Yi Agatha

Yi Agatha (李亞加大, 1824 – 9 January 1840) was one of the 103 Martyr Saints of Korean Catholicism, who was martyred during the persecution of Catholics in Joseon. Her baptismal name is Agatha.

She was the daughter of martyr Yi Kwang-hon Augustine and martyr Kwon Hui Barbara.

Life

Yi Agatha was born to Yi Kwang-hon and Kwon Hui and, following the faith of her parents, lived as a devout Catholic. She also resolved to and kept virginity.

On 8 April 1839, when she was sixteen years old, Yi Agatha was imprisoned together with her father Yi Kwang-hon Augustine, her mother Kwon Hui Barbara, and her younger brother Yi Damiano.

Yi Agatha was repeatedly subjected to interrogation and torture. The officer Pojang (포장) initially tried to persuade her to renounce her faith, but when she did not listen, he resorted to violence against her. He was astonished that even violence was of no use. The young Yi Agatha bravely endured all kinds of threats and torture, yet the people around her could hardly believe in such divine grace.

That she was able to keep her virginity even among the guards, who were like beasts, was a miracle. The guards lied to her, saying that her parents had renounced their faith and had been released. However, she spoke on behalf of herself and her brother: "Whether my parents have renounced their faith or not, it has nothing to do with us. We can never deny God."

Yi Agatha received more than 300 strokes of the heavy rod and about 90 strokes of the . Hunger, thirst, and illness could not break her courage. Throughout her suffering, she thought of her parents, who had been on 24 May and 3 September 1839, respectively. After six months of imprisonment, Yi Agatha was martyred on 9 January 1840, at the age of seventeen, by at the Podŏng-ok prison in , together with .