Agatha suffered martyrdom at Catania in Sicily, probably during the time of Decius, around 251. According to a later Life, the tortures she was subjected to included cutting off her breasts. From antiquity her cult spread throughout the Church. She was widely venerated as a martyr and her name appears in the Roman Canon. – CTS New Daily Missal 2012, p 2551; Christian Prayer, Saint Paul Publications Philippines 1990, p 1079.