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 700th Anniversary of the Death of Blessed Agnes of Prague Scott 705-706 (1982) The feast for Saint Agnes of Bohemia, also known as Agnes of Prague, is celebrated on November 13 in her homeland. The feast is celebrated on day after the anniversary of her canonization in 1989 by Pope John Paul II (her feast falls on March 2 on the United States Liturgical Calendar). On February 16, 1982, Vatican City issued the two-stamp set shown above to commemorate the 700th anniversary of her death. Note that the stamps are titled "Blessed Agnes of Prague", since they predate her canonization in 1989. Born in Prague on January 20, 1211, Agnes was born into the Přemyslid dynasty, the ancient royal house that governed the Czech lands during its age of expansion and stabilization. Her family tree is luminary. Her father, King Ottokar I of Bohemia, firmly established the hereditary Czech crown and expanded the territorial reach of the Bohemian state. Her mother was Queen Constance of Hungary, the sister of King Andrew II of Hungary. Among her cousins was Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, the famous medieval icon of radical charity. She was also a descendant of Saint Ludmila of Bohemia and Saint Wenceslaus I, embedding her deeply within a legacy of regional holy protectors.  800th Anniversary of the Birth of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary Scott 1365 (2007) Due to her position with European hierarchy, Agnes was viewed by her family as a valuable tool for forging foreign geopolitical alliances. She was part of no fewer than four attempted arranged marriages during her youth. She avoided the first three (to Bolesław of Silesia, King Henry VII of Germany and King Henry III of England) either through death, political maneuvering or her successful rejection of the arrangement. The fourth, to the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, did not happen due to Agnes’s steadfast desire to maintain a vow of purity and focus her existence strictly on God. She appealed to Pope Gregory IX, who effectively prevented the arrangement. Frederick agreed and famously stated: "If she had left me for a mortal man, I would have taken vengeance with the sword, but I cannot take offense because in preference to me she has chosen the King of Heaven."Once freed from imperial intrigue, Agnes went on to establish religious foundations and to pursue a monastic life. Using her family's wealth, she established vital religious and humanitarian centers in Prague, including the Hospital of Saint Francis, Monastery of the Poor Ladies (Poor Clares) and two Franciscan friaries. A contemporary of Saint Francis of Assisi, she would forge a decades-long relationship with the foundress of the Poor Clares, Saint Clare of Assisi. On Pentecost in 1234, Agnes formally entered the convent at Prague to become a nun. Though she was appointed its first abbess, she rejected hierarchical luxury, preferring to be addressed simply as the "senior sister". She spent rest of her life at her convent and died at the age of 71 on March 2, 1282. Agnes was initially laid to rest inside the convent’s Chapel of the Virgin Mary. However, due to the risk of flooding, her body was repeatedly disinterred and transferred to secret locations, a task performed so well that no definitive grave site exists, and her earthly remains have been lost. Her spiritual shrine resides at the Convent of Saint Agnes in Prague.  Convent of Saint Agnes, Prague Photo by Jerzy Strzelecki From Wikimedia Commons, used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license Despite her long-time veneration within the Church, it would be over 700 years before she would be canonized. In 1874, Pope Pius IX formally beatified her and, on November 12, 1989, Pope John Paul II canonized Saint Agnes. An ancient Czech prophecy claimed that the country would “experience magnificent blessings and liberation once the relics of Saint Agnes were found or when she was finally raised to the altars [i.e, sainthood]”. Just five days after her canonization, the bloodless Velvet Revolution erupted in Prague, leading to the collapse of the totalitarian communist state, miraculously fulfilling the ancient prophecy. In 2011, she was honored in the Czech Republic as the “Saint for the Overthrow of Communism”. REFERENCES: |
