St. Agnes: Feast Day, Patronage & Prayers
Feast day: January 21 (Memorial of St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr)
Patron of: Girls, young people, and chastity.
About St. Agnes
St. Agnes was a girl of about twelve or thirteen who was martyred in Rome around the year 304, probably during the persecution of Diocletian. She was buried beside the Via Nomentana, and within a few decades the emperor Constantine's daughter built a basilica near her tomb. St. Ambrose, Pope St. Damasus, and the poet Prudentius all wrote in her praise, and her name is included in the Roman Canon of the Mass.
St. Ambrose marveled that one so young, who seemed too small even to be struck, could bear witness so bravely. According to her tradition, many young men sought her in marriage, but she answered that she had already given herself to Christ, her only Spouse. Denounced as a Christian, she refused to offer incense to the gods and was put to death, most accounts say by the sword. Her name resembles the Latin word for lamb, and on her feast, January 21, two lambs are blessed in Rome, and their wool is later woven into the pallium worn by archbishops. Agnes reminds young people that holiness and courage are not only for the old.
Prayers to St. Agnes on Daily Catholic Prayers
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