We were fortunate to welcome Fr Darren Smith as principal celebrant and Fr Ron Farrell as preacher at this year's patronal festival on Saturday 7th February. 

Despite it being wet and gloomy outside a good congregation drawn from St Agathas and friends of the church, gathered to join in, listen to the choir and the inspired pairing of trumpet and organ.

Fr Ron spoke of Agatha and her relevance to the modern world:

"Agatha's name means 'good,'but her goodness was not some soppy, sentimental kind. Hers was a goodness forged in conviction. She knew who she was, and she knew to whom she belonged. When the Roman governor Quintianus demanded her body, her freedom, her very identity, she refused to surrender what God had given her. She stood firm not because she was fearless, but because she trusted that Christ was stronger than her fear.

"Most of us will never face the sort of violence that Agatha endured. But then again who would have thought the streets of Minneapolis would be covered in the blood of innocent people murdered by the American government? No, all of us, in our own way, face pressures that try to shape us, claim us, or compromise us. The world may not imprison us, but it certainly tries to persuade us - to bend our values - to dilute our faith - to treat our bodies and souls as commodities rather than gifts. Agatha's witness reminds us that holiness is not passive. It is a choice and sometimes a costly choice.

Greetings from St Agatha's Crypt in Rabat, Malta were conveyed. It looks like a good place to visit