St Agnes: Patron Saint of Chastity
(purity of the body)
Agnes was born of a noble Roman family. About age 10, Agnes dedicated herself to belong to Christ.
About age 12 or 13, the son of a high official (the Prefect Sempronius) was attracted by her beauty and wealth and sought her hand in marriage, but she rebuffed him because she had given her life to Christ 'to whom I keep my promise.'
She was urged by her family to submit to the marriage, but young though she was, she showed great maturity and a determined will. "You are only a child," they said. "I may be a child," she answered, "but faith dwells not in years, but in the heart".
Finally, the Governor threatened her with torture: Christians in those days were often charged with treason against Emperor as they refused to worship the Emperor as a god. Everyone thought that the sight of the tools of torture would cause Agnes to waver in her decision and give up her promise to Christ; instead, they only strengthened her determination. She even felt more joy than ever, that she had given herself to Christ, andwould be tortured for his sake.
Hearing about this, some said, "Do young girls constitute such a threat to Rome that it is necessary to kill them?" Others said, "If this religion can enable a twelve-year-old girl to meet death without fear, it is worth investigating."
Seeing how Agnes stood firm, even in the threat of torture, the governor became enraged and threatened to send her to a whore-house as a prostitute. "You maystain your sword with my blood;” replied Agnes, “but you will never be able to disrespect my body, which is consecrated to Christ." Furious, the governor and Agnes’ family seized her, and dragged her naked through the streets of Rome to a brothel.
All the accounts of her life state that although she was actually taken to a brothel, no-one touched her, partly because of her meekness and purity but also because men were afraid of her declaration that God would not allow her body to be abused.
Not knowing what to do with her, the Governor finally sentenced her to death. She was bound with chains, but she was so young and so small, that the chains fell from her wrists. When the executioner hesitated at the moment of cutting off her head, Agnes told him, "Do not delay. This body draws from some men a kind of admiration that I hate. Let it perish." By admiration, she meant the lust that some people were looking at her with, and which she found unpleasant.
Her head was cut off, and huge crowds followed her dead body to her grave. Her body was not thrown into the river, as would be normal for executed criminals, but because of the influence of her family, was buried in the family cemetery.
Saint Ambrose wrote of her death: "At such a tender age a young girl has scarcely enough courage to bear the angry looks of her father and a tiny puncture from a needle makes her cry as if it were a wound. And still this little girl had enough courage to face the sword. She was fearless in the bloody hands of the executioner. She prayed, she bowed her head. Behold in one victim the twofold martyrdom of purity and faith."
The fame of her courage, faithfulness and purity for Christ spread quickly after hear death. When the Emperor Constantine wished to have his daughter baptized, he did so near the spot where Agnes was buried and in AD 324 (or 350?) he built the Church of Sant’Agnes over her grave, which still stands today.
Because of her holiness, St. Agnes has become the patroness of purity of the body, engaged couples, and maidens.