The patron saint of Sant'Agata li Battiati is Saint Lawrence, Roman martyr and deacon, celebrated on 10 August: his statue is kept in the mother church, dedicated to Mary Most Holy Annunciate. According to tradition, the saint was chosen as the community's patron in honour of judge Lorenzo D'Arcangelo, who, out of devotion to Saint Agatha, had a temple built on the spot dedicated to the Catania saint, the so-called Chapel of the Veil: here, in 1444, the relic of Saint Agatha's veil, carried in procession by the Dominican friar Pietro Geremia, stopped an impetuous flow of lava threatening the community, thereby giving the town its name, Sant'Agata li Battiati.
The patronal celebrations take place in August: on the evening of the 9th solemn vespers are held in the mother church, while on the eve the townspeople hold a traditional auction to raise offerings for the poor, before a firework-and-music display on the mother church's façade greets the patron's arrival.
