18 January 2026 – Today we celebrate the patronal feast of Saint Agnes. Read here the invitation to the festive celebration and the parish auction. Her proper feast day falls on 21 January, but the Church permits the feast of the patron saint to be celebrated on the nearest Sunday, so that the whole parish community may take part.
Those who wish to read more about the life and martyrdom of our patron saint will find a dedicated page here: The life of Saint Agnes
When a church is dedicated to a saint, it is placed under that saint’s special protection. The saint becomes its patron and is bound in a particular way to that place and to all who gather there.
For this reason, the feast of the patron possesses a special dignity in that church. It is not merely the remembrance of a saint, but the celebration of a lasting bond between the Church on earth and a saint who lives in glory.
On this day the Church gives thanks to God for the grace He has bestowed upon this place, and with confidence calls upon the intercession of the saint to whom she has been entrusted.
Thus the patronal feast is an act of acknowledgement and gratitude: acknowledgement of God’s work in His saints, and gratitude for the protection He grants to His Church through them.
(Dom Prosper Guéranger)