Агнесса Ассизская: Жизнь и подвиги святой

Christian saint

Agnes of Assisi (1197 or 1198 – 16 November 1253) was a younger sister of Clare of Assisi and one of the first abbesses of the Order of Poor Ladies (now the Poor Clares). Pope Benedict XIV canonized her as a saint in 1753.

She was a younger daughter of Count Favorino Scifi. Her birth name was probably Caterina; she took the name of Agnes when she became a nun. Her mother, Ortolana, who also would join the order founded by her daughters, belonged to the noble family of the Fiumi. Their cousin Rufino Scifi was one of the original "Three Companions" of Francis of Assisi. Agnes spent her childhood between her father's palace in the city and his castle of Sasso Rosso on Mount Subasio. On 18 March 1212, her eldest sister Clare, inspired by the example of Francis of Assisi, left their father's home in secret to become a follower of Francis. Sixteen days later, Agnes ran off to the Church of St. Angelo di Panzo where Francis had brought her sister, resolved to share Clare's life of poverty and penance. Angry at the loss of two of his daughters, their father sent his brother Monaldo and several relatives and armed followers to the monastery to force Agnes, if persuasion failed, to return home. Although life in the Florentine convent was harmonious and without faction, she missed her sister greatly. Her remains were interred with those of her sister at the Basilica of St. Clare at Assisi. Agnes' feast day is the anniversary of her death, 16 November. She was canonized in 1753, the year of her 500th anniversary, by Pope Benedict XIV.