Agnes of Rome 1

Agnes of Rome

Saint Agnes

Saint Agnes by Domenichino

Virgin and Martyr

Born c. 291

Died c. 304

Honored in Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox Churches, AnglicanCommunion, Lutheranism

Canonized Pre-congregation

Major shrine Church of Sant'Agnese fuori le mura and the Church of Sant'Agnese in Agone, both in Rome

Feast 21 January; before Pope John XXIII revised the calendar, there was a second feast on January 28

Attributes a lamb, martyr's palm

Patronage Betrothed couples; chastity; Children of Mary; Colegio Capranica of Rome; crops; gardeners; Girl Guides; girls; rape victims;virgins; the diocese of Rockville Centre, New York

Agnes of Rome (c. 291 – c. 304) is a virgin–martyr, venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church, EasternOrthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, and Lutheranism. She is one of seven women, who along with theBlessed Virgin, are commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass. She is the patron saint of chastity, gardeners,girls, engaged couples, rape victims, and virgins.She is depicted in art with a lamb, as her name resembles the Latin word for "lamb", agnus. The name "Agnes" isactually derived from the feminine Greek adjective "hagnē" (ἁγνή) meaning "chaste, pure, sacred".Her feast day is 21 January. In pre-1970 versions of the General Roman Calendar an additional feast of the samesaint is given one week later, on 28 January (see Tridentine Calendar). The 1969 revision removed this as aduplication of the 21 January feast.[1]

Agnes of Rome 2

BiographyAccording to tradition, Saint Agnes was a member of the Roman nobility born 291 AD and raised in a Christianfamily. She suffered martyrdom at the age of twelve or thirteen during the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian,on 21 January 304.Agnes, whose name means “chaste” in Greek, was a beautiful young girl of wealthy family and therefore had manysuitors of high rank. Details of her story are unreliable, but legend holds that the young men, slighted by Agnes'sresolute devotion to religious purity, submitted her name to the authorities as a follower of Christianity.[2]

The Prefect Sempronius condemned her to be dragged naked through the streets to a brothel. Various versions of thelegend give different methods of escape from this predicament. In one, as she prayed, her hair grew and covered herbody.[3] It was also said that all of the men who attempted to rape her were immediately struck blind. In another theson of the prefect is struck dead, but revived after Agnes prayed for him, causing her release. There is then a trialfrom which Sempronius excuses himself, and another figure presides, sentencing her to death. When led out to dieshe was tied to a stake, but the bundle of wood would not burn, or the flames parted away from her, whereupon theofficer in charge of the troops drew his sword and beheaded her, or, in some other texts, stabbed her in the throat. Itis also said that the blood of Agnes poured to the stadium floor where other Christians soaked up the blood withcloths.

Agnes depicted on the Royal Gold Cup

Agnes was buried beside the Via Nomentana in Rome. A few daysafter Agnes's death, her foster-sister, Saint Emerentiana, was foundpraying by her tomb; she claimed to be the daughter of Agnes's wetnurse, and was stoned to death after refusing to leave the place andreprimanding the pagans for killing her foster sister. Emerentiana wasalso later canonized. The daughter of Constantine I, Saint Constance,was also said to have been cured of leprosy after praying at Agnes'stomb. Emerentiana and Constance appear in the scenes from the life ofAgnes on the 14th-century Royal Gold Cup in the British Museum.

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

VenerationAgnes's bones are conserved beneath the high altar in the church of Sant'Agnese fuori le mura in Rome, built overthe catacomb that housed Agnes's tomb. Her skull is preserved in a separate chapel in the church of Sant'Agnese inAgone in Rome's Piazza Navona.

PatronageSaint Agnes is the patron saint of young girls. Folk custom called for them to practise rituals on Saint Agnes' Eve(20–21 January) with a view to discovering their future husbands. This superstition has been immortalised in JohnKeats's poem, "The Eve of Saint Agnes".

Agnes of Rome 3

Santa Inés, Guarino, 1650.

