Agnes was born in 291 A D into a Roman noble family and raised as a Christian. She grew up to be a young and beautiful teen, and was soon sought by the Roman nobility in her early years of life. Her high-ranking suitors were somehow baffled, confused and felt slighted when she refused them and expressed her resolute devotion to religious purity. Some thought she was crazy, and others sought to persecute her for her beliefs. Agnes’ father afraid of losing his daughter urged her to deny God, but she refused.
The Roman Prefect Sempronius learnt of this and condemned Agnes to be dragged naked through the streets to a brothel, but an angel of the Lord surrounded her with a bright light, obscuring her from the eyes of those who intended to ogle and rape her. Those in the brothel admired her idea of purity and knelt in worship. The son of the prefect defied and boldly approached her, calling the others cowards, but was struck dead. The Prefect was now furious and blamed her for the death of his son, accusing her of witchcraft. Agnes ignored it and prostrated herself on the ground in prayer, and soon the son came back to life.
Yet another miraculous story goes that priests, high-ranking officials, and other authority figures became wrathful and jealous about the attention Agnes was getting and condemned her to death. The Prefect finally abandoned her, and she was thrown into a fire in a public area. Mysteriously, the stack of wood would not burn, the flames parted away from her and did not touch, burn, or scorch her. In another version, the stake she was tied to would not burn. She kept praising God and finally, in anger, the officer-in-charge of the troops drew his sword and beheaded her, whereas another account says that he stabbed her in the throat. It is reported that when Agnes’ blood poured onto the stadium floor, other Christians soaked it up with cloths. A few days after her death, her foster-sister Emerentiana was found praying by her tomb, and was also stoned to death.
The qualities for sainthood, across traditions, center on exceptional holiness, profound faith, and virtuous living, marked by humility, selflessness, and dedication to God. They serve as role models who exemplify divine qualities like mercy, truth, compassion and wisdom, often demonstrating extraordinary faith and intercessory power, leading to recognition for leading lives of “heroic virtue” and closeness to the divine.
Today, Agnes is hailed a saint in the Catholic church, the Oriental Orthodox church, the Eastern Orthodox church as well as the Anglican Communion and Lutheran churches. She is one of several ‘virgin martyrs’ commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass, and one of the many famous Christians virgin martyrs during the reign of the Roman emperor Diocletian. A church was built over her tomb, and her relics venerated. Agnes is often represented with a lamb because the Latin word for lamb, ‘agnus’, resembles her name. It is also the symbol of her virgin innocence, and she holds a palm branch like other martyrs.
Agnes was buried beside the Via Nomentana in Rome. Her bones are currently conserved beneath the high altar in the church of Sant’ Angese fuori le mura in Rome, which was built over the catacomb that held her tomb. Her skull is preserved in the church of Sant’ Agnese in Agone, in Rome’s Piazza Navona. She is truly a model of purity and deserves to be greatly honoured.
In 1858, Father Caspar Rehrl, an Austrian missionary founded the Congregation of – Sisters of St. Agnes, a Catholic religious institute for women. The Motherhouse is located, in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin – within the archdiocese of Milwaukee. Radical dedication to Christ, living in purity, courage and fearless service is their charism. St Agnes’ feast day is celebrated on January 21. On her feast day, it is customary for two lambs to be brought in to be blessed by the Pope. On Holy Thursday the lambs’ wool is removed and woven into the pallium which the Pope gives to a newly consecrated archbishop as a sign of his power and union with the head of the Catholic church – the Pope.
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Dr. Jeanette Pinto is a retired educator and a member of the Archdiocesan Human Life Committee, Bombay. She also leads a Church ministry for widows at her Parish. She is an author of several inspirational books and articles.