Feast of St. Agatha

St. Agatha had an enormous will to stay true to her faith and, when she wouldn't give up on that faith, she was severely tortured. As a result of the bodily harm that was bestowed upon her, she is now considered to be the Patron Saint of Breast Cancer. St. Agatha had such a strong faith that one cannot help but wish for the strength to follow her lead.

We can learn much from St. Agatha. She is noted to have spoken the following, "My courage and my thought be so firmly founded upon the firm stone of Jesus Christ, that for no pain it may not be changed, your words be not wind, your promises be but rain, and your menaces be as rivers that pass, and how will that all these things hurtle at the fundament of my courage, yet for that it shall not move." Strong words, indeed.

February 3rd is the feast of St. Blaise, Bishop of Sebastea and martyr. Because of his healing of a young boy who was choking on a fish bone, St. Blaise has long been revered as the patron saint of throat illnesses. Be sure to head to a daily Mass to get your throat blessed on his feast day!