Agnes of Montepulciano

St. Agnes of Montepulciano, O.P.
Saint Agnes of Montepulciano. O.P.
Born	c. 1268 Gracciano, Siena, Italy
Died	c. 1317 Gracciano, Siena, Italy
Honored in	Roman Catholic Church
Canonized	1726 by Pope Benedict XIII
Feast	20 April

Saint Agnes of Montepulciano, O.P., (1268–1317) was born into the noble Segni family in Gracciano, a small village near Montepulciano in Tuscany, Italy, where, at the age of nine, she entered the monastery of the Dominican nuns of the Second Order.

In 1281, the lord of the castle of Proceno, a fief of Orvieto, invited the nuns of Montepulciano to send some of their Sisters to Proceno to found a new monastery. Agnes was among the nuns sent to found this new community.

In 1288 Agnes, despite her youth at only 20 years of age, was elected as prioress. There she gained a reputation for performing miracles: people suffering from mental and physical ailments seemed cured by her presence. She was reported to have "multiplied loaves", creating many from a few on numerous occasions, recalling the Gospel miracle of the loaves and fishes.

Later about 1306, Agnes established a monastery of Dominican nuns in Gracciano. She presided over this monastery until her death. After her death, her body was said to remain incorrupt, rather than decomposing. It was reported that a perfumed liquid flowed from her hands and feet.

The Dominican friar Raymond of Capua, who later served as confessor to St. Catherine of Siena, wrote an account of Agnes some fifty years later. St. Catherine herself referred to her as "Our mother, the glorious Agnes."

Agnes of Montepulciano was canonized by Pope Benedict XIII in 1726. Her feast day is the 20 April.

See also

• The Incorruptibles

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company. 
• Attwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John. The Penguin Dictionary of Saints. 3rd edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. ISBN 0-14-051312-4.
• santiebeati.it :: Sant' Agnese Segni di Montepulciano (Italian)
• Santi e beati venerati in Sant’Agostino di Recanati (Italian)