Agnes (d. c. 303) is one of several young female Christians who suffered martyrdom
during the wave of persecutions during the reign of Roman Emperor Diocletian (284–
305).
Though little is known of her life,
she refused to marry, choosing to remain
a virgin and live her earthly life as a bride
of Christ. Her death in Rome was one
among many that made a significant
impression on the general public. She
was but 12 years old when killed. Avariety of stories subsequently grew up
around the event. When her parents visited her tomb, for example, it was said
that they had an apparition of a group of
young virgins, including their daughter
clad in rich vestments accompanied by a
lamb.
Among the miracle stories attributed to Agnes was one concerning Constantine’s eldest daughter. Afflicted with leprosy, she prayed at Agnes’s tomb and was reputedly healed.
Over the centuries, Agnes’s shrine would be enlarged and finally emerge as the Basilica of Saint Agnes Outside the Walls. It remains home to the relics of Saint Agnes, which reside in a silver sarcophagus beneath the altar. Agnes came to be regarded as the patron saint of young women with a special role as their protector of bodily purity. She is usually pictured as a young woman holding a lamb with either a palm leaf or a sword in the other hand. She is also identified with white (for purity) roses.
Over the centuries, Agnes became associated with various practices by which on the Eve of Saint Agnes, young girls would attempt to divine the identity of their future husbands. After following these practices, they would go to sleep and see their mate in a dream. As John Keats wrote in his famous poem, “The Eve of Saint Agnes”:
They told her how, upon St Agnes’ Eve,
Young virgins might have visions of delight,
And soft adorings from their loves receive
Upon the honey’d middle of the night,
If ceremonies due they did aright;
As, supperless to bed they must retire,
And couch supine their beauties, lily white;
Nor look behind, nor sideways, but require
Of Heaven with upward eyes for all that they desire.
The Basilica of Saint Agnes is the site of a unique celebration annually on the Feast of Saint Agnes. The nearby Trappist monastery selects two lambs, which become the center of an elaborate blessing ceremony. They are then taken for a brief audience with the pope and, at the end of the day, are given to the care of the Benedictine nuns of the church dedicated to the martyr Santa Cecilia in Rome. The nuns will care for the lambs during the next months, until Maundy Thursday during Holy Week. The lambs are at that point sheared of their wool. Their job now done, their wool is used to make a particular ecclesiastical item called a pallium. A pallium fits around the neck of the wearer, and only the pope and archbishops (and on rare occasion, a bishop) are allowed to wear them. They are a sign of episcopal authority, and until he receives his pallium from the pope, an archbishop cannot exercise jurisdiction over his assigned territory. Should he move from one archdiocese to another, he must receive a new pallium. The wool of the Saint Agnes lambs will make a dozen pallia each year.
Once woven, the new pallia are placed in Saint Peter’s Basilica on June 28, the eve of the Feast of SS. Peter and Paul, when an all-night vigil is kept. They are placed on an altar near the tomb of Saint Peter; thus the pallium come to represent the strength associated with Peter and the virginal meekness of Agnes. After the Feast of SS. Peter and Paul, the pallia are stored in Saint Peter’s until needed.
References
Butler, Alban. Lives of the Saints. Rockford, IL: TAN Books and Publishers, 2009. Smith, Aloysius J. Life of St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr. London: Burns Oates & Washbourne, 1906.
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