The readings chosen for the Memorial of Saint Agatha are poignant and thought-provoking. The first reading from Hebrews 12:18-19, 21-24 speaks eloquently, beautifully, of the approach to the Living One, God almighty, now made less fearful since the mediation of Christ. It also notes that in approaching Mount Zion, the “city of the living God,” one is greeted by, with the angels and God, “the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven…and the spirits of the just made perfect.” It contrasts the covenant made on earth with that made in the heavenly places, but also underlines that our home is in heaven. Scholars disagree as to whether “the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven” are angels, the whole assembly of the faithful or, perhaps, those who are receiving their reward even now, as is a Saint such as Agatha. I tend to the latter reading and see the martyrs, naturally, as amongst “the assembly of the firstborn.” The second reading, Mark 6:7-13, speaks of Jesus’ sending out of the Twelve to heal, to exorcize and to preach repentance. It is the concrete beginning of the ministry of the Church. Jesus also speaks of those who reject the Gospel and he calls for a judgment against those who reject him. I see the martyrdom of Agatha as not only a sign of fidelity to the ministry of the Church, but a silent judgment on those who rejected her and her message of the Gospel and the means by which they rejected her message: sexual terror. Although we cannot be certain of many of the historical particulars of Agatha’s story, who was said to have been placed in a brothel as a means to terrorize and punish her, we know that many martyrs went to their deaths in imitation of the Lord as witnesses to the truth of the Gospel and in the hope of rising again. They have received their reward even now, as they await the resurrection of the body. We do know, however, that although many of the stories of the early saints and martyrs have many hagiographical elements, whose historicity is in doubt, the sufferings of these martyrs is not in question. Agatha was said to have been sexually terrorized and tortured in other ways also. Other accounts of early Christian saints refer to sexual abuse and torture as common methods for having Christian women denounce their faith. Herbert Musurillo, in the Acts of the Christian Martyrs. Volume II (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972), includes a number of stories that touch on the issue of the violation of girls and women. Such is the story of Irene, who was sent as punishment to a brothel, where the account says she was not touched sexually, but was soon, nevertheless, martyred. There is also the account of Potamiaena whose body was attacked and violated and then was threatened, prior to her martyrdom, to be handed over to the gladiators. Cyprian, as recounted in the Acts of St. Cyprian, was said to have been particularly concerned that the young girls be guarded from any assaults. This is to say that whether we can be certain about the historical particulars of Agatha’s case, we know that early Christian women were attacked sexually as a means to terrorize and demoralize them. Unfortunately, many women today, Christians and others, are still attacked and sexually violated as a means to terrorize and brutalize them. This can be organized, as it often is in times of war or civil unrest, or random, but such terror strikes at our very humanity and shatters the lives of innocent girls and women. At a time when we hear of the sexual slavery of many women and girls, lured from their homes with promises of jobs, only to find their bodies sold, let us pray for their delivery from violence and their healing. The stories of saints such as Agatha might be difficult to puzzle out historically, but when stories such as hers are replayed over and over again in the world hundreds of years later, at a time that is supposedly more civilized, let us not doubt her intercession on behalf of those girls and women who have been sexually assaulted and abused. And in any way possible, let us act to make certain that sexual violence has no place in our homes or our cities. We will continue to be witnesses to the Gospel of Jesus Christ as we continue to speak out against sexual violence wherever and whenever it occurs. John W. Martens

John W. Martens is an associate professor of theology at the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minn,where he teaches early Christianity and Judaism. He also directs the Master of Arts in Theology program at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity. He was born in Vancouver, B.C. into a Mennonite family that had decided to confront modernity in an urban setting. His post-secondary education began at Tabor College, Hillsboro, Kansas, came to an abrupt stop, then started again at Vancouver Community College, where his interest in Judaism and Christianity in the earliest centuries emerged. He then studied at St. Michael's College, University of Toronto, and McMaster University, with stops at University of Haifa and University of Tubingen. His writing often explores the intersection of Jewish, Christian and Greco-Roman culture and belief, such as in "let the little children come to me: Children and Childhood in Early Christianity" (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2009), but he is not beyond jumping into the intersection of modernity and ancient religion, as in "The End of the World: The Apocalyptic Imagination in Film and Television" (Winnipeg: J. Gordon Shillingford Press, 2003). He blogs at  www.biblejunkies.com and at www.americamagazine.org for "The Good Word." You can follow him on Twitter @biblejunkies, where he would be excited to welcome you to his random and obscure interests, which range from the Vancouver Canucks and Minnesota Timberwolves, to his dog, and 70s punk, pop and rock. When he can, he brings students to Greece, Turkey and Rome to explore the artifacts and landscape of the ancient world. He lives in St. Paul with his wife and has two sons. He is certain that the world will not end until the Vancouver Canucks have won the Stanley Cup, as evidence has emerged from the Revelation of John, 1 Enoch, 2 Baruch, and 4 Ezra which all point in this direction.