16 novembre - S. Agnese d'Assisi, sorella di S. Chiara

[Augustinus]

Dal sito SANTI E BEATI (http://www.santiebeati.it/search/jump.cgi?ID=90359):

Sant' Agnese di Assisi

16 novembre

Assisi 1197 - Assisi 1253

Seguì risolutamente la decisione della sorella santa Chiara, raggiungendola in convento dopo pochi giorni, nonostante la tenace opposizione dei parenti. Più tardi fu destinata a fondare un nuovo monastero a Firenze, da dove ritornò in Assisi, trascorrendo gli ultimi anni a san Damiano con le sorelle Chiara e Beatrice e con la mamma Ortolana. Visse perfettamente l’ideale evangelico della povertà serafica. Morì a tre mesi di distanza dalla santa sorella.

Tra le primissime discepole di santa Chiara, ad Assisi, ci fu la sorella minore Agnese. Aveva appena quindici anni quando nel 1212, a pochi giorni dall'apertura, bussò alla porta del conventino di San Damiano che Francesco aveva designato come casa del second'ordine. La leggenda narra dello scalpore suscitato ad Assisi dalla scelta delle due sorelle. La stessa famiglia inizialmente si oppose. Ma poi finì che anche una terza sorella, Beatrice, e la stessa madre, Ortolana, seguirono Chiara. Troppo forte era, dunque, il fascino del rinnovamento spirituale che da Assisi stava iniziando a diffondersi al mondo. E proprio Agnese fu scelta nel 1219 dalla sorella Chiara per andare a fondare il secondo monastero delle clarisse, quello di Monticelli a Firenze. Qui visse in estrema povertà fino al 1253 quando già ormai malata, per suo desiderio venne ricondotta a San Damiano, dove morì. Chiara si era spenta appena tre mesi prima. (Avvenire)

Etimologia: Agnese = pura, casta, dal greco

E' presente nel Martirologio Romano. Ad Assisi in Umbria nel convento di San Damiano, santa Agnese, vergine, che, seguendo nel fiore della giovinezza le orme di sua sorella santa Chiara, abbracciò con tutto il cuore la povertà sotto la guida di san Francesco.

Nel coro del poverissimo conventino di San Damiano, presso Assisi, si possono ancora leggere i nomi delle prime compagne che seguirono Santa Chiara e l'esempio di San Francesco sulla via della totale rinunzia e dell'assoluta povertà.
Sono nomi molto belli, di donne e fanciulle di Assisi, che si direbbero quasi simbolici di quelle " colombe deargentate " che a San Damiano ebbero il primo nido: Ortolana, Agnese, Beatrice, Pacifica, Benvenuta, Cristiana, Amata, Illuminata, Consolata...
I primi tre nomi appartengono a tre donne della stessa famiglia di Santa Chiara: quello di Ortolana alla madre; quelli di Agnese e di Beatrice a due sorelle.
Agnese era la sorella minore di Chiara, e giunse a San Damiano sedici giorni dopo che Francesco, nel 1212, aveva assegnato alla sorella maggiore l'umilissimo conventino come luogo di penitenza e primo nucleo dei Secondo Ordine francescano.
Poco dopo vi giunse l'altra sorella, Beatrice, e poco dopo ancora la madre, Ortolana.
Agnese di Assisi fu così la più fedele seguace della sorella Chiara, che fu a sua volta la seguace più fedele di San Francesco. Visse nell'ombra luminosa della sorella, assoggettandosi dolcemente al suo dolce comando, sempre obbediente e sempre affettuosa.
Già il suo nome di Agnese, derivato da quello di agnus, agnello, e portato da migliaia di donne e da molte Sante, dopo l'antica Martire romana, ce la dipinge mite e mansueta, senza però farci dimenticare che anche a lei, come alla sorella maggiore, va attribuita una fermezza di carattere eccezionale e quasi virile, soprattutto nell'osservanza più rigorosa della Regola francescana nella sua più assoluta durezza.
La leggenda ha insistito, con abbondanza di particolari, sui contrasti tra la decisione delle due fanciulle, Chiara e Agnese, e quella della famiglia, che non voleva permettere il loro abbandono del mondo e quale abbandono!
Certo è che il fatto dovette suscitare un enorme scandalo nella buona società di Assisi, soprattutto perché le due sorelle non cedettero ad insistenze né a violenze, e restarono a San Damiano, seguite anzi dall'altra sorella e dalla Madre.
Veramente, Agnese non vi restò a lungo. Per quanto straziata dal distacco (ci è restata, per quanto di dubbia autenticità, una sua commoventissima lettera di commiato), obbedì alla sorella come sempre le avrebbe obbedito, per recarsi a Firenze, nel 1219, a fondarvi il secondo convento delle Clarisse, quello di Monticelli.
A Monticelli, Agnese fu superiora degna del proprio nome e della propria famiglia, affettuosa con le sue Clarisse e caritatevole verso il prossimo quanto era inflessibile verso se stessa, tenacemente attaccata ai voti francescani, soprattutto a quello dell'assoluta povertà.
Visse - di pane e di acqua, con un rude cilicio intorno ai teneri fianchi - fino al 1253, quando morì a San Damiano, secondo il suo vivissimo desiderio, tre mesi dopo la sorella Chiara. Aveva cinquantasei anni, essendo appena quindicenne quando si era fatta tagliare i lunghi capelli di avvenente fanciulla assisiate.

