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| Image: Saint Agnes miraculously receiving the Blessed Sacrament from an angel |
Saint Agnes was born to a noble family in Tuscany. At her birth, strange lights surrounded her dwelling, which people considered that meant this child was to be a favoured one. At only nine years of age, she requested to join the Franciscan monastery in Montepulciano. Though this was against church law, she was granted exemption from the pope. She reached a high degree of contemplative prayer and performed her duties very well. She was then asked to help found and lead a new monastery in Proceno even though she was only 15 years old. She was known as a mystic and visionary, while fostering a devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and lived there for 20 years. Her fame spread due to her miracles as well as her austerities. She slept on the floor and ate only bread and drank only water and used a stone for a pillow. She eventually returned to Montepulciano and founded and led a larger monastery. A vision told her that it will be a convent for Dominican nuns dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Among her miracles, includes curing the sick, multiplying food and raising to life a child who had drowned.
