St. Agnes was a heroic martyr of the 3rd century who has been an inspiration to many ever since her death.
Her martyrdom struck a chord in the early Church and her life was written about by many Fathers of the Church.
Many saw in her death something unique, which shocked them to the core and made them think about their own practice of the faith.
A child mature beyond her years
Tradition states that she died at the age of 12, which is an age that is still considered in childhood.
St. Ambrose pondered this reality in his treatise On Virgins, recognizing the sharp contrast between her age and her heroic death:
There was little or no room in that small body for a wound. Though she could scarcely receive the blow, she could rise superior to it. Girls of her age cannot bear even their parents’ frowns and, pricked by a needle, weep as for a serious wound. Yet she shows no fear of the blood-stained hands of her executioners. She stands undaunted by heavy, clanking chains. She offers her whole body to be put to the sword by fierce soldiers. She is too young to know of death, yet is ready to face it. Dragged against her will to the altars, she stretches out her hands to the Lord in the midst of the flames, making the triumphant sign of Christ the victor on the altars of sacrilege. She puts her neck and hands in iron chains, but no chain can hold fast her tiny limbs.
You could see fear in the eyes of the executioner, as if he were the one condemned; his right hand trembled, his face grew pale as he saw the girl’s peril, while she had no fear for herself. One victim, but a twin martyrdom, to modesty and to religion; Agnes preserved her virginity, and gained a martyr’s crown.
St. Agnes would not be the last child-martyr, but she remains to this day one of the most influential.
She is the patroness of chastity and of all young girls.
