Who was Saint Agnes?
Saint Agnes was a virgin martyr and saint of the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Catholic Churches. She is the patron saint of chastity, gardeners, girls, engaged couples, rape victims, and virgins. She is also known as Saint Agnes of Rome and Saint Ines. Her feast day is January 2. Hundreds of churches are named in her honor. She is depicted in art with a lamb, as name resembles the Latin word agnus, which means, “lamb”. The name “Agnes” is actually derived from the feminine Greek adjective meaning “chaste, pure, sacred.” Hrosvit of Gandersheim wrote a play about Saint Agnes in the 10th century. She is also acknowledged in the Church of England and it’s Anglican Communion as well as in Eastern Orthodoxy. According to her legend, Saint Agnes was a member of the Roman nobility born c. 291 and raised in a Christian family. She suffered martyrdom at age 13 during the reign of the Eastern Roman Emperor Diocletian, on January 21, 304. The prefect Sempronius wished her to marry his son, an
