Young, beautiful, fearless Agnes is mostly a mystery. She lived a brief, fleeting life from about 291-304 and became one of the earliest martyrs of the Church under the persecution by Emperor Diocletian. Most of the facts about her life were handed on by the witnesses to her martyrdom and verified by her relics that are still venerated in Rome.
As the daughter of a wealthy Roman family with the advantages conferred by nobility, Agnes could have enjoyed a comfortable life of privilege and esteem. She could have become the wife of any number of powerful, desirable Roman suitors. She could have passed her years in the luxury of Roman villas, wearing fine clothes and being served. She could have lived for decades instead of only 13 years.
But Agnes chose something else: love of God. She had committed herself to purity and rejected the often lurid advances of the many suitors who pursued her. One young man became so enraged by the insult that he reported her as a Christian—a capital offense, unless she recanted.
The Roman prefect who received her case felt sure he could easily break this delicate girl with her delusions of chastity. "Strip her naked and send her into the brothel," he ordered. "She'll recant."
But then witnesses saw something else: As they dragged Agnes through the street, witnesses said her hair spontaneously grew long enough to cover her nakedness. The men who attempted to assault her had mysterious accidents. Agnes had no power of her own to defend herself, but God did.
As the mishaps mounted during the attempt to punish her, the first prefect quit Agnes' case and a new one took over. He ordered execution. Witnesses said Agnes' face radiated joy as they led her to the stadium to die. She prayed with peaceful fervor as they pushed her to the ground. Small and fragile, she retained her composure. No tears. No screaming. No pleading or begging. Even the crowd, usually gathered to watch public executions as entertainment, began to stir and object: Wasn't she too young? Too beautiful?
Agnes reportedly told the executioner: "It is wrong for the bride to keep the bridegroom waiting. He who chose me first shall be the only one to have me. What are you waiting for, Executioner? Destroy this body, for unwanted eyes desire it.”
In one blow, they ended her life. But Agnes' blood soaked both the stadium grounds and the hearts of those who watched. Her blood, spilled joyfully for love of God, helped seed the early Church.
Her feast is January 21.
Being a saint matters: a picture that burned into my heart
This is the first picture of a saint that ever burned into my heart and imagination as a child, maybe age 6 or 7? (Forgive the blurry resolution, but this is the only image I could find.) I vividly remember turning a page and seeing it the very first time, and I have never, ever forgotten how the image made me feel terror and awe and desire for her heroic heart. Studying the image of Agnes' eyes looking toward Heaven while the axe looms over her was the first time I felt the communion of saints—without having that terminology, I knew Agnes mattered to me personally.
Being a saint matters, of course mostly for your own eternal life, but also for those who will come after you. Fight for holiness. Orient your schedule and routine around holiness. Address seriously anything that obstructs holiness. Someday your holiness may be a lantern for another along the narrow way.
Three places to venerate St Agnes' relics in Rome:
Sant’Agnese Fuori le Mura (St Agnes Outside the Walls): Her bones are held in the crypt under the main sanctuary.
Sant’Agnese in Agone (St Agnes in Agone): This church marks the tradition location of St Agnes' martyrdom. A relic of her skull is held in a chapel of the main sanctuary. Catacomba di S. Agnese (Catacomb of St Agnes): This network of catacombs is where Agnes was first buried before being relocated to her basilica.
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