St. Agnes of Rome
Patron of young girls, chastity, engaged couples, Girl Scouts
Saint Agnes (c. 291–304) was a Roman girl of about twelve who refused marriage with a prefect's son because she had pledged her virginity to Christ. Denounced as a Christian, she was dragged to the brothels of the Stadium of Domitian, miraculously preserved, then beheaded under Diocletian. Her name (Latin agnus, 'lamb') made her the patroness of innocence, and every year on her feast two lambs are blessed at her tomb on the Via Nomentana; their wool is woven into the pallia worn by metropolitan archbishops. Among the first virgin martyrs honored in the Roman Canon, she is one of the most painted saints of Christian art.