From: rich <richarra@gmail.com>

20 April =E2=80=93 St Agnes of Montepulciano O.P.

=C2 (1268-1317)

Religious Nun and Abbess =E2=80=9CThe Miracle Worker=E2=80=9D =E2=80=93 Att= ributes =E2=80=93 Dominican
Nun with a lily and a lamb. Her Body is incorrupt and her major Shrine
is Church of St Agnes, Montepulicano, Siena, Italy.

St Agnes was born in 1268 into the noble Segni family in Gracciano, a
frazione of Montepulciano =E2=80=93 in Siena, Italy, then part of the Papal States. At the age of nine, she convinced her parents to allow her to
enter a Franciscan monastery of women in the city known as the
=E2=80=9CSisters of the Sack=E2=80=9D, after the rough religious habit they=
wore. they
live a simple, contemplative life. She received the permission of the
pope to be accepted into this life at such a young age, normally
against Church law.

In 1281, the lord of the castle of Proceno, a fief of Orvieto, invited
the nuns of Montepulciano to send some of their Sisters to Proceno to
found a new monastery. Agnes was among the nuns sent to found this new community. At the age of 14, she was appointed bursar.

In 1288 Agnes, despite her youth at only 20 years of age, was noted
for her devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and deep life of prayer and
was elected as the abbess of the community. There she gained a
reputation for performing miracles:=C2 people suffering from mental and physical ailments seemed cured by her presence. She was reported to
have =E2=80=9Cmultiplied loaves=E2=80=9D, creating many from a few on numer= ous
occasions, recalling the Gospel miracle of the loaves and fishes. She
herself, however, suffered severe bouts of illness which lasted long
periods of time.

In 1306 Agnes was recalled to head the monastery in Montepulciano.
Agnes reached a high degree of contemplative prayer and is said to
have been favoured with many visions. After her return, she proceeded
to build a church, Santa Maria Novella, to honour the Blessed Mother,
as she felt she had been commanded to do in a mystical vision several
years earlier. She also had a vision of St. Dominic Guzman, under the inspiration of which she led the nuns of her monastery to embrace the
Rule of St. Augustine as members of the Dominican Order. She was
frequently called upon to bring peace to the warring families of the
city.

By 1316, Agnes' health had declined so greatly that her doctor
suggested taking the cure at the thermal springs in the neighboring
town of Chianciano Terme. The nuns of the community prevailed upon her
to take his recommendation. While many of the other bathers reported
being cured of their illnesses, Agnes herself received no benefit from
the springs. Her health failed to such a degree that she had to be
carried back to the monastery on a stretcher.

Agnes died the following 20 April, at the age of 49. The Dominican
friars attempted to obtain balsam (or myrrh) to embalm her body. It
was found, however, to be producing a sweet odour on its own and her
limbs remained supple. When her body was moved years after her death
to the monastery church, it was found to be incorrupt. Her tomb became
the site of pilgrimages.

Some fifty years later, a Dominican friar, the Blessed Raymond of
Capua, who served as confessor to St. Catherine of Siena, wrote an
account of Agnes' life. He described her body as still appearing as=
if
she were alive. Catherine herself referred to her as =E2=80=9COur mother, t=
he
glorious Agnes=E2=80=9D. Catherine made a pilgrimage to Montepulciano while visiting her niece, Eugenie, who was a nun there.

Agnes was canonised by Pope Benedict XIII in 1726.

https://anastpaul.com/2017/04/20/


Saint Quote:
The perfection of a Christian consists in mortifying himself for the
love of Christ. Where there is no great mortification, there is no
great sanctity.
To mortify one passion, however small, is a greater help in the
spiritual life than many abstinences, fasts, and disciplines.
-- St. Philip

Bible Quote:
For where jealousy and faction are, there is confusion and every vile
deed. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable,
gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without
variance, without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in
peace for them that make peace.=C2 (James 3:16-18) DRV


<><><><>
Wash Me With Your Precious Blood

See, O merciful God, what return
I, Your thankless servant, have made
for the innumerable favours
and the wonderful love You have shown me!
What wrongs I have done, what good left undone!
Wash away, I beg You, these faults and stains
with Your precious blood, most kind Redeemer,
and make up for my poverty by applying Your merits.
Give me the protection I need to amend my life.
I give and surrender myself wholly to You,
and offer You all I possess,
with the prayer that You bestow Your grace on me,
so that I may be able to devote and employ
all the thinking power of my mind
and the strength of my body in Your holy service,
who are God blessed for ever and ever. Amen
By St. Peter Canisius S.J. (1521-1597)

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