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January 21st is the feast day of Saint Agnes. She died around 305 AD and is one of the more well-known virgin martyrs of Rome. In the 350s a basilica was built over her grave on the Via Nomentana. Today, the basilica that bears her name is one of the more frequently visited of the ancient Roman churches. The Basilica of Saint Agnes is represented on one of the stamps from the Roman Basilicas Series of 1949 (shown above). There are few specific details known about Saint Agnes. In the 5th century compilation of acts of the early martyrs, Saint Agnes is described as a 12 or 13 year old consecrated virgin, a symbol of purity, dedicated to Christ. She refused marriage, preferring death and, during the Diocletian persecutions, her throat was pierced by a sword, a common Roman method of execution. Saint Agnes is usually represented with a lamb, as seen in a sixth-century mosaic at San Apollinare Nuove at Ravenna, as well as in other religious art. Her name resembles that of agnus (lamb). On her feast day lambs are blessed (often by a pope) and their wool is used to weave the pallia worn by archbishops. |
