Praised be Jesus and Mary.
Saint Agnes, whom we celebrate today, was only 12 years old when she was led to the
altar of Minerva in Rome and commanded to offer incense to the pagan goddess.
And she did nothing more than raise her hands to heaven and make the sign of the cross.
And that did it.
And she was bound hand and foot, even though the manacles slipped from her small hands.
The pagans who stood around were moved to tears by one so young because they thought
she was throwing her life away untasted, as Saint Ambrose put it in this morning's
Office of Readings.
Chains or ropes, they weren't needed for her.
Because she gladly went to the place of her torture.
And when the judge saw that pain held no terrors for her, he inflicted a sentence worse than
death.
She was condemned to be taken to a brothel and her clothes stripped off.
And she said,
I have an angel with me, and he will guard me.
Christ, whom you do not know, surrounds me like a wall which cannot be penetrated.
And so it happened.
Our Lord, the spouse of virgins, demonstrated by a miracle his protection of the pure of heart.
Her hair grew to such a length.
Her hair grew to such a length that she was entirely covered by it.
And the place to which she was taken was illuminated by a brilliant, mysterious light.
And there she knelt down to pray.
And at that site, a church has been built in honor of her victory over impurity.
There was only one disrespectful man.
The.
The cause of her arrest is a Christian who dared to approach her, and her angel struck
him dead at her feet.
And his father begged Agnes to raise him up again by her magic arts.
And she answered that magic wasn't responsible for his death.
But only the young pagan.
Agnes's lack of respect for God.
She said she would pray to him that her Lord's glory might be manifested by the miracle that
his father requested, and it was granted.
At length, the sentence of death by the sword was passed upon her.
And for a moment, she stood erect in prayer, and then she bowed her neck to the sword,
rejoicing that the time of her liberation had arrived.
A week after her death, St. Agnes appeared to her parents, who were praying at her tomb.
And she was.
Uh.
Among a choir of virgins, clothed in golden robes and crowned with garlands, she begged
her parents not to weep for her as for one dead, telling them rather to rejoice with
her in her happiness.
So let us pray to St. Agnes today.
For the intention.
For which this Mass is being offered, namely for a rebirth of chastity, purity, and modesty
in our world.
Her innocence endeared St. Agnes to Christ.
And it has endeared her to his church ever since.
So everyone.
You know.
Including.
Our repentant sinners can imitate her innocence by guarding our senses, so that when our Blessed
Mother sees that we desire to keep our hearts pure for love of her Son, she will strengthen
our resolution and bless it.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.