This holy virgin was a native of Monte Pulciano, in Tuscany. She had scarce attained to the use of reason, when she conceived an extraordinary relish and ardor for prayer, and in her infancy often spent whole hours in reciting the Our Father and Hail Mary, on her knees, in some private corner of a chamber.

At nine years of age she was placed by her parents in a convent of Sackins, of the order of St. Francis, so called from their habit, or at least their scapular, being made of sackcloth. Agnes, in so tender an age, was a model of all virtues to this austere community: and she renounced the world, though of a plentiful fortune, being sensible of its dangers before she knew what it was to enjoy it. Continue reading →