Davidson CCM/ bulletin for week of Jan 19

<![if !vml]><![endif]>Today is the feast of St. Agnes

She was a martyr during the Diocletian persecution (early 300s), aged only 12 or 13. She was denounced as a Christian by her rejected suitors (!), having chosen to dedicate her virginity to Christ. (For an interesting reflection on this, see the FAQ below.) She’s the patroness of Christian virtue withstanding political and social oppression (among other things). Fun fact: on her feast day each year, two lambs raised in a Trappist monastery near Rome are brought to the Vatican and blessed (Lat: agnus = lamb). They will be shorn on Holy Thursday and their wool used to make the pallia (a stole-like garment) that are given by the pope to new archbishops.

I hope your semester is off to a good start. There are a variety of opportunities available for you to grow in your faith, many of which demand only an hour of your time! If you’re looking for a fun reason to get off campus, check out Give Your Heart Away.~ Karen

GIVE YOUR HEART AWAY REGISTRATION ENDS THIS WEEK!

This is our annual diocesan college weekend of service and Catholic Social Teaching. We will gather at the Catholic Conference Center in Hickory on February 13-15 for fellowship, service at local agencies, theological reflection on service, and learning about Catholic Social Teaching. Service sites include a nursing home, a residence for adults with mental and intellectual challenges, trail maintenance at the Center, a thrift store, and more. Cost is $50 (see conference grant above!), though money should not keep you from attending. Register at the diocesan campus ministry website by January 23^rd: http://www.catholiconcampus.com/gyha. Contact me if you have questions.

ALTERNATIVE SPRING BREAK: RESPOND NOW

The diocese is offering an alternative spring break for Catholic college students to the Philadelphia area, working in various church-sponsored ministries and visiting a variety of religious orders—as well as having some spring break fun. You must contact me by FRIDAY if you are interested in going.

FAQs…                                  A reflection on St. Agnes and her virginity…

As mentioned above, Agnes was quite young when she was martyred, and it says something about Roman culture at the time that she was already being pestered by suitors at age 12. She was said to be quite beautiful, but also very devout and not interested in marrying, stubbornly maintaining her conviction that she had consecrated her virginity to her true spouse, Jesus Christ. Her suitors were outraged and denounced her. The local magistrate did his best to change her mind and make her offer incense to the Roman gods, but she refused. He then sent her off to a brothel to become a prostitute, but no one there would touch her. She was finally beheaded. She has been a very popular saint and appears in the list of saints in the first Eucharistic Prayer the priest sometimes uses at mass.

Here is an excerpt from Robert Ellsberg’s entry on St. Agnes in his book All Saints: Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses for Our Time.

<![if !supportLists]>·         <![endif]>“In the past, [St. Agnes’] memory undoubtedly served a tendency to idealize the virgin state. This was reinforced by the appellation ‘virgin,’ attached by the church to Agnes and other unmarried women saints. There is no corresponding word to recognize married women saints (except widow), nor is there any corresponding interest in the marital—or sexual—status of male saints. (We know, for instance, that St. Augustine was no virgin.)”

<![if !supportLists]>·         <![endif]>“In the story of Agnes, however, the opposition is not between sex and virginity. The conflict is between a young woman’s power in Christ to determine her own identity versus a patriarchal culture’s claim to identify her in terms of her sexuality. According to the view shared by her ‘suitors’ and the state, if she would not be one man’s wife, she might as well be everyman’s whore. Failing these options, she might as well be dead….The God she worshiped sets an altogether different value on her body, her identity, and her human worth. Espoused to God, she was beyond the power of any man to ‘have his way with her.’ ‘Virgin’ in this case is another way of saying Free Woman.”

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Karen Soos
Associate Chaplain and Catholic Campus Minister
Davidson College
Campus Box 7196
Davidson NC 28035
704. 894. 2423