Pope receives lambs on St. Agnes feast

(January 21, 2011) Pope Benedict XVI John Paul on Friday observed an age-old annual tradition on the liturgical Feast of St. Agnes on Jan. 21, accepting two lambs whose white wool will be used to make the pallium, which metropolitan archbishops wear around their necks as a symbol of their authority and unity with the pope. St. Agnes, meaning lamb in Latin, was a popular Roman teenage saint of the early 4th century, known for her consecrated virginity who was martyred for refusing to worship pagan gods. This is why one of the lambs wears a crown of white flowers and the other red, symbolizing Agnes’ purity and martyrdom respectively. The lambs that are raised by the nuns of the Roman monastery of the St. Lawrence in Panisperna are blessed at a ceremony in the Basilica of St. Agnes, on Jan. 21, and then presented to the Pope. The wool of the lambs is used to weave the palliums that are given annually to newly-appointed metropolitan archbishops on June 29, the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul.