Bio

 

St. Agnes was born in Rome to a family that was wealthy and she was known to be very beautiful. Because of this, she always was having rich men trying to ask her on dates - but that was not what Agnes wanted. She did not want to be married and instead wanted to live a single life for God.

   Obviously, this made the young men very angry that they could not have their way with her. As punishment, they began to alert the authorities that she was Christian - which was not allowed in that time and place.

 
   The governor’s son also fell for Agnes and he tried to convince her to change her mind by bringing her expensive things and making lavish promises. She even refused him, too. He was so furious that he brought her to his father and accused her of her Christianity. She would not deny it. The governor also promised her gifts if she would give in to his son’s wishes, because he did not want to kill her, but she would not. 

   In one version of the story, she was condemned to die but walked through the streets to the spot where she was to be killed as joyful as she could be, knowing that she had kept her promise and that she would be with her truest love - Jesus - so soon. Another version states that she was first sent by the governor to work in  a brothel, but her hair immediately grew long enough to cover her and any men that attempted to rape her were struck blind. She even prayed to restore one of the men to his normal health, and he was miraculously healed. Later, she was dragged through the streets to be killed. When she arrived at the destination, she was tied to a stake to be burned,  but the flames would not catch. Instead, she was then beheaded, which finally led to her death.

   When she was killed, Agnes was likely only  12, 13, or 14 years old.