Fonte: Archivio Parrocchia

http://santiebeati.it/immagini/Original/90359/90359A.JPG

http://santiebeati.it/immagini/Original/90359/90359.JPG

[Augustinus]

S. Chiara d'Assisi (http://www.politicaonline.net/forum/showthread.php?t=114689)

S. Francesco d'Assisi (http://www.politicaonline.net/forum/showthread.php?t=69012)

[Augustinus]

St. Agnes of Assisi

Younger sister of St. Clare and Abbess of the Poor Ladies, born at Assisi, 1197, or 1198; died 1253. She was the younger daughter of Count Favorino Scifi. Her saintly mother, Blessed Hortulana, belonged to the noble family of the Fiumi, and her cousin Rufino was one of the celebrated "Three Companions" of St. Francis. Agnes's childhood was passed between her father's palace in the city and his castle of Sasso Rosso on Mount Subasio. On 18 March, 1212, her eldest sister Clare, moved by the preaching and example of St. Francis, had left her father's home to follow the way of life taught by the Saint. Sixteen days later Agnes repaired to the monastery of St. Angelo in Panso, where the Benedictine nuns had afforded Clare temporary shelter, and resolved to share her sister's life of poverty and penance. At this step the fury of Count Favorino knew no bounds. He sent his brother Monaldo, with several relatives and some armed followers, to St. Angelo to force Agnes, if persuasion failed, to return home. The conflict which followed is related in detail in the "Chronicles of the Twenty-four Generals." Monaldo, beside himself with rage, drew his sword to strike the young girl, but his arm dropped, withered and useless, by his side; others dragged Agnes out of the monastery by the hair, striking her, and even kicking her repeatedly. Presently St. Clare came to the rescue, and of a sudden Agnes's body became so heavy that the soldiers having tried in vain to carry her off, dropped her, half dead, in a field near the monastery. Overcome by a spiritual power against which physical force availed not, Agnes's relatives were obliged to withdraw and to allow her to remain with St. Clare. St. Francis, who was overjoyed at Agnes's heroic resistance to the entreaties and threats of her pursuers, presently cut off her hair and gave her the habit of Poverty. Soon after, he established the two sisters at St. Damian's, in a small rude dwelling adjoining the humble sanctuary which he had helped to rebuild with his own hands. There several other noble ladies of Assisi joined Clare and Agnes, and thus began the Order of the Poor Ladies of St. Damian's, or Poor Clares, as these Franciscan nuns afterwards came to be called. From the outset of her religious life, Agnes was distinguished for such an eminent degree of virtue that her companions declared she seemed to have discovered a new road to perfection known only to herself. As abbess, she ruled with loving kindness and knew how to make the practice of virtue bright and attractive to her subjects. In 1219, Agnes, despite her youth, was chosen by St. Francis to found and govern a community of the Poor Ladies at Monticelli, near Florence, which in course of time became almost as famous as St. Damian's. A letter written by St. Agnes to Clare after this separation is still extant, touchingly beautiful in its simplicity and affection. Nothing perhaps in Agnes's character is more striking and attractive than her loving fidelity to Clare's ideals and her undying loyalty in upholding the latter in her lifelong and arduous struggle for Seraphic Poverty. Full of zeal for the spread of the Order, Agnes established from Monticelli several monasteries of the Poor Ladies in the north of Italy, including those of Mantua, Venice, and Padua, all of which observed the same fidelity to the teaching of St. Francis and St. Clare. In 1253 Agnes was summoned to St. Damian's during the last illness of St. Clare, and assisted at the latter's triumphant death and funeral. On 16 November of the same year she followed St. Clare to her eternal reward. Her mother Hortulana and her younger sister Beatrice, both of whom had followed Clare and Agnes into the Order, had already passed away. The precious remains of St. Agnes repose near the body of her mother and sisters, in the church of St. Clare at Assisi. God, Who had favoured Agnes with many heavenly manifestations during life, glorified her tomb after death by numerous miracles. Benedict XIV permitted the Order of St. Francis to celebrate her feast. It is kept on 16 November, as a double of the second class.

