Saint Agnes of Montepulciano
<p>St. Agnes of Montepulciano was born in Tuscany, Italy in 1268. 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 invited the Nuns of Montepulciano to send some of their Sister to Proceno to found a new monastery. St. Agnes was among the Nuns sent to found this new Community. </p>
<p>In 1288, Agnes, despite her youth at only twenty years of age, was elected as Prioress. It wasn’t long and she gained a reputation for performing miracles. Just by her presence, people with mental and physical ailments seemed to be cured. She was witnessed to multiply loaves, creating many from a few on numerous occasions, while recalling and speaking about the Gospel miracle of the loaves and fishes being multiplied. </p>
<p>Agness established a Monastery of Dominican Nuns in Gracciano in 1306. She presided over this monastery until her death in 1317. When she was exhumed and her body moved to a Church years later, her body was found incorrupt. The Dominican friar Raymond of Capua, who served as Confessor to St. Catherine of Siena, wrote an account of Agnes fifty years later. St. Catherine of Siena herself referred to her as “Our Mother, the Glorious Agnes”. Pope Benedict XIII canonized her in 1726, and her feast day is April 20<sup>th</sup>. </p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>Practical Take Away</strong></span></p>
<p>St. Agnes of Montepulciano was born in Tuscany, Italy in 1268. At the age of nine, she entered the Monastery of the Dominican Nuns of the Second Order. She established a Monastery of Dominican Nuns in Gracciano. She had a reputation for performing miracles, and many with mental or physical ailments were healed in her presence. She was the Abbot of the Monastery in Gracciano until she died in 1317. St. Catherine Sienna was a Nun there after her death. She was canonized in 1726, and her body is incorrupt. Her feast day is April 29<sup>th</sup>. </p>
