Agnes of Rome () is a virgin martyr, venerated as a

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Or ...

in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

, Oriental Orthodox Church and the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...

, as well as the

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...

and Lutheran Churches. St. Agnes is one of several virgin martyrs commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass. She is, among other patronages, a

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

of girls, chastity, virgins, victims of sex abuse, and gardeners. Saint Agnes' feast day is 21 January.

Biography

Substantially the broader social circumstances of her martyrdom are believed to be authentic, though the legend cannot be proven true, and many details of the fifth century ''Acts of Saint Agnes'' are open to criticism. A church was built over her tomb, and her relics venerated. According to tradition, Agnes was a member of the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

nobility, born in AD 291 and raised in an early Christian family. She suffered martyrdom at the age of twelve or thirteen during the reign of the Roman emperor

Diocletian Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...

, on 21 January 304. A beautiful young girl from a wealthy family, Agnes had many suitors of high rank, and the young men, slighted by her resolute devotion to religious purity, submitted her name to the authorities as a follower of Christianity. The

Prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

Sempronius condemned Agnes to be dragged naked through the streets to a brothel. In one account, as she prayed, her hair grew and covered her body. It was also said that all of the men that attempted to rape her were immediately struck blind. The son of the prefect was struck dead but revived after she prayed for him, causing her release. There commenced a trial from which Sempronius recused himself, allowing another figure to preside and sentence St. Agnes to death. She was led out and bound to a stake, but the bundle of wood would not burn, or the flames parted away from her, whereupon the officer in charge of the troops drew his

sword A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...

and

beheaded Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the au ...

her, or, in some other texts, stabbed her in the throat. It is also said that her blood poured to the stadium floor where other Christians soaked it up with cloths. Agnes & Procopius

Agnes was buried beside the Via Nomentana in Rome. A few days after her death, her foster-sister, Emerentiana, was found praying by her tomb; she claimed to be the daughter of Agnes' wet nurse, and was stoned to death after refusing to leave the place and reprimanding the pagans for killing her foster-sister. Emerentiana was also later canonized. The daughter of

Constantine I Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to convert to Christianity. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterran ...

Constantina Flavia Valeria Constantina (also sometimes called ''Constantia'' and ''Constantiana''; el, Κωνσταντίνα; b. after 307/before 317 – d. 354), later known as Saint Constance, was the eldest daughter of Roman emperor Constantine the Grea ...

, was said to have been cured of

leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria '' Mycobacterium leprae'' or '' Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve d ...

after praying at Agnes' tomb. She and Emerentiana appear in the scenes from the life of Agnes on the 14th-century Royal Gold Cup in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. An early account of Agnes' death, stressing her young age, steadfastness and virginity, but not the legendary features of the tradition, is given by

Ambrose Ambrose of Milan ( la, Aurelius Ambrosius; ), venerated as Saint Ambrose, ; lmo, Sant Ambroeus . was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promot ...

Veneration

Agnes was venerated as a saint at least as early as the time of St Ambrose, based on an existing homily. She is commemorated in the ''Depositio Martyrum'' of

Filocalus Furius Dionysius Filocalus was a Roman scribe and stone engraver, specialized in epigraphic texts, who was active in the second half of the fourth century. Chronography of 354 One of his most noteworthy works is the "Chronography of 354", als ...

(354) and in the early Roman Sacramentaries. Saint Agnes' bones are conserved beneath the high altar in the church of

Sant'Agnese fuori le mura The church of Saint Agnes Outside the Walls ( it, Sant'Agnese fuori le mura) is a titulus church, minor basilica in Rome, on a site sloping down from the Via Nomentana, which runs north-east out of the city, still under its ancient name. Wha ...

in Rome, built over the

catacomb Catacombs are man-made subterranean passageways for religious practice. Any chamber used as a burial place is a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman Empire. Etymology and history The first place to be referred ...

that housed her tomb. Her skull is preserved in a separate chapel in the church of Sant'Agnese in Agone in Rome's Piazza Navona. Agnes is remembered in the

with a Lesser Festival on

21 January Events Pre-1600 * 763 – Following the Battle of Bakhamra between Alids and Abbasids near Kufa, the Alid rebellion ends with the death of Ibrahim, brother of Isa ibn Musa. *1525 – The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is founded when Conr ...

Patronage

Because of the legend around her martyrdom, Saint Agnes is patron saint of those seeking chastity and purity. She is also the patron saint of young girls and girl scouts. Folk custom called for them to practise

rituals A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized, b ...

on Saint Agnes' Eve (20–21 January) with a view to discovering their future husbands. This

superstition A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown. It is commonly applied to beliefs ...

has been immortalised in John Keats's

poem Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meaning ...

, '' The Eve of Saint Agnes''.

Iconography

Since the Middle Ages, Saint Agnes has traditionally been depicted as a young girl with her long hair down, with a lamb, the symbol of both her virginal innocence and her name, and a sword (together with the palm branch an attribute of her martyrdom). The lamb, which is ''agnus'' in the Latin language, is also the linguistic link to the traditional blessing of lambs referred to below.

Blessing of the lambs

On the feast of Saint Agnes two lambs are traditionally brought from the Trappist abbey of

Tre Fontane Tre Fontane Abbey ( en, Three Fountains Abbey; la, Abbatia trium fontium ad Aquas Salvias), or the Abbey of Saints Vincent and Anastasius, is a Roman Catholic abbey in Rome, held by monks of the Cistercian Order of the Strict Observance, better ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in order to be blessed by the Pope. In summer the lambs are shorn, and the wool is used to weave the pallia which the Pope gives on the feast of Saint Peter and Paul to the newly appointed metropolitan

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...

s as a sign of his jurisdiction and their union with the pope. This tradition of the blessing of the lambs has been known since the 16th century.

