January 21, St. Agnes Pray for us
Today is the Feast of St. Agnes and a special ceremony occurs at the Vatican on this day. Pope Benedict will bless two sheep, and the wool from these sheep will be used to make the pallia or the circular bands given to new Archbishops on the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. Pope Benedict wears a very large one with red crosses on it. Archbishops wear smaller ones with black crosses on them. They wear this over their shoulders as a sign that they must carry their flock on their shoulders, just as Christ the good Shepherd carries the Church.
I suppose that the Feast of St. Agnes is chosen as the day for this blessing becuase of the similarity of her name to the Latin word for Lamb, “Agnus.” She is the little ewe lamb who in obedience to Christ her spouse, gave her life as an offering as a sign of her love for him. Both St. Augustine and St. Ambrose write that she was 12 years old when she was martyred. She reminds us that the Christian life has at its center obedience and sacrifice, two things that are not viewed too highly today.
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