Churches

• St. Agnes Catholic Church, Naples, Florida[4]

•• Sant'Agnese in Agone•• Sant'Agnese fuori le mura• Church of St Agnes, Cornwall, England•• St. Agnes' Church, New York City• Mission Santa Inés, Solvang, California•• St. Agnes Catholic Church, San Francisco, California•• St. Agnes Catholic Church, San Diego, California•• St. Agnes Catholic Church, Charleston, West Virginia•• St. Agnes Catholic Church, Baton Rouge, Louisiana•• St. Agnes Parish, Roeland Park, Kansas•• St. Agnes Parish, Springfield, Illinois•• St. Agnes Catholic Church, Hubbard, Oregon•• St. Agnes Church, Little Village, Chicago, Illinois• St. Agnes Anglican Parish, Grants Town, New Providence

•• Parish of St. Agnes Cathedral, Rockville Centre, NY•• St. Agnes Catholic Church (Our Lady of Hope Parish), Blackwood, New Jersey•• St. Agnes Catholic Church, Concord, California•• St. Agnes Catholic Church, Morrisdale, Pennsylvania•• St. Agnes Catholic Church, Phoenix, Arizona•• St. Agnes Parish Almar, Caloocan Philippines•• St. Agnes Mission, Mirando City, Texas•• St. Agnes Catholic Church, West Chester, Pennsylvania•• St. Agnes Catholic Church, Baltimore, Maryland• St. Agnes Anglican Church, Kloof, South Africa [5]

Schools•• St. Agnes Catholic School, Roeland Park, Kansas•• St. Agnes Catholic Grade School, Charleston, West Virginia•• St. Agnes Catholic School, Springfield, Illinois•• St. Agnes Elementary School, Ft. Wright, Kentucky•• St. Agnes Convent School - Mumbai - India•• St. Agnes Convent School - Howrah - India•• St. Agnes Academy- Legazpi City, Albay, Philippines•• St. Agnes Academy - Houston, Texas•• St Agnes Catholic Grade School, Louisville, Ky•• St. Agnes Cathedral School, Rockville Centre, NY•• St. Agnes Girl's School, Balangoda, Sri Lanka.•• St. Agnes Catholic School, Los Angeles, CA•• St. Agnes Catholic Elementary School, Phoenix, AZ•• St. Agnes School, Concord, CA•• St. Agnes School, Kharagpur, West Bengal, India•• St. Agnes School, Towanda, Pennsylvania•• St. Agnes School, Cervantes, Ilocos Sur, Philippines

Agnes of Rome 4

•• St. Agnes Catholic School, West Chester, Pennsylvania•• St. Agnes School, Baltimore, Maryland

LegacyThe Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes is a Roman Catholic religious community for women based in Fond duLac, Wisconsin. It was founded in 1858, by Father Caspar Rehrl, an Austrian missionary, who established thesisterhood of pioneer women under the patronage of St. Agnes of Rome, to whom he had a particular devotion.It is customary on her feast day for two lambs to be brought from the Trappist abbey of Tre Fontane in Rome to beblessed by the Pope. On Holy Thursday they are shorn, and from the wool is woven the pallium which the popegives to a newly consecrated metropolitan archbishop as a sign of his jurisdiction and his union with the pope.

IconographySince the Middle Ages, Saint Agnes has been represented with a lamb, both the symbol of her virginal innocence anda pun on her name.[6] She is also represented as a young girl in robes, holding a palm branch in her hand with a lambat her feet or in her arms.

In popular cultureHrotsvitha, the tenth-century nun and poetess, wrote a play the subject of which was Saint Agnes. Grace Andreacchiwrote a play based on the legends surrounding the martyrdom of Saint 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.

Gallery

9th-century Mosaic in the churchof St. Praxedes, Rome

16th-centurypolychrome

statue in BurgosCathedral,

Spain

The saint'sstatue is among

those on thecolonnade in

St. Peter'sSquare

Statue in achurch on Gora

Oljka

Agnes of Rome 5

Saint Agnes (MassimoStanzione) in Museu

Nacional d'Art de Catalunya

Matthias Grünewald, c. 1500,tempera on coniferous wood,Kunsammlungen der Veste

Coburg, Coburg.

