The patron of 20 April - Saint Agnes from Montepulciano

20 April The Catholic Church mentions Saint Agnes from Montepulciano, virgin and nun.

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Agnes was born in 1268 in Italy, in Gracciano Vecchio, near Montepulciano. She came from a noble family.

Legend has it that her birth was preceded by unusual light.
She was supposed to be a very pious child; from the earliest years she wanted to join the convent, but her parents were against.
An unusual event prompted them to give their 9-year-old daughter to a monastery school. This event was an attack of ravens that have came to the girl from "the public house" in Montepulciano. After attack, Agnes announce that a monastery would be build here.
The monastery school, to which Agnieszka was given, was run by the Franciscans.
As a fourteen-year-old girl, Agnieszka decided to become a nun.

With the permission of the Holy See at the age of 15, she headed a group of nuns and founded a new monastery in Procero.
Under the spiritual direction of the prioress - young, but wise and very devout, many new candidates applied.

In 1306, the inhabitants of Montepulciano invited her to live in their city again. The new Santa Maria Novella monastery was built in the same place where a public house once existed.

Saint Agnes sacrificed her life for faith. Despite the duties of running the monastery, she eated only bread and water for days. When she devoted herself to prayer, she fell into ecstasy. Legends say that it floated above the ground.

She died on April 20, 1317.
Pope Clement VII brought her to the glory of the blessed in 1532, and Pope Benedict XIII, on December 10, 1726, made her solemnly a saint. Her intact body in 1435 was brought to the Dominican church, where it is kept to this day.
For over 300 years, it remained intact. Later, her mortal remains were placed in the wax figure, leaving only her hands and feet in view, from which the fragrant oil poured out.

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