Holy Virgin Martyr Agnes (+c. 304)

The holy Martyr Agnes was born into a family of pious Romans in the third century. From childhood the saint entrusted herself to the Lord and decided to preserve her virginity for His glory. When Agnes refused to marry the son of Symphronius, the head of the city, an acquaintance told the governor that the maiden was a Christian. The enraged Symphronius ordered her to be stripped and thrown into a house of ill fame. The Lord did not allow His chosen one to be dishonoured: suddenly thick, long hair grew down from Agnes’s head and covered her body. Brought into the house of ill fame, the maiden was surrounded by a heavenly light that dimmed the eyes of everyone who came in. The son of the head of the city, who dared to lay a hand on Agnes, fell dead to the ground that very moment; but through the saint’s fervent prayer he came back to life and declared before his own father and the assembled people: “Only the God of the Christians is the true Lord of heaven and earth. The other gods are dust and ashes!” A hundred and sixty people who saw this miracle believed in Christ, were baptised, and died as martyrs at the hands of the pagans.

At the demand of the priests Saint Agnes was cruelly tortured: she was thrown into a fire, and then, when she came out of the fire unharmed, she was beheaded with a sword (+c. 304). Her parents buried the holy martyr near the city of Rome. Many miracles took place at her grave.