- Agathoclia
:"Agathocleia" redirects here. This is also the name of a princess of
Bactria , the wife ofMenander I ."Infobox Saint
name= Saint Agathoclia
birth_date= ~230 AD
death_date=
feast_day=September 17
venerated_in=Roman Catholic Church
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patronage=Mequinenza ,Aragon
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issues=Saint Agathoclia (Agathocleia; es icon Santa Agatoclia) (d. ~230 AD) is venerated as a
patron saint ofMequinenza ,Aragón ,Spain . Herfeast day isSeptember 17 .Biography
Tradition states that she was a
virgin Christian slave owned by two people who had converted to paganism from Christianity, named Nicolas and Paulina. They subjected Agathoclia to regular physical abuse, including whipping and other violence, in an effort to get Agathoclia to renounce her faith. She repeatedly refused to do so.Her owners then subjected her to a public trial by a local magistrate. There too, she refused to renounce Christinaity, which subjected her to savage mangling from the authorities. When she was found guilty, her sentence included having her tongue cut out, a nonfatal injury.
There is some disagreement about how Paulina met her death. Some sources say that her mistress Paulina poured burning coals on her neck. Other sources say that she herself was cast into fire.
Veneration
The town of
Mequinenza celebrates festivals in honor of Santa Agatoclia (called simply “La Santa”) from September 16 to 20. [http://www.mequinensa.com/es/cultura/festeslocals.asp] There is also a confraternity in the town dedicated to the saint. [http://cofradiasantaagatoclia.org/]References
* [http://www.mequinensa.com/es/cultura/festeslocals.asp Mequinensa page]
* [http://cofradiasantaagatoclia.org Brotherhood of Saint Agatoclia page]
* [http://www.catholic-forum.com/saintS/saintaba.htm Catholic Forum page]
* [http://www.orthodox.net/menaion-september/17-holy-martyr-agathocleia.html St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church Dallas Texas page on Agathocleia]
* [http://web2.airmail.net/~carlsch/MaterDei/Martyrol/sep-17.htm The Roman Martyrology for September 17]
* [http://www.domcentral.org/life/martyr09.htm Dominican Martyrology page on September feasts]
* [http://www.groupsrv.com/religion/about156665.html September 17 page of grousrv.com]
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