21 January 2021
Memorial of Saint Agnes, Virgin and Martyr
The story of St. Agnes, the saint whose feast we commemorate today, set the stage for similar acts of heroism including in recent times Maria Goretti who died in 1902 and was canonized in 1950. The story of the life of St. Agnes established an often copied narrative: A young attractive girl choses chastity and a life dedicated to God over the forced advances of a powerful man and suffers death for the choice. The early Church held Agnes up for the highest esteem, granting her a place in the Roman cannon as well as a rather large church on the via Nomentana. A society can be known by those they identify as heroes because a hero, or heroine, lives out the virtue of a given society. In the age of Covid, we identify heroes who risk their lives in support of others. Today’s memorial provides us with the opportunity to examine who we consider as heroes and the virtues and values these heroes represent.