The Feast of St. Agnes

#12thandMass
FEAST OF SAINT AGNES
Tuesday, January 18, 2022
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This Sunday we celebrate, in a special way, Saint Agnes (of Rome), our patroness and
intercessor, co-sojourner, sister and divine friend. The early Church assigned her feast
to 21 January (we are moving it to our Sunday celebration for communal purposes; she
doesn’t mind!).

Agnes was born in Rome and raised in a Christian family. She died a virgin-martyr at
the age of 12 (or 13) on 21 January 304. She was buried in a Roman catacomb, over
which, during the reign of Constantine (306-337), a basilica, Sant'Angese fuori le mura,
was erected. The basilica was later remodeled by Pope Honorius (+638) and has since
remained unaltered. In the apse is a mosaic showing Agnes amid flames, with a sword
at her feet. It is my dream to have a parish pilgrimage to this site.

Many have sung her praises and extolled her virginity and heroism under torture. The
three oldest written testimonies to her martyrdom are those of Saint Ambrose (d. 397),
Bishop of Milan, Pope Damasus (d. 384), and Aurelius Prudentius (d. 413), Roman
Christian poet. Prudentius adheres to Saint Ambrose’ account of death by the sword but
expands the story: the judge threatened to give over her virginity to a house of
prostitution for refusing a fixed marriage. For her refusal of such aggression to her
innocence, she was killed. In the end, she remained a virgin and obtained the crown of
martyrdom. How the gift of faith can make us strong and faith-full and victorious. Indeed,
by it, one can move mountains…

Saint Agnes, patron saint of rape survivors, can teach us about the sacredness of the
human body and about being single-hearted for the Lord. She is depicted in the mural
above our main altar. She is the second figure from the left, and below her are symbolic
representations of her innocence and martyrdom: a lamb (agnus in Latin) and a palm
branch.

Saint Agnes, pray for us.

Yours on the faith journey with her,
Dominique+
Rector