Pope Leo XIV has revived a centuries-old Roman tradition by welcoming and blessing two lambs on the feast day of St. Agnes, reconnecting a powerful symbol of Christian purity, sacrifice, and episcopal unity with the life of the Church.
According to EWTN News, the blessing took place Jan. 21 in the 17th-century Urban VIII Chapel of the Apostolic Palace. The lambs’ presence marked the first time the ritual has been observed by a pope since 2017, when the practice was discontinued under Pope Francis.
The tradition is closely tied to St. Agnes, a Roman virgin and martyr who was killed in A.D. 304 at the age of 12 or 13 for refusing to renounce her Christian faith. She has long been associated with the lamb, both as a sign of her purity and because her name means “lamb” in Latin, according to EWTN News.
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During the ceremony, the lambs were carried in baskets dressed in white and adorned with red roses, symbols of St. Agnes’ virginity and martyrdom. They were later blessed again at the Mausoleum of Constantina, an ancient church near the Basilica of St. Agnes Outside the Walls, which is currently closed, according to EWTN News.
The lambs will now be cared for by Benedictine nuns from the Basilica of St. Cecilia. Their wool will be shorn during Holy Week and woven into pallia — narrow white woolen vestments worn by metropolitan archbishops. EWTN News reports that Pope Leo XIV will bestow these pallia on new metropolitan archbishops on June 29, the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul.
The pallium itself is rich in symbolism. According to EWTN News, it is “a narrow, circular band of white wool with pendants hanging down the front and the back,” adorned with six black crosses and three pins, called spinulae, which recall both thorns and the nails of Christ’s crucifixion.
Bestowed on metropolitan archbishops and the Latin-rite patriarch of Jerusalem, the pallium signifies communion with the pope and participation in his pastoral mission as shepherd of the People of God. Before being given to the archbishops, the pallia are placed near the tomb of St. Peter beneath the main altar of St. Peter’s Basilica, reinforcing the bond of apostolic succession, according to EWTN News.
By restoring this ancient ritual, Pope Leo XIV has not only honored St. Agnes but also reaffirmed a visible link between martyrdom, pastoral authority, and unity with the successor of St. Peter — a tradition deeply rooted in the Church’s living history.
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