Notable churches

* Basilica of St James and St Agnes, Nysa, Poland * St Agnes Cathedral, Rockville Centre, New York * St Agnes Church, New York City * Sant'Agnese in Agone, Rome *

, Rome * , Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, Canada * St Agnes, St Agnes, Cornwall, England * St Agnes, Cologne, Germany * St Agnes, Cawston, Norfolk, England * St Agnes' Church, St Agnes, Isles of Scilly, England * St Agnes Cathedral, Springfield, Missouri, US * St Agnes Church, Saint Paul, Minnesota

Legacy

The Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes is a Roman Catholic religious community for women based in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, US. It was founded in 1858, by Father Caspar Rehrl, an Austrian missionary, who established the sisterhood of pioneer women under the patronage of Agnes, to whom he had a particular devotion. Johann Overbeck drawing of St

The city of Santa Ynez, California is named after her.

Cultural references

Hrotsvitha, the tenth-century nun and poet, wrote a heroic poem about Agnes. In the historical novel '' Fabiola or, the Church of the Catacombs'', written by Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman in 1854, Agnes is the soft-spoken teenage cousin and confidant of the protagonist, the beautiful noblewoman Fabiola. ''

The Eve of St. Agnes ''The Eve of St. Agnes'' is a Romantic narrative poem of 42 Spenserian stanzas set in the Middle Ages. It was written by John Keats in 1819 and published in 1820. The poem was considered by many of Keats's contemporaries and the succeeding ...

'' is a Romantic narrative poem written by John Keats in 1819. The instrumental song "Saint Agnes and the Burning Train" appears on the 1991 album '' The Soul Cages'' by

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-earth ...

. The song "Bear’s Vision of St. Agnes" appears on the 2012 album '' Ten Stories'' by rock band mewithoutYou. The St. Agnes Library is a branch of the New York Public Library located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, on Amsterdam Avenue between West 81st and West 82nd Streets.

Gallery

Saint Agnes and the Lamb of God.jpg, 18th-century statue of Saint Agnes and the Lamb of God by Vincenzo Felici, located in the

Pantheon, Rome The Pantheon (, ; la, Pantheum,Although the spelling ''Pantheon'' is standard in English, only ''Pantheum'' is found in classical Latin; see, for example, Pliny, '' Natural History'36.38 "Agrippas Pantheum decoravit Diogenes Atheniensis". Se ...

, Italy AgnesPudentianaMosaic.jpg, 9th-century mosaic in the Church of St. Praxedes, Rome AgnesBurgosCathedral.jpg, 16th-century polychrome statue in Burgos Cathedral, Spain AgnesMorelliColonnade.jpg, The saint's statue is among those on the colonnade in St. Peter's Square. Frari (Venice) nave right - Statue of Saint Agnes by Girolamo Campagna.jpg, 1593 by Girolamo Campagna

Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari The Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, usually just called the Frari, is a church located in the Campo dei Frari at the heart of the San Polo district of Venice, Italy. The largest church in the city, it has the status of a minor ba ...

St agnes statue.jpg, Statue in a church on Gora Oljka Massimo Stanzione - Saint Agnes - Google Art Project.jpg,

Saint Agnes (Massimo Stanzione) ''Saint Agnes'' is a painting currently exhibited at the National Art Museum of Catalonia. Description A three-quarter length depiction of Agnes of Rome shows the saint in direct communication with God. Her head is slightly raised, her mouth ha ...

in Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya Matthias Gruenewald-Coburger Tafel-Heilige Agnes.jpg, Matthias Grünewald, , tempera on coniferous wood, Kunsammlungen der Veste Coburg, Coburg Saint Agnes in Caloocan.jpg, Statue of Saint Agnes, Camarin,

Caloocan Caloocan, officially the City of Caloocan ( fil, Lungsod ng Caloocan; ), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in Metropolitan Manila, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 1,661,584 people making it the fourth-most ...

, Philippines Francisco de Zurbarán - Santa Inês.jpg, ''Santa Inês'' (Saint Agnes)
by Francisco de Zurbarán Saint Agnes by Cesare Dandini.jpg, 17th-century painting by

Cesare Dandini Cesare Dandini (1 October 1596– 7 February 1657) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in his native city of Florence. Biography He was the older brother of the painter Vincenzo Dandini (1609–1675). His nephew, P ...

Saint Agnes in the parish church of Urtijei.jpg, Sculpture in the

Parish Church of Urtijëi A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

Quinten Massijs (I) - John the Baptist and St Agnes - WGA14280.jpg, Saint Agnes with John the Baptist by Quentin Matsys Agnes the martyr strikes down a suitor, the prefects son. Her hair grows to cover her named innocence.jpg, St. Agnes hair grows covers her nakedness as she is dragged thru the streets. Those that try to rape her are struck blind or dead, but she resurrects him later

References

External links

"St Agnes – St Peter's Square Colonnade Saints"

St. Agnes of Rome

at th
Christian Iconography
website

from the Caxton translation of the Golden Legend

from St. Ambrose of Milan, ''On Virgins''

– The patron saint of young girls. {{Authority control Christian child saints 291 births 304 deaths 4th-century Christian martyrs 3rd-century Roman women 4th-century Roman women 3rd-century Christian saints 4th-century Christian saints People executed by the Roman Empire Virgin martyrs Burials at Sant'Agnese fuori le mura Ante-Nicene Christian female saints Late Ancient Christian female saints Anglican saints Christians martyred during the reign of Diocletian Christian martyrs