• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • Radio/Podcasts
        • Catholic Review Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
        • In God’s Image
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Pope Leo XIV blesses two lambs in the Urban VIII Chapel at the Vatican Jan. 21, 2026, the feast of St. Agnes. The lambs are bound and placed in baskets to prevent them from running away. The wool from the lambs is used to make the palliums worn by new metropolitan archbishops. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

In a moment of Vatican sweetness, Pope Leo receives lambs in ancient St. Agnes tradition

January 21, 2026
By OSV News
OSV News
Filed Under: News, Saints, Vatican, World News

VATICAN CITY (OSV News) — Adding some sweetness to the usual general audience-focused Wednesday, Pope Leo XIV was presented with two lambs Jan. 21 as part of an ancient Roman Catholic tradition marking the feast of St. Agnes of Rome.

Pope Leo XIV blesses two lambs in the Urban VIII Chapel at the Vatican Jan. 21, 2026, the feast of St. Agnes. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

The presentation took place in the Vatican’s Urban VIII Chapel on the feast day of the young fourth-century martyr. The lambs were later blessed at the Basilica of St. Agnes Outside the Walls in northern Rome, where St. Agnes is buried.

Under longstanding custom, the lambs’ wool will be used to make the palliums — white woolen bands worn by the pope and metropolitan archbishops as a symbol of pastoral authority and communion with Rome. Each pallium is decorated with six black silk crosses.

The pope formally blesses and imposes the palliums on newly appointed metropolitan archbishops each year on June 29, the feast of Ss. Peter and Paul.

The tradition of blessing lambs on St. Agnes’ feast dates to at least the sixth century. It is linked to a legend that says Agnes appeared to her parents after her martyrdom holding a lamb, a symbol of purity.

Reliable information about the saint is difficult to come by. It is known that she was a martyr, one of the most famous Romans to die for the faith.

The story goes that she died bravely around the year 305, perhaps from a sword through the throat — a common execution method of the day. She was little more than a child when she died, perhaps 12 or 13. Her tomb is along the Via Nomentana in Rome, where the lambs were blessed following the papal presentation Jan. 21.

Historical records also show that lambs were once offered as an annual payment by monks of the Basilica of St. Agnes to the Basilica of St. John Lateran, Vatican News reported. Members of the Lateran clergy would then present the animals to the pope for a blessing.

For centuries, the lambs came from the Trappist Abbey of the Three Fountains in southern Rome and were brought to the pope before being sent to the Benedictine nuns of St. Cecilia in Trastevere, Vatican News said. The nuns traditionally sheared the lambs during Holy Week and wove the wool into pallia.

Some elements of the practice have changed in recent years. The Trappist abbey no longer maintains a sheep farm, and the pope no longer blesses the lambs at the Vatican. The Benedictine nuns, however, continue to shear the lambs and prepare the wool for the palliums.

Read More Vatican News

Americans continue to feel drawn to Pope Leo, first American pontiff, a year after election

Pope Leo XIV arrives in Cameroon as ‘a servant of dialogue’ amid violent separatist conflict

US bishops’ doctrine chair defends Church’s just war tradition after Vance comments

Catholic groups slam Trump’s attacks on Pope Leo, a ‘shepherd’ of souls, not a politician

Vatican foundation announces global events to honor Benedict XVI ahead of 2027 centenary

Cameroon separatists declare temporary ceasefire ahead of pope’s visit to conflict-hit regions

Copyright © 2026 OSV News

Print Print

Primary Sidebar

OSV News

Click here to view all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • St. Michael-St. Clement School will close at end of academic year
  • Trump lashes out at Pope Leo amid Iran war rebuke
  • Trump draws backlash over Pope Leo rant, ‘deeply offensive’ image of him looking like Christ
  • Vatican says report Pentagon officials lectured its ambassador about Pope Leo ‘completely untrue’
  • US cardinals speak out against Iran war, mass deportations in 60 Minutes appearance

| Latest Local News |

Catholics nurture environment in gardens, yards and beyond

Xaverian Brother Charles Warthen dies at 92

St. Michael-St. Clement School will close at end of academic year

Spain’s Sagrada Familia Basilica invites visitors to see ‘Bible in stone’

Radio Interview: Forgiveness and Divine Mercy

| Latest World News |

Americans continue to feel drawn to Pope Leo, first American pontiff, a year after election

Pope Leo XIV arrives in Cameroon as ‘a servant of dialogue’ amid violent separatist conflict

US bishops’ doctrine chair defends Church’s just war tradition after Vance comments

Catholic groups slam Trump’s attacks on Pope Leo, a ‘shepherd’ of souls, not a politician

Vatican foundation announces global events to honor Benedict XVI ahead of 2027 centenary

| Catholic Review Radio |

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Americans continue to feel drawn to Pope Leo, first American pontiff, a year after election
  • Pope Leo XIV arrives in Cameroon as ‘a servant of dialogue’ amid violent separatist conflict
  • US bishops’ doctrine chair defends Church’s just war tradition after Vance comments
  • Catholic groups slam Trump’s attacks on Pope Leo, a ‘shepherd’ of souls, not a politician
  • Catholics nurture environment in gardens, yards and beyond
  • Vatican foundation announces global events to honor Benedict XVI ahead of 2027 centenary
  • Odds on Peter: Trump vs the Pope
  • Pro-life groups urge DOJ to stop opposing state abortion pill lawsuits
  • Cameroon separatists declare temporary ceasefire ahead of pope’s visit to conflict-hit regions

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2026 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED