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1 Cicero Urban, MD, PhD Hospital Nossa Senhora das Graças Breast Unit and Positivo University School of Medicine Curitiba, Brazil Bioethics and Scientific Methodology at Positivo University Curitiba, Brazil Ricardo Hoepers, PR, PhD Department of Theology Studium Theologicum Curitiba, Brazil Kevin Corrigan, PhD Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts Emory University Atlanta, Ga. Sir: S Agatha classically has been the patron saint of breast cancer patients. She had her breasts mutilated in the 3rd century by a pagan governor in Sicily because she refused to accede to his sexual demands or to sacrifice to the Roman gods. As a martyr, she thus became the patron of nursing mothers and nursemaids who pray to her for healthy breasts and a good supply of milk. Patients with diseases of the breast celebrate her feast day on February 5.1 St. Macrina, called the Younger to distinguish her from her grandmother St. Macrina the Elder, belongs to an outstanding family of Saints from the beginnings of Christian monasticism in the 4th century AD (Fig. 1). Gregory of Nyssa begins his book The Life of Macrina by describing his eldest sister as “one who had raised herself by philosophy to the highest summit of human virtue.” Macrina, however, remained in the shadows and did not become as celebrated as her distinguished brothers Basil and Gregory.2 Macrina has been known as the Philosopher of God until now. Gregory, in fact, calls her: “father, teacher, guide, and mother.” But a singular chapter of her life should have particular interest for breast and plastic surgeons and also for the patients. It can add something new about her life of virtue, perhaps taking her out of the shadows of history and placing her amid the lights of modern breast surgery in the 21st century. As Gregory of Nyssa tells the story of his sister’s life, Macrina discovered that she had a tumor on her left breast. Refusing to let a doctor touch or operate on her, since at that time surgery meant death for most patients, she asked her mother to trace the sign of the cross on her near-gangrenous breast. According to Gregory, her mother begged her many times to seek medical treatment. According to the testimony of Gregory, God himself cured her, leaving behind only a little scar, like a small needle. Macrina finally died on July 19, 378, at the age of 51 years, with that mark on her left breast as a reminder of God’s help.2,3 Agatha was mutilated, without having breast cancer. Macrina was cured from breast cancer without mutilation, and this is the aim of treatment today in oncoplastic surgery. Saints and martyrs are examples of faith and virtue for Christians and non-Christians alike. They help many patients to alleviate their suffering even today. In this way, Mac-

St. Macrina, the Patron Saint of Modern Oncoplastic Surgery?