Minne di Saint'Agata: Breast of Saint Agatha

 

Minne di Saint'Agata: Breast of Saint 

February 5 is the feast day of Saint Agatha of Sicily (Agatha von Catania). She lived from around 225-250 and was a consecrated virgin and martyr.

In the Alpine region a (special) bread or roll is baked and blessed, the so-called Agathabrot, or in Switzerland Agatha-Brötli. The small bread loaves are often shaped like breasts, it can be formed like a pretzel or ring (Switzerland) or like a cross made of four even buns. But the bread can also be a normal roll, only blessed. In Sicily, sweets are made for her feast day that resemble breasts and are called “Minne di Sant’Agata” (Breasts of Saint Agatha).

But let me tell you why these rolls represent breasts.

Agatha was born into a wealthy family in Catania (on Sicily) and vowed to stay a virgin for God’s paradise. When she refused the marriage proposal of the pagan Roman prefect, he sent her to a brothel. After one month, she still refused him and he had her breasts cut off. In prison, Saint Peter came to her and healed her. But he couldn’t help her when the prefect laid her onto hot coals, and she died.

Saint Agatha is therefore the patron saint of breast cancer patients, rape victims, martyrs, and wet-nurses as well as bell ringers and bakers. She protects against fever and diseases of the breast. But she also helps against homesickness and is called upon against fire, earthquakes, and eruptions of the volcano Etna.

The connection to Etna lies about a year after her death. The volcano erupted and the lava flow was stopped with Agatha’s veil. In Zug (Switzerland), a fire erupted. When two blessed Agatha-rolls were thrown into the fire, it stopped. Unsurprisingly, Agatha is the patron saint of fire departments.

So, what do you do with Agathabrot?

It depends a little. Sometimes, the blessed breads are distributed among the needy and given to the sick. In earlier days, the blessed roll was given to women right after birth, so their milk would come in. In order to protect cattle from disease and sickness, they were fed some of the bread when moving up to the summer pastures. While that doesn’t happen until around May, it was a good thing that Agathabrot doesn’t get moldy. You may also place pieces of the bread in the corners of a stable or a house to protect it from fire, and you might want to always keep a piece in your house to ensure that you don’t run out.

Credit: More than Beer and Schnitzel

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