Feast: August 18
St. Agapitus was a Roman youth of noble birth, martyred in the third century under the Emperor Aurelian (c. 270–275). His name, derived from the Greek Agapē (charity or divine love), reflects the ardor with which he confessed Christ.
According to ancient Acts, he was but fifteen years of age when, filled with zeal for the Faith, he boldly confessed himself a Christian before the prefect Antiochus at Palestrina (then called Praeneste, near Rome). Though but a boy, he displayed the constancy of a seasoned confessor.
The governor subjected him to cruel torments: he was scourged, stretched on the rack, and cast into a fiery furnace. By divine assistance he remained unharmed. When a lion was loosed upon him in the amphitheater, the beast, instead of devouring him, fawned at his feet—a miracle that moved many of the pagans to believe in Christ. But Antiochus, hardened in impiety, ordered his beheading. Thus St. Agapitus, youthful in age but mature in virtue, received the martyr’s crown around the year 274.
His body was laid to rest at Palestrina, where a church was soon erected in his honor. His relics have been venerated there since antiquity, and devotion to him spread throughout the Church, especially in Italy.
Spiritual Significance
St. Agapitus shows that grace is not limited by age: though a youth, he was given fortitude beyond nature. His martyrdom recalls Our Lord’s words: “Out of the mouth of infants and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise” (Ps. 8:3). He is a patron especially for youth, inspiring them to steadfastness in purity and faith.