St. Agnes Feast Day Reflection
I preached this reflection on January 21, 2025, the feast of St. Agnes of Rome, at St. Thomas More Catholic Church. I wrote it against the background of the second inauguration of President Donald Trump, which happened the day prior.
On my left arm I bear the image of St. Agnes of Rome, whose feast we celebrate today. The tattoo itself took nearly 4 hours, and it shows her holding a lamb (her symbol) and a palm (the symbol of the martyrs), eyes tilted skyward towards heaven.
People often ask about this tattoo, and through trial and error, I have found it’s off-putting to answer, “Oh, she’s a teenage girl who was murdered by the Roman government.”
These days, I usually stick with, “She’s the patron saint of young women,” which gets a much warmer reception.
Tattoo by @mindcrawlerr
Both of these things are true, and both are important.
I think the first answer can lead people to believe that my tattoo is some sort of monument to women’s suffering.
Historically, this is the way that Agnes’s story has been told: as a glorification of women’s suffering.
However, there’s a word that comes up throughout today’s readings that much better encompasses Agnes’s story: hope.
St. Agnes was born to a wealthy family in the Roman Empire during a time of Christian persecution. Many suitors sought her hand, but she rejected all of them. She desired to remain a virgin and a Bride of Christ. In outrage, these men outed her to the authorities as a Christian. St. Agnes was then dragged through the streets to a brothel, where her captors tried to rape her. Hair miraculously sprouted to cover St. Agnes’s entire body, and her attempted rapists were struck blind. The men then bound and set fire to her, calling her a witch, but the flames would not burn. Ultimately, she faced death by the sword.
How is this story, one that ends in the brutal death of a young woman, a story of hope, you might ask? In today’s letter to the Hebrews, St. Paul implores us to “hold fast to the hope that lies before us.” St. Agnes shows us how.
The first way her story brings me hope is through knowing there is a Saint in heaven, praying for me, that knows what it is like to be a young woman. However many centuries have passed, young women’s bodies remain a battleground. I find great hope that there is a saint in heaven, praying for me, who knows how it feels when others do not take your power seriously, just because you are young and a woman. Who knows how it feels when men do not take no for an answer, when they physically overpower you and try to harm you. A young woman, a saint who stood tall in the face of humiliation and violence, and stayed true to herself, rooted in her Christ-given dignity, until the end.
This is the other part of her story that gives me hope. In following Agnes’s example, no matter what, I cling to the dignity that God has given me. I know, as she did, that this is something that no man can take away. Against the stain of patriarchy, and bloodshed, the suppression of women’s power and rights, against attempts to strip us of our bodily autonomy. Against all which tries to make me forget, I remember, as St. Agnes did: “I belong to [Christ] Whom the Angels serve.”
Agnes, in her own words: “You may stain your sword with my blood but you will never profane my body, that I have consecrated to Christ.”
In her honor, I live into the knowledge that God raises me up against those who would make me bow down.
Includes a coloring page, biography, and journaling questions about St. Agnes. Appropriate for ages 11+
