From: rich <
richarra@gmail.com>
March 2nd - Saint Agnes of Bohemia
(also known as Saint Agnes of Prague)
1205-1282
=C2 As did many saints, Saint Agnes was born into royalty, with endless
wealth, privilege, and opportunity placed before her. Instead, she
chose poverty and service to others based in her love for the Lord.
Born the daughter of Queen Constance and King Ottokar I of Bohemia,
Agnes was also the elder cousin of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary. She
grew up in the royal court of Bohemia, and was engaged via arranged
marriage to numerous royals from Germany and the Holy Roman empire.
Her first engagement occurred at age 3, her second at age six, but
these arranged marriages were not enforced due to political reasons.
Educated by the Cistercian Order at Trzebnica, a enclosed cell of
monks also known as =E2=80=9Cwhite monks=E2=80=9D and later as =E2=80=9Ctra= ppists,=E2=80=9D Saint
Agnes was instructed in the ways of God. She demonstrated great piety
from this early age, and concern for the poor, sick, and those in
need. As she matured, she received a marriage proposal from Frederick
II, the Holy Roman Emperor at that time. Having decided that she would
prefer to devote her life to Christ and enter a religious order, Agnes
sought audience with Pope Gregory IX, appealing to him for help in her
sticky political predicament. The pope met with the emperor, and was
able to persuade him to rescind his proposal. It is said that
Frederick acquiesced, stating: =E2=80=9CIf she had left me for a mortal man=
, I
would have taken vengeance with the sword, but I cannot take offence
because in preference to me she has chosen the King of Heaven."
Saint Agnes, finally free from the political manipulations of arranged marriages entered the Order of Poor Clares, moving to the monastery of
Saint Savior in Prague. It was there that she received the veil, and
grew in love and service to others. It was also there that she began a two-decade long correspondence with Saint Clare of Assisi. Although
the two never met in person, their letters survive.
During her time in Prague, Saint Agnes build a Franciscan hospital, as
well as a monastery and convent for the sisters and monks who worked
there. She initiated the formation of the Knights of the Cross with
the Red Star, a religious order dedicated to serving the poor in
medical settings. Pressured to become abbess by the pope, a position
she reluctantly agreed to, Agnes never tired of cooking for her
sisters, attending to the poor and ill, mending clothes of lepers, and generally living a life of profound humility and service. She
preferred to be called =E2=80=9Csenior sister,=E2=80=9D and the only sign o=
f her
authority was her unwavering expectation that her sisters follow the
rule of poverty espoused by the Poor Clares.
Saint Agnes is reported to have had miraculous healing properties and
ecstatic visions. She died in 1282, and was buried in Prague at the
convent she built. She remained much loved, ironically appearing on
currency! Saint Agnes inspires us to turn away from selfishness,
greed, and pride, and to instead embrace the suffering of others with
charity, generosity, and humility. She is a model of virtue which we
can learn from during our Lenten period of self-examination and
contrition.
=C2 by Jacob
Saint Quote:
As soon as I believed there was a God, I understood I could do nothing
else but live for him, my religious vocation dates from the same
moment as my faith: God is so great. There is such a difference
between God and everything that is not.
--Blessed Charles de Foucauld
Bible Quote:
This then I say and testify in the Lord: That henceforward you walk
not as also the Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind: Having
their understanding darkened: being alienated from the life of God
through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of
their hearts. Eph 4:17:18)=C2 DRB
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Salutatio ad Dominum Iesum Christum
(Salutation to the Lord Jesus Christ),
a prayer to the Body and Blood of Christ,
by St. Anselm, Doctor of the Church.
Body of Christ, Hail! Of the holy Virgin born,
Living flesh, Deity entire, true man!
Hail! true salvation, strength, life, redemption of the world,
May Thy right Hand free us from all evil.
Blood of Christ, Hail, Heaven's most holy libation,
River of salvation washing away our crimes.
Hail, Blood! floweth from the Wound of Christ's Side,
River of salvation, hung on the Cross, Hail!
--- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2
* Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4)