St. Agnes of Montepulciano was born in Tuscany during the 13th century. Agnes started pleading with her parents when she was six years old to be allowed to enter a convent. Even though it is usually against Church rule to allow a child so young to join, at the age of nine, she was ultimately accepted into the Dominican convent at Montepulciano.

Agnes attracted additional sisters because of her reputation for holiness, and at the extraordinary age of fifteen, she became an abbess. She ordered that the abbey adhere to stricter austerities. She used a stone as a pillow, slept on the ground, and survived for fifteen years only on bread and water.

She was believed to have seen visions of the Virgin Mary in which angels gave her Communion. In another vision, she saw herself holding baby Jesus. She found herself clutching the little gold cross that the baby Jesus was wearing when she awoke from her trance.

In 1317, she passed away. There have been reports of miracles at her tomb. Years after her death, her remains were discovered to be incorrupt when they were transferred to a church. In 1726, she was canonized.

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