Fonte: The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. I, New York, 1907 (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01213a.htm)

[Augustinus]

SAINT AGNES OF ASSISI

Saint Agnes of Assisi, sister of saint Clare "by flesh and by purity " (LegCl 24), was the second daughter of Ortolana and Favarone Offreduccio of Assisi. From the 14th century Chronicles of the 24 Ministers General of the Order of Friars Minor. (Quaracchi, 1857, pages 173-182), we know that she died at the age of 56 in 1253, shortly after her sister Clare. From this one can deduce that she was born in 1197. The name of Agnes was given to her by saint Francis when with his own hand her cut her hair after "the innocent Lamb, for Jesus Christ, who sacrificed himself for our sake, gave strong resistance and manly combat" (ibid).

Before this she was in fact called Catherine (cL AFH, Archivium Franciscanum Historicum, 13,1920, pg. 275). We find her as a very young child in Perugia, where the family of Favarone fled for refuge. Here they remained for several years, after open warfare broke out and on-going battles of armed conflict followed one after another among the people revolting against the domination of the Emperor as well as against the feudal lords. Her personality was therefore shaped amidst the family household aspirations to power and prestige which made alliance with the Perugians against the city of her birth, as well as by the example of devotion and virtue which she saw in her mother and her older sister, Clare.

'She had an affinity of spirit with her" even if she was attracted by the world and "the thought of a carnal marriage". However, "a marvellous mutual love had taken hold of both of them" (LegCl 24), which for several reasons made the separation painful for the 15 year old Agnes when Clare left to follow the Franciscan ideal in the life of Most High Poverty.

Clare "among the first prayers she offered to God, with all her heart, ardently begged this grace that, just as she had an affinity of spirit with her sister in the world, she might also have now a unity of will in the service of God. Therefore she prayed continuously to the Father of mercy that the world might become insipid to Agnes, her sister at home, and that God might become pleasing to her... that she might together with her be espoused in eternal virginity to the Spouse of glory. The divine majesty answered without delay the exceptional woman of prayer and quickly gave her that first gift that she so eagerly sought and that was so greatly pleasing for God to present" (ibid). And it is here that a light illumines the heart of Agnes and reveals the reality of a divine love, free and sovereign, that will rule her young life and become everything for her. In fact sixteen days after the conversion of Clare, moved by the Divine Spirit, she hurries to join her sister, and reveals to her sister the intimate secret of her will, she confesses that she wants to give herself totally to the service of God.

The two sisters follow in the footsteps of Christ to the church of Sant'Angelo in Panzo, where the violent attack of their family rises against them. The men attempt to carry away Agnes, while Clare throwing herself on. her knees in prayer with tears, implores that her sister will be given strength of will. Suddenly, even with all their might and strength, the knights can no longer lift the young girl from the ground. Her own Uncle Monaldo, overpowered by rage, intended to strike her a lethal blow, but a terrible pain suddenly struck his raised hand. He was restrained from such a blow and all the men left in bitterness at their failure.

Following this, Francis instructed her in the ways of the Lord, bringing her, together with Clare, to the little monastery of San Damiano, where a little later they will be joined by their other sister Beatrice and by their own mother, Ortolana. Here, at the school of Clare, not fearing to embrace the suffering, the fatigue and the deprivations of poverty, we find Agnes present when the sisters were lacking even oil. Clare with her prayer worked the miracle that found the container full even before the brother called to go and beg to have it filled had come to take it away (ProcCan 1, 1 5).

Following the same path as her sister, Agnes loved to contemplate the poor Christ in the mystery of the Incarnation and of the Passion. Wadding recounts the incident of the vision which Agnes, like Clare, had of the Nativity of the Lord (Wadding, Annales Minorum, 111, Quaracchi, Florence, 1931, pg. 350). In fact, she is often portrayed iconographically with the Infant Jesus. Her other focus is on the Crucified, contemplating "the ineffable charity that led him to suffer on the wood of the Cross" for the redemption of humankind.

From the "life" inserted into the Chronicles of the 24 Generals we know in fact that "one time, while apart from the others, in the silence of the night devotedly kept for prayer, the blessed Clare remained to pray. While not far away she saw her at prayer completely lifted from the ground mid suspended in the air, crowned with three crowns by an Angel after an interval of time. The following day... constrained by obedience to the blessed Clare, she related what follows: first, sincerely considering the goodness and patience of God and how each day he allows himself to be offended by sinners, I meditated, grieving and sorrowful. Secondly, I meditated on the ineffable love that he brings to sinners and how for their salvation he underwent death and his most bitter passion. Thirdly, I pondered on the souls in purgatory and on their sufferings, and how of themselves they are not able in any way to obtain relief.