Statue of Saint Agnes,Camarin, Caloocan City,

Philippines

Santa Inês (Saint Agnes)by Francisco de Zurbarán

References[1] Calendarium Romanum (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 1969), p. 114[2] "Our Patroness", Saint Agnes Cathedral, Rockville Centre, New York (http:/ / www. stagnescathedral. org/ Our Parish/ Patroness. html)[3] "St. Agnes of Rome", Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (http:/ / www. antiochian. org/ node/ 17341)[4] http:/ / www. stagnesnaples. org/[5] http:/ / stagnes. org. za/ home/[6] Kirsch, Johann Peter. "St. Agnes of Rome." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 24 Apr. 2013

(http:/ / www. newadvent. org/ cathen/ 01214a. htm)

External links

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

The Eve of St. Agnes

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Agnes, Saint.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Saint Agnes of Rome.

• The Life of St. Agnes of Rome, Virgin & Martyr of the Catholic Church (http:/ / www. catholicrevelations. com/category/ saints/ the-life-of-st-agnes-of-rome-a-saint-virgin-and-martyr-of-the-catholic-church. html)

• Satucket.com (http:/ / www. satucket. com/ lectionary/ Agnes. htm), St. Agnes of Rome• Blogspot.com (http:/ / graceandreacchi. blogspot. com/ 2009/ 01/ agnes-wise-and-foolish-virgin. html), St Agnes

in literature• "Saint Agnes" (http:/ / www. christianiconography. info/ agnes. html) at the Christian Iconography (http:/ / www.

christianiconography. info) website• "Of Saint Agnes" (http:/ / www. christianiconography. info/ goldenLegend/ agnes. htm) from the Caxton

translation of the Golden Legend• Remarks on the feast of St. Agnes (http:/ / www. aug. edu/ augusta/ iconography/ biggerFiles/ ambroseOnVirgins.

