In those years, in the middle of the third century, Agatha was born in Catania.
The date has never been historically ascertained with exactitude, but it was calculated backwards starting from another that instead egrave; certain, that is, the martyrdom occurred in 251.
The popular tradition and the ancient acts want that Agatha, at the time of her martyrdom, was little more than a teenager. For this reason it is traced its birth around the year 235.
A voice also adds the day: September 8, making it coincide with one of the most important dates of Marian worship, that of the birth of Our Lady. His was a noble and wealthy family. He owned houses and cultivated land, in the city and in the province.
Her father Rao and her mother Apolla decided to call her Agata, which in Greek means "the good". In this name there was already enclosed his destiny: goodness and purity were, in fact, the gifts that distinguished Agatha from early childhood.
Popular tradition identifies in the ruins of a Roman villa, in the center of the city, the birthplace of Agatha. In this place was later placed a small altar that, at any time of the year, is so rich in flowers to look like a garden in spring. From her early years there have been no documented testimonies, but it can be assumed that from the earliest age Agatha received a good education from her parents and that from their example she learned the value of the Christian virtues: prayer, renunciation of earthly riches, courage in choosing Christ. Agata spent her adolescent days in a serene family environment.
She was obedient to her parents, who she loved deeply, but more than anything she loved God. Luxury and worldly life fled, which instead were at the center of the interests of peers of equal social status. He grew in holiness: he put all his commitment in the simple things of every day to imitate and witness to Jesus. And it was this daily training in renunciation and sacrifice that enabled her to prepare herself for the great trial of martyrdom. But Agatha also grew in beauty: her body was slender, delicate features, rosy lips, blond hair. The voice of the people has described it for centuries, and in this way sacred art has always depicted it.
Someone thought to find a confirmation, both of the height and the color of the hair, in the periodic reconnaissance on the relics of the saint. Like a rosebud, her beauty was in the grace of forms and modesty that covered her. Beauty, candor and virginal purity made Agatha a truly angelic creature