Women in the Early Church Issue 17 | 1988

ARTICLE TOOLS

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So brave a girl, a martyr famed

Was Agnes, who in Romulus’ home

Lies buried in a tomb. She sees

In death Rome’s towering roofs

And so she keeps her people safe.

She also shields the pilgrims there

Who pray with pure and faithful hearts.

A double crown of martyrdom

Sets this noted girl apart:

Virginity free from any fault,

Then honor from a death she chose.

Hardly old enough to wed,

She was a little girl, they say,

By chance a child of tender years,

But aglow for Christ, with manly heart,

She defied the shameless laws.

For pagan idols she would not

Desert her holy, sacred faith.

First lured by many skillful tricks—

Now the lures of fawning judge,

Now the raging butcher’s threats—

She stood her ground tenaciously,

Of savage strength she freely gave

Her body to the harsh abuse;

She did not flee impending death ….