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St. Agnes & Archbishop George J. Lucas' Pallium

Writer's picture: Andrew LoganAndrew Logan
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Would it surprise you if I told you that though I just moved to Omaha last summer AND that I have not yet had the honor to meet our Archbishop, the Most Reverend George J. Lucas, I have a connection to him thanks to today’s Saint, Saint Agnes?  It sounds a bit strange, I know, but if you’ll come with me back to today’s date in the year 2009, I can explain!


saint agnes

So let’s rewind to 2009…I was a newly married graduate student spending my last semester studying theology in Rome.  As the semester ended, my wife and I opted to spend a few extra days in Rome prior to heading back to the U.S.  On our last day, January 21st, 2009, we decided to travel to the Church of Sant’Agnese Fuori le Mura (Saint Agnes Outside the Walls) for St. Agnes’ feast day.


Before describing the traditions that occur on her feast day, let me say a few words about our Saint.  Saint Agnes was born in 291 AD and raised in a wealthy Catholic family.  Very beautiful, many high-ranking men sought her hand in marriage.  However, having promised herself to God, she would always say, “Jesus Christ is my only Spouse.”  She was eventually martyred during the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian for refusing to renounce her faith.  Agnes, whose name means “Lamb”, died a virgin-martyr at the age of 12 or 13 on January 21, 304 and was buried in the catacombs.  In the 7th century, Pope Honorius built the Basilica of Saint Agnes Outside the Walls right over the place where she was buried.


SAV lamb

As my wife and I arrived at this same Basilica, we joined a crowd of fellow Catholics vying to see two very special guests waiting to be brought inside the Church-a pair of very adorable lambs.  The lambs rested in two separate baskets, one decorated with red flowers signifying martyrdom (with the letters “SAM” for “Saint Agnes Martyr”), the other with white flowers representing virginity (with the letters “SAV” for “Saint Agnes Virgin”).  As we took our seats and Mass began, we watched as the lambs were carried to the altar and blessed with Holy Water. While we of course stayed for Mass, the lambs were taken to the next stop on their itinerary.


pallium

Each year after they are blessed at Saint Agnes Outside the Walls, they are then taken to the Pope at the Apostolic Palace for him also to bless them.  Next, they are entrusted to the care of the Benedictine nuns of the convent of Santa Caecilia in Trastevere.  Here, they are cared for until a week or so before Easter when they are shorn of their wool.  This wool is then used to weave the Pallia (Plural for Pallium) for the newly appointed Archbishops. Once made, the Pallia are placed in the space directly below the High Altar of St. Peter’s where St. Peter’s bones rest.  Since they are placed so close to the tomb of St. Peter, the Pallia become relics of the Apostle.  On the Solemnity of the Apostles Peter and Paul, it is from there that the Pallia are taken to the Holy Father for him to give to the newly appointed Archbishops. 

           

Still with me?  I’m getting to the connection, but let me first explain the significance of the Pallium.  The Pallium, which means “mantle” or “cloak”, is a ceremonial vestment worn over the chasuble.  Made of lamb’s wool, it is a white band about 5 cm wide that is decorated with six black crosses.  The Pallium signifies the communion between the Bishop of Rome and the Archbishops whom he has appointed to oversee the Church.  The plain white wool of the Pallium also serves to remind the wearer that all power and authority comes from the Lamb of God.  One of the most famous medieval liturgists, Simon of Thessalonica, declared, “The Pallium signifies the Savior who finding us like the lost sheep puts us on His shoulders, and taking on our own human likeness in the Incarnation He glorified it, and with His death on the cross He offered us to the Father, and with the resurrection He exulted us.” 


bishop

Now the St. Agnes connection.  Those same little lambs that my wife and I petted and snapped pictures of on St. Agnes feast day in 2009 eventually gave up their wool so that it could be woven into the pallium that was given to…our own Archbishop Lucas!  On the feast of Saints Peter and Paul of that same year, Pope Benedict XVI invested then Bishop Lucas with the pallium.  About a month later on July 22, 2009, he was then installed as the fifth Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Omaha.  How about that?  Thanks to St. Agnes, my wife and I got to take part in some of the history of an Archbishop that would one day be in charge of shepherding our souls.

 

Shepherding souls is no simple task in our world full of craggy cliffs, wolves, and lost sheep.  As we head towards the 16th anniversary of the start of Archbishop Lucas’ care for us, let us thank God for all the ways that he leads us.  On this day too, let us ask for the intercession of St. Agnes, to continue to give him the courage and strength to be God’s chosen Shepherd for all of us in the Archdiocese of Omaha.

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