Reading
2 Corinthians 6:16-18
What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will live in them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore come out from them, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch nothing unclean; then I will welcome you, and I will be your father, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”
Devotion
This week's painting, entitled The Eve of St. Agnes, dates from 1863. Created by British artist John Everett Millais (1829-1896) it was inspired by a Keating poem by the same title. The painting is a part of the Royal Collection and I haven't viewed it personally. There is a watercolor version I have seen once upon a time in the Victoria and Albert museum in London.
21 January is the Feast of St. Agnes. Millais shows us a romantic, Anglican vision of a virtuous young woman. She stands framed by shadows that seem to imprison her. The richness of her clothes and the setting are at odds with the way she is holding her hands. Her head is slightly cocked to one side. Is she looking at something we cannot see? That would align with the legend of Agnes who was born in 291 and put to death in 304 during the reign of Diocletian. What threat might a 12- or 13-year-old girl have been to the Roman Empire or to social order? Her crime was her purity and devotion to Christ.
Where do you draw the line on your faith, dear reader? Where does your faith put you at odds with the forces of empire or culture? How do you this week find your faith challenged?
Prayer
Almighty eternal God, who in the midst of pagan darkness, having in particular care your faithful servant St. Agnes, preserved her in innocence and gave her the crown of martyrdom in Your glory, we ask You humbly to deliver us through her intercession from the darkness of sin, and bring us through the road of virtue to the glory that she shares forever with You, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.