Saint Agatha, savior of Catania
The most important events that have affected the city of Catania are linked to Saint Agatha: eruptions, earthquakes, sieges, diseases, terrible and devastating forces, frightening events in front of which men prove powerless. But the people of Catania, confident in the promise written on the tablet that the angel gave to the city, have invoked the help of the holy fellow citizen and have always obtained her protection. More than fifteen times, from 252 to 1886, Catania was saved from the destruction of lava. It was then preserved in 535 by the Ostrogoths, in 1231 by the wrath of Frederick II, in 1575 and in 1743 by the plague. But who can count the graces received in more than seventeen centuries by the people of Catania and by those throughout the Christian world who have entrusted themselves to her?
The liberation from the massacre
On 25 July 1127 the Moors laid siege to the Sicilian coast. Where they landed were massacres, massacres and robberies. When they were about to assault the coast of Catania, the inhabitants of the city resorted to the intercession of Saint Agatha and grace did not delay: Catania was spared from that scourge. Another episode showed once again that the city at the foot of Etna has always enjoyed the watchful protection of Saint Agatha. In 1231 Frederick I of Swabia had come to Sicily to subdue it. Many cities mutinied and Catania was among them. Federico Il furente ordered its destruction, but the people of Catania obtained that, before the execution of that extermination, the last mass was celebrated in the cathedral, which was attended by Federico Il himself. It was during that function that the Swabian king, on the pages of his breviary, read a phrase, miraculously appeared, which sounded to him as a dangerous warning: "Do not offend the homeland of Agatha because she avenges the insults"He immediately abandoned the plan of destruction, revoked the edict and was satisfied only that the people passed under two crossed swords, hanging from an arch erected in the middle of the city. Frederick was satisfied with an act of submission and left the citizens unharmed and Catania, saved through the intercession of Our Lady of Grace and Saint Agatha. The city recalls this event with a marble bas-relief that is now at the entrance of the Town Hall and depicts Agatha, sitting on a throne like a real queen, trampling on the bearded face of Frederick li of Swabia.
The lava and the earthquakes
In 1169 an earthquake was a prelude to a tremendous eruption. A river of lava, flowing along the slopes of Mount Etna and widening through the countryside, destroyed everything at his Passale and advanced unstoppable towards the city. But, as had happened a year after the death of Saint Agatha, a procession with the sacred veil blocked the river of lava. The people of Catania also obtained similar miracles in 1239, 1381, 1408, 1444, 1536, 1567 and 1635. But the most disastrous eruption occurred in 1669: a series of vents opened along the flanks of the volcano, which erupted lava and lapilli for sixty-eight days. The lava destroyed many towns and reached the city, surrounding the moat of Castello Ursino. In the sacristy of the cathedral a fresco, made ten years after the eruption by those who had experienced those tragic moments firsthand, describes the almost apocalyptic scenes of that eruption. When the magma had reached a distance of three hundred meters from the cathedral, it miraculously scanned the places where Saint Agatha had been imprisoned, had suffered martyrdom and where she had been buried, to go to the sea and continue for more than three kilometers. It seemed clear the will of the saint of Catania to save the places that belonged to his history and his cult. Another prodigious event is linked to that terrible eruption: a fresco depicting Saint Agatha in prison, which was in a shrine on the walls of the city, was transported intact by the river of lava for hundreds of meters. Now that painting is on the high altar of the church of Sant'Agata alle Sciare, in Catania.Gift of thanks for having saved the city from total destruction is the large silver votive lamp that is located in the center of the chapel of Saint Agatha in the cathedral and that Charles Il of Spain wanted to offer to the patron saint of the city. In 1693 a violent earthquake shook Catania. There were eighteen thousand dead. None of the nine thousand survivors after the catastrophe wanted to return to the city. Catania would have become a ghost town if a delegate of the bishop, in procession with the relics of Saint Agatha, had not begged the people to stay and rebuild the city. In 1886 an eruptive vent opened in Nicolosi, a town on the slopes of Etna. Blessed Cardinal Dusmet, on 24 May, carried in procession the veil of Saint Agatha and, although the procession had stopped in a descent, the lava magma stopped immediately. In memory of the extraordinary miracle, there now stands a small altar.
The plague
On several occasions Saint Agatha placed her hand on the city also to protect it from epidemics. In 1576, when the plague began to spread not far from Catania, the senate thought to resort to the intercession of the patroness. The relics were carried in procession along the streets of the city and, once they arrived near the hospitals where the plague patients were hospitalized, they healed and no one was infected. The people of Catania obtained another sign of protection in 1743, when a second wave of plague was about to spread from Messina to Catania. The miracle happened again: the relics were carried in procession and the plague ceased. In memory of this miracle was erected in the port area, a column surmounted by an effigy of Saint Agatha crushing the head of a monster, symbol of the plague.