Saint Agnes of Rome

In the year 291 in Rome, Saint Agnes was born. She also goes by the name Saint Ines. The name Agnes means "pure or sacred" in Greek. Saint Agnes went through quite a lot for her beliefs in her times and is remembered as a virgin-martyr for it.Agnes was raised by a wealthy Roman family to be a good Christian. At the age of just thirteen Agnes was told by a bunch of pagans that she had been chosen to be raped in as a sacrifice to their gods they worshipped.

Agnes, being the good Christian that she was, was still a virgin and had planned to give her life to God and remain that way. The pagans were not interested in hearing about Agnes' wishes though, and proceeded to demand she follow their wishes.

The group of men had a temple in Rome devoted to the Minerva, a godess of their religion. This is where they brought Agnes to have the sacrifice done. Agnes still would not allow the men to carry on with their sacrifice though. Some of the men even offered to marry Agnes, so she would not be having pre-marital sex, but she refused stating she wanted to give her life to God. She vowed to die before allowing any of the men near her.

This angered the men very much, so they grabbed Agnes and tied her to the back of a horse and had her dragged through the streets of Rome naked. They brought her to a brothel to set out to do what they had originally planned and rape Agnes. However, when the men went to try they were all instantly blinded.

This was the final straw and the men had had enough. St. Agnes was to be burned at the stake. So they took her out to a field, still tied up, and began trying to light the wood. The wood would not burn even the slightest bit.

One frusrated soldier decided to take matters into his own hands and behead Agnes on the spot. He did so and Agnes died a martyr showing awesome virtue and dedication to God even in the face of trouble.

Saint Agnes' feast day is on January 21st, and she is known by all as the patron saint of girls, engaged couples, virgins, and rape victims.