Basilica of Saint Agnes Outside the Walls
Our next Church on our Roman pilgrimage, this one starting our Saturday, was the Basilica of St. Agnes Outside the Walls. What walls, you ask? The ancient city walls. There are still ruins of them in places around Rome, but to make things more confusing, they were expanded at various points in history. Today, this Church feels very firmly in Rome.
After the martyrdom of Saint Agnes around 304 during the persecution of Diocletian, she was buried in a cemetery here. Constantia, the daughter of the Emperor Constantine visited the grave and received a miraculous cure for a skin ailment. In gratitude, she built a church on the site between 337-350. The church underwent restoration under Pope Symmachus (498-514) and was completely rebuilt around 630 under Pope Honorius. The last major restoration in 1855-56 was overseen by Pius IX.
The Church remains much the same as when Honorius built it. The coffered ceiling of carved and gilded wood dates from 1606. The second level on the sides used to be the “women’s galleries.” The martyrdom of St. Agnes is represented on the fresco above the arch at the front. The real focal point is the apse mosaic, dating from the time of Honorius I. It is one of the oldest examples of Byzantine-Roman mosaic in the city. In the center is Saint Agnes, flanked on her left by Pope Symmachus and on her right by Pope Honorius I.
There is a side altar dedicated to Saint Emerentiana, who was Agnes’ foster sister. She was a catechumen at the time of Agnes’ martyrdom. She was attacked by pagans and stoned to death while visiting her sister’s tomb soon after Agnes was killed. Her relics, as well as those of St. Agnes, are beneath the main altar, having been discovered in 1605 and moved there.
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Grace & peace,
Chris