Agnes of Assisi

Infobox Saint
name=Saint Agnes of Assisi
birth_date=1197/1198
death_date=death date|1253|11|16|mf=y
feast_day=November 16
venerated_in=Roman Catholicism


imagesize=200px
caption=Saint Agnes of Assisi
birth_place=Assisi
death_place=Assisi
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canonized_date=
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major_shrine=church of St. Clare, at Assisi
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St. Agnes of Assisi was the younger sister of Saint Clare of Assisi and Abbess of the Poor Ladies (1197/1198 at Assisi – 1253).

Biography

She was a younger daughter of Count Favorino Scifi. Her birth name was probably Caterina; she took on the name of Agnes when she entered the monastery. [ Bartoli p. 80 ] Her mother, Blessed Hortulana, belonged to the noble family of the Fiumi, and her cousin Rufino was one of the "Three Companions" of Francis of Assisi. Agnes' childhood was passed between her father's palace in the city and his castle of Sasso Rosso on Mount Subasio.

On March 18, 1212, her eldest sister Clare, inspired by the example of Francis, left her father's home to become a follower of the saint. Sixteen days later, Agnes retired to the monastery of St. Angelo in Panso, resolved to share her sister's life of poverty and penance. Angry at having lost two of his daughters, her father sent his brother Monaldo, and several relations and armed followers to the monastery to force Agnes, if persuasion failed, to return home.

Monaldo drew his sword to strike his niece, but his arm allegedly dropped to his side, withered and useless. The others dragged Agnes out of the monastery by her hair, striking her and kicking her repeatedly. Agnes' body reportedly became so heavy, perhaps due to the help of her sister, that her assailants dropped her in a field nearby. Agnes' relatives, purportedly realizing that something divine protected her, allowed the sisters to remain together. St. Francis himself cut her hair and gave her the habit of Poverty, in recognition of Agnes' resistance.

Clare and Agnes were joined by other noble ladies at St. Damian's, and the Order of the Poor Ladies of St. Damian's, or the Poor Clares, began. Agnes was said to be very virtuous, and as abbess she ruled with a benevolent kindness, knowing how to make the practice of virtue appealing to her students. In 1219, she was chosen to found and govern a community of the Poor Ladies at Monticelli in Florence. She later went on to establish other communities of the order.

Agnes attended her sister during the latter's illness, and shortly thereafter died, on November 16, 1253. Her remains, and those of her sister, were interred at the church of St. Clare, at Assisi.

Agnes' feast day is the day of her death, November 16.

References

ource

* Bartoli, Marco. "Chiara d'Assisi". Rome 1989: Instituto Storico dei Cappucini.
*Catholic