Agnes of Rome () is a

virgin martyr The title Virgin (Latin ''Virgo'', Greek ) is an honorific bestowed on female saints and blesseds in some Christian traditions, including the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. Chastity is one of the seven virtues in Christian tr ...

, venerated as a saint in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, 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 vi ...

, 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 Chastity, also known as purity, is a virtue related to temperance. Someone who is ''chaste'' refrains either from sexual activity considered immoral or any sexual activity, according to their state of life. In some contexts, for example when ma ...

, 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 lette ...

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, 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 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 ...

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 Via Nomentana is an ancient road of Italy, leading North-East from Rome to Nomentum (modern Mentana), a distance of . It originally bore the name "Via Ficulensis", from the old Latin village of Ficulea, about from Rome. It was subsequently exte ...

in Rome. A few days after her death, her foster-sister,

Emerentiana Saint Emerentiana was a Roman martyr, who lived around the start of the 4th century. Her feast day is January 23. Legend According to the legend of St. Agnes, Emerentiana was her foster-sister.wet nurse A wet nurse is a woman who breastfeeds and cares for another's child. Wet nurses are employed if the mother dies, or if she is unable or chooses not to nurse the child herself. Wet-nursed children may be known as "milk-siblings", and in some cu ...

, 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 Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of s ...

. 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 Constantine the Great and Christianity, convert to Christiani ...

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 Great ...

, 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 damag ...

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

Royal Gold Cup The Royal Gold Cup or Saint Agnes Cup is a solid gold covered cup lavishly decorated with enamel and pearls. It was made for the French royal family at the end of the 14th century, and later belonged to several English monarchs before spending ...

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.

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 (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. What a ...

in Rome, built over the catacomb that housed her tomb. Her skull is preserved in a separate chapel in the church of

Sant'Agnese in Agone Sant'Agnese in Agone (also called Sant'Agnese in Piazza Navona) is a 17th-century Baroque church in Rome, Italy. It faces onto the Piazza Navona, one of the main urban spaces in the historic centre of the city and the site where the Early Christi ...

in Rome's

Piazza Navona Piazza Navona () is a public open space in Rome, Italy. It is built on the site of the Stadium of Domitian, built in the 1st century AD, and follows the form of the open space of the stadium. The ancient Romans went there to watch the '' agones' ...

. 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 Con ...

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 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 meanings in ...

, '' 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 The palm branch is a symbol of victory, triumph, peace, and eternal life originating in the ancient Near East and Mediterranean world. The palm ''( Phoenix)'' was sacred in Mesopotamian religions, and in ancient Egypt represented immortality. I ...

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 The Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance ( la, Ordo Cisterciensis Strictioris Observantiae, abbreviated as OCSO) and originally named the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe, are a ...

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 k ...

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 archbishops 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 *

, 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 Santa Ynez (; Spanish for "St. Agnes") is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Santa Ynez Valley of Santa Barbara County, California. The town of Santa Ynez is one of the communities of the Santa Ynez Valley. It features the Santa Ynez Airp ...

is named after her.

Cultural references

Hrotsvitha Hrotsvitha (c. 935–973) was a secular canoness who wrote drama and Christian poetry under the Ottonian dynasty. She was born in Bad Gandersheim to Saxon nobles and entered Gandersheim Abbey as a canoness. She is considered the first female wri ...

, 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 Nicholas Patrick Stephen Wiseman (3 August 1802 – 15 February 1865) was a Cardinal of the Catholic Church who became the first Archbishop of Westminster upon the re-establishment of the Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales in 1850. Born ...

in 1854, Agnes is the soft-spoken teenage cousin and confidant of the protagonist, the beautiful noblewoman Fabiola. '' The Eve of St. Agnes'' 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 ''The Soul Cages'' is the third full-length studio album released by English musician Sting. Released on 21 January 1991 it became Sting's second No. 1 album in the United Kingdom. This was Sting's first album to feature guitarist Dominic Mille ...

'' by Sting. The song "Bear’s Vision of St. Agnes" appears on the 2012 album ''

Ten Stories ''Ten Stories'' is the fifth studio album by American indie rock band mewithoutYou. The record was produced by Daniel Smith and mixed by Brad Wood. The album's track listing was published by Alternative Press's website in March 2012. The album f ...

'' by rock band

mewithoutYou MewithoutYou, usually styled as mewithoutYou, was an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The band consisted of Aaron Weiss (vocals), Michael Weiss and Brandon Beaver (guitars), Greg Jehanian (bass guitar), and Rickie Mazzotta ...

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

Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya The Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (, English: "National Art Museum of Catalonia"), abbreviated as MNAC, is a museum of Catalan visual art located in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Situated on Montjuïc hill at the end of Avinguda de la Reina M ...

Matthias Gruenewald-Coburger Tafel-Heilige Agnes.jpg,

Matthias Grünewald Matthias Grünewald ( – 31 August 1528) was a German Renaissance painter of religious works who ignored Renaissance classicism to continue the style of late medieval Central European art into the 16th century. His first name is also given ...

, , tempera on coniferous wood, Kunsammlungen der Veste Coburg,

Coburg Coburg () is a town located on the Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only in 1920. Until the revolution of 1918, it ...

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 Francisco de Zurbarán ( , ; baptized 7 November 1598 – 27 August 1664) was a Spanish painter. He is known primarily for his religious paintings depicting monks, nuns, and martyrs, and for his still-lifes. Zurbarán gained the nickname "Spanish ...

Saint Agnes by Cesare Dandini.jpg, 17th-century painting by Cesare Dandini Saint Agnes in the parish church of Urtijei.jpg, Sculpture in the Parish Church of Urtijëi Quinten Massijs (I) - John the Baptist and St Agnes - WGA14280.jpg, Saint Agnes with John the Baptist by

Quentin Matsys Quentin Matsys ( nl, Quinten Matsijs) (1466–1530) was a Flemish painter in the Early Netherlandish tradition. He was born in Leuven. There is a tradition alleging that he was trained as an ironsmith before becoming a painter. Matsys was activ ...

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