St Agnes & the Blessing of the Lambs

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St Agnes, Agnese in Agone

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January 21st is the feast day of St Agnes, the patron saint of virgins.  
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A single statue, that of St Agnes, crowns the beautiful Baroque facade of the 17th century church of Sant' Agnese in Agone. 

A lamb is the main attribute of St Agnese and each year, on this date, two lambs are blessed in the ancient church of Sant' Agnese fuori le Mura. The lambs will provide the wool for the pallium, a kind of stole, which the Pope presents in person on the Feast of St Peter and Paul (June 29th) to Metropolitan Bishops who have been appointed in the previous year.

St Agnes (c.291 - c.304) was martyred when she was only twelve or thirteen years old. Her attribute is a lamb, probably on account of the similarity of her name to the Latin agnus (lamb). However, this is a false derivation, for Agnes comes from the Greek word meaning chaste. 

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