Her intellect and passions were the material causes in her life. “Her pure and strong intellect” was “assisted by an extraordinary light from heaven.” And she was “drawn to God with all her affections.” (204, 230)
The life of St. Agnes “was one of innocence and purity.” Because she possessed an “angelic modesty,” she became a role model and a superior to other sisters when she “was only fifteen years old,” since she “became to the others sisters as it were a polished looking-glass, in which they all saw the method of modeling their lives by the spirit of Christian perfection.” St. Catherine wrote about the “noble disposition of her mind, her sublime love of God and her struggle for heroic perfection.” Webster’s Dictionary defines “noble” as “possessing excellent qualities” and “heroic,” as “supremely self-sacrificing.” (193, 199, 106, 280)
The Lord was her principal agent. She frequently said, "It is God who preserves my life, it is He who gives me my being. How can it be other than certain that He does it for His glory?” Her faithfulness led her to become a superior in her community of sisters. “Agnes was unanimously elected for their common mother.” (213, 228)
Her mother and father prepared St. Agnes to become noble and heroic. “Her parents were most conspicuous for their exemplary lives and God rewarded them with a holy daughter.” (172)
St. Agnes received the wonderful assistance of Mary, the angels and the saints. “The most holy Mary appeared to her with a most beautiful and beaming appearance.” Mary allowed St. Agnes to hold the baby Jesus for a few minutes. When Mary asked to have her baby returned, Agnes “paused with a loving reluctance” before “returning Him to His mother.” Further, a “beautiful” angel taught her “a devout Latin hymn in honor of our Lady” like this: “Ave vernans rosa, gemma spiritalis, cedrus gloriosa…” – “Hail blossoming rose, spiritual gem, glorious cedar…” Further, she had a vision where three saints appeared to her with message. “Agnes saw three ships approach a shore, each navigated by a person of lofty bearing, whose dress showed them to be St. Augustine, St. Francis and St. Dominic. Each courteously invited her to enter his ship. But she felt a reverential doubt for a short time. Then St. Dominic put an end to the delay, stretched out his hand, and assisted her onto the deck of his bark.” The message was that she should stop her stay at a Franciscan monastery and start a new Dominican monastery in Montepulciano. (203, 215, 224)
St. Agnes saw herself as an instrumental agent of the Lord. “She only considered herself as an instrument, which would have been strangely misapplied if used for any other purpose but the service of her supreme Lord.” To become a suitable instrument of the Lord, she used the tools of devotions in order to increase her charity. “She employed all her ordinary practices of devotion.” Thus, the author writes, all her actions were “guided by charity, which is the most necessary and quickest means of union with God.” (192, 216, 202)
What do trustworthy and competent experts say about St. Agnes? Bishop Francesco Monaldeschi of Orvieto placed a veil on the head of St. Agnes during her vows and said, “I have given the veil to a saint!” St. Catherine of Siena (1347-80) “had long felt a tender devotion to the saint.” Agnes even makes an appearance in St. Catherine’s Dialogue as an example of a person who trusts the Lord. “Agnes served me with such firm trust that she never had any hesitations concerning herself or her family” (c. 8, no. 149). Further, Agnes had one consistent theme in her advice to her sisters. “The favorite counsel which Agnes was always insinuating, namely, to keep their confidence in the Divine help alive and always firm in their hearts.” I think this is very good counsel, since an increase in our trust in the Lord’s guidance will decrease the anxiety about our needs and wants. (199, 279, 248)
If a person visited St. Agnes in her convent, then what would he observe? “While Agnes governed the monastery she never tasted anything but bread and water. Her night's rest was never more than a short and uneasy sleep upon the bare ground.” One time she became ill and her sisters recommended that she eat a steak “to restore her strength.” Agnes reluctantly agreed and “merely raised her eyes to heaven and made a short prayer, and at the moment when she prepared to eat the meat, it was turned into fish.” (210, 214)
The history of St. Agnes begins with her birth in Gracciano Vecchio in 1268. Then she moved to an Augustinian convent in Montepulciano in 1283 and then to a Franciscan convent in Porceno in 1300 and then finally to a Dominican convent in Montepulciano in 1306. She hired a contractor to build the Dominican convent in Montepulciano. “She bought the spot for 1,200 lire, which she had received from her relations, and persons who were attached to her. Having obtained from Monsignor Ildebrandino, the bishop of Arezzo, permission to build a church and monastery.” (184, 195, 225, 226)
The life of St. Agnes is analogous to a garden. Sr. Margaret, her superior in the Augustinian convent, focused her “care and anxiety on the cultivation of such a precious and hopeful plant.” When Agnes herself became a superior, she worked with her inferiors just as a gardener works with plants. “Her desire was to cultivate the tender plants with a sentiment of profound gratitude to God.” (185, 229)
The signs of her noble and heroic nature were delivered by six miracles. A sister found “a large sum of money in a dresser” after she asked Agnes to pray for financial aid. Further, another sister found “two empty jars of oil unexpectedly filled.” Further, the supply of bread “twice multiplied,” and “excellent wine in some vases of water” after she asked Agnes to pray for groceries. Further, a girl who “made a bad wound in her knee by trying to cut a loaf of bread upon it” found her leg was “instantaneously cured” after asking Agnes to pray for her health. Further, “a new spring of fresh, healing, bubbling water where there had been none before” came to be in Chianciano after Agnes prayed for her personal health. Further, after a mother asked Agnes to pray for her son who recently drowned, Agnes “taking the boy by the hand, raised him from the ground alive and full of health and returned him to his mother who wept with joy.” All six signs gave Agnes the confidence that the Lord would “quickly grant her prayers,” because of “His merciful condescension towards her.” Agnes “could not remember” a time when her prayers were not answered. (209, 263, 262, 245)
The motive of St. Agnes’ activities was to perform “actual exercises of meritorious works.” A person may complete meritorious works with the tool of charity. “Her moving principle was charity, so that no service seemed hard or wearisome to her.” (243, 186)
Agnes was a passionate woman who felt a variety of emotions. She felt “an ardent desire to serve God” and “great joy when her prayers for others were heard.” She felt sad “and grieved” when “a great part of the walls of her convent fell down suddenly.” And she always felt a desire “to make a pilgrimage to Rome” which she joyfully did in 1306. (193, 209, 238, 240)
The above investigation allows me to make a choice about why St. Agnes was noble and heroic. While all the reasons above are attractive, I choose the instrumental agent and motive as to why she was noble and heroic. Now I shall make the following command. St. Agnes was noble and heroic, because her “ordinary practices of devotion” increased her charity and her motive was to perform “meritorious works.” Thus, I shall demonstrate my command as follows. Every person who uses devotions to increase his charity and motivated to perform meritorious works is noble and heroic. Plus, St. Agnes used ordinary devotions to increase her charity and performed meritorious works. As a result, St. Agnes was noble and heroic. Consequently, “In 1532 Pope Clement VII approved her cultus, and gave permission to the church in Montepulciano to celebrate the office of their venerable countrywoman according to the ecclesiastical rite.” (281)
Final remarks. St. Agnes is a beautiful woman and a powerful defender for the person who feels like a total failure compared to her.
© By Theodore Faulders, July 12, 2014.