Feast Day: April 20
Patroness of: Montepulciano, children, those seeking healing or deliverance from evil
Order: Dominican Nun, Mystic, Abbess
Early Life and Call to Holiness
Saint Agnes was born in the year of Our Lord 1268, in the town of Gracciano, near Montepulciano, in Tuscany, Italy. From the time of her infancy, she exhibited a profound inclination toward piety. It is said that at merely four years old, she began to seek solitude for prayer, and at six, she pleaded to be admitted to a convent. Though this was against custom and ecclesiastical regulation for one so young, her persistence and evident sanctity led to her eventual entrance into a community of women living a life of penance.
At the age of nine, with the permission of Pope Nicholas IV, she entered a convent of the Order of St. Augustine in Montepulciano. Even then, she began to experience mystical graces—visions of angels, and on one occasion, the Infant Jesus Himself, Who placed a ring upon her finger, espousing her to Himself spiritually.
Leadership and Miracles
By the age of fifteen, her reputation for holiness was so great that she was appointed to assist in founding a new convent in Proceno. Though she resisted the honor out of humility, obedience prevailed, and she became prioress at an unusually young age. Her leadership was marked by great wisdom, prudence, and an extraordinary spirit of charity.
God adorned her life with many miraculous signs. The townspeople would come to her not only for spiritual counsel but also to obtain healing. It was commonly reported that she multiplied loaves, cured the sick, and even raised the dead. One notable miracle includes the creation of a spring of water in a place where none existed, to relieve the suffering of her sisters during a drought.
The odor of sanctity surrounded her even in life, and many testified to the fragrance that would emanate from her presence, especially after Communion.
Return to Montepulciano and Final Years
In obedience to Divine Providence, she returned to Montepulciano, where she was chosen to establish a new convent of the Dominican Order, under the spiritual direction of Saint Dominic’s sons. There she lived in great austerity, favoring the poor and teaching the sisters to live with zeal, poverty, and contemplative prayer.
Her visions intensified in her later years. She spoke often of Our Lady, whom she saw in celestial light, and received revelations of the Passion of Our Lord. She was also granted the gift of prophecy, foretelling events in the lives of her community and in the broader Church.
Despite her frail health and increasing bodily afflictions, she bore all with patience and joy. She passed into eternal life on April 20, 1317, at the age of 49, with her sisters gathered around her in prayer. Her last words were a prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary, whom she loved with singular devotion.
After Death and Canonization
Her body was found to be incorrupt, exhaling a sweet fragrance, and has remained so for centuries—a visible testimony to her sanctity. Her tomb in the Church of San Domenico in Montepulciano became a site of pilgrimage, with many miracles attributed to her intercession.
She was canonized by Pope Benedict XIII in 1726.
Spiritual Legacy
Saint Agnes of Montepulciano stands among the great mystics and virgins of the Church. Her life is a luminous testimony to the power of early and unwavering devotion, obedience, purity, and a deep contemplative spirit. She is often invoked by those suffering from illnesses or demonic affliction, and she is a model of feminine sanctity and strength in religious life.
Saint Catherine of Siena, herself a Dominican mystic and Doctor of the Church, visited Saint Agnes’ shrine in Montepulciano and called her “Our mother, the glorious Agnes,” expressing deep veneration.
Prayer to Saint Agnes of Montepulciano
O glorious Saint Agnes, virgin and abbess, you shone with the love of Christ and were favored with heavenly visions. Obtain for us, we pray, a love of purity, obedience, and deep prayer. Intercede for us in our needs, especially (mention request), and lead us closer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through your example of holiness. Amen.