• January 21, 2026, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET
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Friends of the Rosary,
Today, January 21, the faithful celebrate the feast of St. Agnes, one of the most notorious martyrs of ancient Rome, along with St. Cecilia. She was a young virgin martyred under the Roman emperor Diocletian around the year 304.
Devotion to her is of ancient standing, and two churches in Rome commemorate her witness. Agnes is invoked in the canon of the Mass, in the Eucharistic Prayer I.
The name of “Agnes” means “lamb-life.” The lamb is the symbol of the innocence of the virgin-martyr.
Agnes, a girl of twelve, freely died for Christ. When she was commanded to offer incense to false Gods, she raised her hand and made the Sign of the Cross. And when the son of the Roman prefect offered to marry her, she replied:
“The one to whom I am betrothed is Christ Whom the angels serve. For Him alone I keep my troth, to Him I surrender with all my heart.”
Today, we also celebrate the feast of Our Lady of High Grace, in Spanish la Virgen Maria de la Altagracia.
The image of Our Lady of Altagracia was crowned twice: in 1922 by Pope Pius XI, and in 1979 by Pope John Paul II, who, during his visit to Santo Domingo, personally crowned the image with a golden silver tiara, his personal gift to the Virgin, the first evangelizer of the Americas.
Ave Maria!
Come, Holy Spirit, come!
To Jesus through Mary!
Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
Please give us the grace to respond with joy!
+ Mikel Amigot w/ María Blanca | RosaryNetwork.com, New York
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