Mark 3:20-21

Yesterday we celebrated the feast of Saint Sebastian, and today we celebrate Saint Agnes (291-304AD), another saint who was killed in Rome during the time of Emperor Diocletian in 304. In 1605 (during the course of the remodelling of the Roman basilica of Sant’ Agnese Fuori le Mura) her remains were discovered, during our painter's lifetime. It made headline news at the time, and artists went into a flurry of representing the saint in various ways. Domenichino shows the saint gazing heavenwards while an angel holds a crown and martyr’s palm above her. The large classical vase and the relief sculpture signify the pagan beliefs she has rejected; the lamb (agnus in Latin) refers to her purity and the life she actively chose.

Saint Agnes was a beautiful young lady from a wealthy family, and her hand in marriage was highly sought after. According to legend, the young men she turned away became so angry and insulted by her devotion to God (she would simply reply to any advances, ‘Jesus Christ is my only spouse’) that they began to submit her name to the Roman authorities as a Christian follower. She died a virgin-martyr at the age of 13 on 21 January 304 AD.

Saint Agnes is a big feast day here in Rome. A mass will be said this morning at Sant' Agnese fuori le Mura, during which two small living lambs are blessed.  They are then taken to Saint Peter’s for a blessing by the Holy Father, and, finally, to Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, where they will be cared for by some Benedictine nuns who will, later this Spring, sheer their wool and weave from it the “pallium”, the white woolen garments given to newly appointed archbishops (at the Mass for the Solemnity of Peter and Paul with the Holy Father on 29 June), as a sign of their shepherding role and union with the Pope.