—yet they did it; ³so you gave up their rulers to be killed, and their bed, which was ashamed of the deceit they had practised, was stained with blood, and you struck down slaves along with princes, and princes on their thrones. ⁴You gave up their wives for booty and their daughters to captivity, and all their booty to be divided among your beloved children who burned with zeal for you and abhorred the pollution of their blood and called on you for help. O God, my God, hear me also, a widow.[ ⁵‘For you have done these things and those that went before and those that followed. You have designed the things that are now, and those that are to come. What you had in mind has happened; ⁶the things you decided on presented themselves and said, “Here we are!” For all your ways are prepared in advance, and your judgement is with foreknowledge. ⁷‘Here now are the Assyrians, a greatly increased force, priding themselves on their horses and riders, boasting in the strength of their foot-soldiers, and trusting in shield and spear, in bow and sling. They do not know that you are the Lord who crushes wars; the Lord is your name. ⁸Break their strength by your might, and bring down their power in your anger; for they intend to defile your sanctuary, and to pollute the tabernacle where your glorious name resides, and to break off the horns of your altar with the sword. ⁹Look at their pride, and send your wrath upon their heads. Give to me, a widow, the strong hand to do what I plan.] ¹⁰By the deceit of my lips strike down the slave with the prince and the prince with his servant; crush their arrogance by the hand of a woman. ¹¹‘For your strength does not depend on numbers, nor your might on the powerful. But you are the God of the lowly, helper of the oppressed, upholder of the weak, protector of the forsaken, saviour of those without hope. ¹²Please, please, God of my father, God of the heritage of Israel, Lord of heaven and earth, Creator of the waters, King of all your creation, hear my prayer! ¹³Make my deceitful words bring wound and bruise on those who have planned cruel things against your covenant, and against your sacred house, and against Mount Zion, and against the house your children possess. ¹⁴Let your whole nation and every tribe know and understand that you are God, the God of all power and might, and that there is no other who protects the people of Israel but you alone!’