html) from St. Ambrose of Milan, On Virgins

Article Sources and Contributors 6

Article Sources and ContributorsAgnes of Rome  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=622934263  Contributors: 10stone5, 5-HT8, AMC0712, Adam Bishop, Adam sk, AeonicOmega, Afernand74, Ajh16, Akma,Alai, Alma Pater, Ambrosiaster, Andre Engels, Anglicanus, Anna512, Antique Rose, Art LaPella, Asarelah, Askiser, Attilios, Ayls, BLHersey, Basilica1, Bede735, Beetstra, Bewareofdog, BillThayer, BirgitteSB, Biruitorul, Bistropha, Bobblewik, Bookworm857158367, Brassica, Bremerenator, Bwpach, CWood, Caeruleancentaur, Carl.bunderson, CaroleHenson, Chanseny, Chicheley,Chochopk, ChrisGualtieri, Clarityfiend, ComeandSee, Conversion script, Cuchullain, DTOx, Daniel the Monk, Dcgomez, Deathheavenorhell, Deepthi d, Den fjättrade ankan, DerHexer,Dickstracke, Dimadick, Discospinster, Donfbreed2, Dralwik, DuncanHill, ESkog, Eleuther, Elisabethserafimovski, Elizium23, Esoglou, EstherLois, Eubulides, Evrik, Extransit, Fayenatic london,FeanorStar7, Ffaker, Gabemac17, Galoubet, Gentgeen, GeoWPC, Gerald Farinas, Gianfranco, Goldfritha, Graham87, Gtrmp, Guy Peters, Hailey C. Shannon, HdZ, Henrygb, Homagetocatalonia,InfernoXV, Ingolfson, Izalithium, JASpencer, Jacopo, Jegelewicz, Jeltz, Jengod, Jergen, John Carter, John Quiggin, Johnbod, Johnhwynne, Joncaire, Jonel, Joyful Sonar Wave, Jrb416, Just zisGuy, you know?, Kan8eDie, Kariteh, Kazubon, Kiiimiko, KingRatedRIV, Kitty1670, Kukini, Kungfuadam, Lady Mondegreen, Lavenderbunny, Leandrod, Lilac Soul, Lima, Lotje, Ludi,Lugia2453, Lumendelumine, Lunamaria, MDY·RIP, Magister Mathematicae, Malcolm Farmer, MamaGeri, Mannanan51, Mastcell, Mattissa, McSly, MichaelClair, MicheleBrown, Mike Rosoft,MikeLynch, MindstormsKid, Mirv, MisfitToys, Mladifilozof, Mlpearc, Moldred, Morwen, Ms2ger, Nasugbu batangas, NawlinWiki, Nuttah, Nyghtand, Onieros, Organic Cabbage, Oshwah,PFHLai, Panairjdde, PatGallacher, PaulGS, Paulcantrell2, Pcpcpc, Pennycake, Piano non troppo, Pictureuploader, Plrk, Polylerus, ProudPapa5, Psychless, Pwqn, R. fiend, Ralphloren171,Rapomon, Rich Farmbrough, Rjwilmsi, RobertG, Rotemdanzig, Rpresser, SP-KP, Sage09, Sander123, Sandwich Eater, Sciurinæ, Sebastian Prospero, Shakko, Shark96z, Shyam, SirRastus,Skittle, Snowolf, Sparkit, Spartacus007, Splashen, Sporti, Storm Rider, Suffusion of Yellow, Thatcher, Thingg, Tiffanytote, Tohd8BohaithuGh1, Torres6880, Trojan traveler, Tyhopho, Urharec,Used2BAnonymous, Utcursch, Vanished user ewfisn2348tui2f8n2fio2utjfeoi210r39jf, Vanished user vjhsduheuiui4t5hjri, VanishedUserABC, Victoriaearle, Vrenator, WBardwin, Wclark,Wikipelli, Woohookitty, Yamla, Zzyzx11, Тиверополник, 335 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and ContributorsFile:2872-saint-agnes-domenichino.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:2872-saint-agnes-domenichino.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Darwinius,DenghiùComm, FranzK, Mattes, Nyghtand, TeleComNasSprVen, TrzęsaczFile:Agnes & Procopius.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Agnes_&_Procopius.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0  Contributors:User:JohnbodFile:Fr Guarino Santa Inés 1650.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Fr_Guarino_Santa_Inés_1650.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Ecummenic, Ixtzib,Magnificus, Mattes, TeleComNasSprVenFile:AgnesPudentianaMosaic.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:AgnesPudentianaMosaic.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0  Contributors: DickstrackeFile:AgnesBurgosCathedral.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:AgnesBurgosCathedral.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0  Contributors: User:SreeBotFile:AgnesMorelliColonnade.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:AgnesMorelliColonnade.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0  Contributors: Jarekt, Magogthe Ogre, ThreecharlieFile:St agnes statue.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:St_agnes_statue.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0  Contributors: User:UrharecFile:Saint Agnes.JPG  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Saint_Agnes.JPG  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Didym, Einstein2, Jegelewicz, Kippelboy, Mattes,TeleComNasSprVenFile:Matthias Gruenewald-Coburger Tafel-Heilige Agnes.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Matthias_Gruenewald-Coburger_Tafel-Heilige_Agnes.jpg  License:Public Domain  Contributors: MyliusFile:Saint Agnes in Caloocan.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Saint_Agnes_in_Caloocan.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0  Contributors: Nasugbubatangas (talk); Jayzl Nebre-VillafaniaFile:Francisco de Zurbarán - Santa Inês.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Francisco_de_Zurbarán_-_Santa_Inês.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors:Dornicke, Infrogmation, Ixtzib, Jacklee, Kilom691, Mattes, Shakko, Steven WallingImage:Wikisource-logo.svg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Wikisource-logo.svg  License: logo  Contributors: ChrisiPK, Guillom, INeverCry, Jarekt, Leyo,MichaelMaggs, NielsF, Rei-artur, Rocket000, SteinsplitterImage:Commons-logo.svg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Commons-logo.svg  License: logo  Contributors: Anomie

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