The love of the Eucharist must have been particularly significant for Agnes, as for Clare and the sisters, evidenced from the moment she established communication with Cardinal Hugolino (Letter from Cardinal Hugolino to saint Clare, 1220, in Wadding, Annales Minorum, ad annum 1221, n. XX).

Truly, as the author of the Legend of saint Clare says, "one cannot make a brief discussion to illustrate the wondrous perfection of her life".

It is not known precisely when Agnes left Assisi to go to the monastery of Santa Maria al Sepolcro of Monticelli, in Florence. Here the community, lead by the Abbess Avvegnente, was already vigorously following the "observantiae regulares" of San Damiano, based on the writings and words of Saint Francis. They felt, however, the necessity of receiving a more direct formation. We know that Agnes was still at San Damiano in 1220 from the above mentioned letter of Cardinal Hugolino. This letter was most probably written after Easter, which that year he had spent in Assisi, and he ends with "Greet the virgin Agnes, my sister, and all the sisters in Christ".

Sister Chiara Lucia Garzonio (cf. Senza voltarsi indietro - Vita di S. Agnese d'Assisi, Libreria Ed. Fiorentina, 1991) is inclined to date her departure about 1221. This conclusion comes from the Chronicles of the monastery of Monticelli itself which were compiled in 1649. These documents, based on earlier documents which were subsequently lost, stated that as for going to Florence "Francis himself promised to send Agnes of Assisi to the Florentine Sisters". The 14th century Chronicles of the 24 Generals cited at the beginning of this article as a reference make reference to the fact that "she was sent by Blessed Francis as the abbess to Florence, where, as with the example of holiness of life, and with words that were sweet and persuasive, filled with love of God, fervent in contempt of the world, she was planted in this monastery, though she yearned for saint Clare, she followed the life of gospel poverty". The surest confirmation of this would then be the documents of the monastery of Sant'Apollinare in Milan founded in 1222, when Monticelli sent Sr. Giacome, who was explicitly named the companion of Agnes who was the sister of Clare.

Different studies, on the other hand, based on the Letters of Agnes (AFH, 1920, 496) which were written to her sister shortly after the time of her arrival at Florence definitely support after 1228 (cf. Lainati, Short Biography of St. Agnes of Assisi, in Saint Clare of Assisi, Ed. Porziuncola 1980, pgs. 117-120; Omaechevarria, Writings of St. Clare,, Madrid 1982, pgs. 361-362; Zoppetti-Bartoli, St. Clare of Assisi Writings and Documents, Ed. Franc. 1994, pg. 403). In her swritings Agnes speaks at length of the suffering of separation. 'This distress has a beginning, but knows no end". At the same time she speaks of the wonderful welcome she received in Florence. "I have found great harmony and no factions here, which is beyond belief. Everyone has received me with great happiness and joy, and has very devoutly promised me obedience and reverence".

This letter concludes with two interesting references. The first probably refers to the privilege of poverty only verbally received by the Pope, and the second refers to the desire to be visited by friar Elias. "Be assured that the Lord Pope has satisfied me, as I have said, and has satisfied you too, in all things and in every way according to your intention and mine regarding... our position on the ownership of property. I beseech you to ask brother Elias to visit me more often to console me in the Lord". We find Agnes again at San Damiano towards the end of the life of saint Clare. In the fourth letter to Agnes of Prague it is. Clare herself who confirms this, mentioning "the most prudent virgin Agnes, our sister". From the Legend of saint Clare we know of the promise that the dying Clare made to her sister who was nearby: "It is pleasing to God that I depart. But stop crying, because you will come to the Lord a short time after me. And the Lord will console you greatly after I have left you" (LegCl 43). "After a few days, Agnes, called to the wedding feast of the Lamb followed her sister Clare to the eternal delights" (LegCl #48). The veneration of Agnes began the day after her death. It was solemnly ratified by Pope Benedict XIV, and her feast is celebrated in the Franciscan Calendar on November 16.

At the end of the 2nd Millennium, in the first year of preparation for the Great jubilee, it is very relevant to ponder saint Agnes of Assisi, who centered her whole life around Jesus Christ, the only Saviour of the world.

-Sr. Chiara Mariana Raiola, osc - 'Mater Ecclesiae, Vatican City

FONTE (http://web.inter.nl.net/users/clarissenklooster/script/agns-assi.html)