Last week, the Memorial of Saint Agnes (Virgin and Martyr) was celebrated on Tuesday, January 21. She was a 12-year-old girl who was put to death in Rome because of her Christian faith. Her name, Agnes, is a word derived from the Latin word of “lamb”, which is agnus.
Each year on the Memorial of Saint Agnes, two white lambs are chosen to be shorn, and their wool is used to make new pallia (plural for pallium), which is a little-known vestment worn only by the pope and archbishops. The modern pallium is a circular band about two inches wide, worn about the neck, chest, and shoulders, and having two pendants, one hanging down in front and one behind. The pendants are about two inches wide and twelve inches long, and are weighted with small pieces of lead covered with black silk. The remainder of the pallium is made of the aforementioned white wool, which is solemnly blessed on the high altar of the Basilica of Saint John Lateran in Rome (the pope’s cathedral) after the pontifical Mass. The wool is then offered to the pope. When the pallia are ready, they are given to the newly appointed archbishops of that year on the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul on June 29.
The ornamentation of the pallium consists of six small crosses, one each on the chest and back, one on each shoulder, and one on each pendant. The crosses on the chest, back, and left shoulder are provided with a loop for the reception of a gold pin set with a precious stone. The pallium is worn over the chasuble, which is that vestment that every bishop and priest wears when celebrating Mass.
Worn by the pope, the pallium symbolizes the plenitude of pontifical office; worn by the archbishops, it typifies their participation in the supreme pastoral power of the pope, who concedes it to them for their proper church provinces.