Saint April 20 : Saint Agnes of Montepulciano a Miracle Worker Nun who Became a Prioress at Age 15 and whose Body is Incorrupt!

Saint Agnes of Montepulciano was born on January 28th, 1268 and died on April 20th, 1317. She was a Dominican prioress in medieval Tuscany, Italy, who was known as a miracle worker during her lifetime. 

Agnes was born into the noble Segni family in Gracciano,  a part of Montepulciano, then part of the Papal States. At the age of nine, she convinced her parents to allow her to enter a Franciscan monastery of women in the city known as the "Sisters of the Sack", due to the rough religious habit they wore. She received the permission of the pope to be accepted into this life at such a young age, which was normally against Church law.

Prayer: O God, you were pleased often to shed a heavenly dew over the blessed Agnes, your virgin, and to adorn with various fresh-blown flowers the places where she prayed; mercifully grant, through her intercession, that we be sprinkled with the unfailing w of your blessing and be made fit to receive the fruits of immortality. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

In 1281, the lord of the castle of Proceno, a fief of Orvieto, invited the nuns of Montepulciano to send some of their sisters to Proceno to found a new monastery. Agnes was among the nuns sent to found this new community. At the age of fourteen she was appointed bursar.

In 1288 Agnes, despite her youth at only 20 years of age, was noted for her devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and deep life of prayer, and was elected as the prioress of the community.  There she gained a reputation for performing miracles; people suffering from mental and physical ailments seemed cured by her presence. She was reported to have produced "multiplied loaves", on numerous occasions, recalling the Gospel miracle of the loaves and fishes. She herself, however, suffered severe illnesses which lasted for long periods of time.

In 1306, Agnes was recalled to lead the monastery in Montepulciano. Agnes reached a high degree of contemplative prayer and is said to have been favoured with many visions. After her return, she proceeded to build a church, Santa Maria Novella in Florence, to honour the Blessed Mother, as she felt she had been commanded to do in a mystical vision several years earlier. She also had a vision of Saint Dominic Guzman, under the inspiration of which she led the nuns of her monastery to embrace the Rule of Saint Augustine as members of the Dominican Order. She was frequently called upon to bring peace to the warring families of the city.

By 1316, Agnes' health had declined so greatly that her doctor suggested taking the cure at the thermal springs in the neighbouring town of Chianciano Terme. The nuns of the community prevailed upon her to take his recommendation. While many of the other people there reported being cured of their illnesses, Agnes received no benefit from the springs. Her health deteriorated to such a degree that she had to be carried back to the monastery.

Agnes died the following April, 20th at the age of 49. The Dominican friars attempted to embalm her body. It was found, however, to be producing a sweet odor on its own, and her limbs remained supple. When her body was moved years after her death to the monastery church, it was found to be incorrupt. Her tomb became the site of pilgrimages.