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Also known as: Agnes of Bohemia
Profile
Princess. Daughter of King Ottokar I (Ottocar) and Queen Constance of
Bohemia. Relative of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary.
Educated by Cistercian nuns at Trebnitz. Though she early perceived a
call to religious life, Agnes was for years promised into a series of
arranged marriages for political reasons. At age three she was promised
to a prince named Boleslaus. When he died young, prior to the marriage,
she was betrothed to Prince Henry, son of the Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick II. When Henry chose to marry another, young Agnes was
betrothed to Emperor Frederick himself. With the help and intervention
of Pope Gregory IX, Frederick was affronted, but released from her
marriage obligations, acknowledging that he had lost her to the king of
heaven.
She built a Franciscan hospital on land donated by her brother, King
Wenceslaus I. She then established the Confraternity of the Crusadera of
the Red Star to staff it and its related clinics. She later built a
Franciscan friary, and in 1234, Poor Clare convent of Saint Saviour in
Prague with the aid of five nuns sent by Clare of Assisi herself. Agnes
entered the convent of Saint Saviour herself on Pentecost Sunday 1234,
eventually became its abbess, and spent 50 years in the cloister.
Agnes was always free with her wealth in service of the poor. She
enjoyed cooking for the other sisters, and mending the clothes of
lepers. She had the gifts of healing and prophecy, and was given to
ecstasies. Though they never met, she and Saint Clare of Assisi kept up
an extensive correspondence for two decades, and some of the letters
have survived to today.
Born: 1205 at Prague, Bohemia (modern Czech Republic)
Died: 6 March 1282 at Saint Saviour convent, Prague, Bohemia of
natural causes
Beatified: 1874 by Pope Pius IX
Canonized: 12 November 1989 by Pope John Paul II at Rome
Readings
Agnes of Bohemia, although she lived in a period far removed from ours,
still remains a shining example of the Christian faith and heroic
charity, which invites us to reflection and imitation. She is an example
of courage and spiritual help for the young people who generously
consecrate themselves to the religious life; for all those who follow
Christ; she is a stimulus of charity practiced toward everyone with
total dedication, overcoming every barrier of race, nation or mentality;
she is the heavenly protectress of our difficult daily journey. To her
we can therefore turn with great trust and hope.
- Pope John Paul II, during the canonization of Saint Agnes
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