AGNELLI, BENEDIZIONE degli. — On the feast of s. Agnese, the celebrant, at the conclusion of the pontifical Mass, blesses on the Saint’s altar two white lambs, whose wool is to be used in the making of the sacred pallia (v. PALLIO). This custom is already mentioned as traditional in the Roman ceremonial prepared by Agostino Patrizi Piccolomini (d. 1496) in collaboration with Giovanni Burcardo (d. 1506), published in 1516 by Cristoforo Marcello, archbishop of Corfu.
The two lambs constituted an annual tribute that the basilica of S. Agnese owed to the Lateran; however, following the suppressions of the last century, this tribute fell into abeyance. It is interesting to note that, for several years, the Italian government paid the Lateran Chapter the sum of 35 lire for the purchase of two lambs and related expenses (Archivio Lat. O 95, 43 letters, 1875, 1876). The burden of offering them, subsequently borne voluntarily for some time by a distinguished Roman family, was assumed half a century ago by the Trappist Fathers of Tre Fontane. They are now transported without special ceremonies, whereas in the past the transport took place in a picturesque manner, as is shown by a document of 1550, published by Armellini, and by the descriptions given by Nicola De Bralion and Domenico Macri in the seventeenth century. As for the rite of their presentation to the Pope, it should be observed that at times he gave them only a blessing from a distance, from a window of the apartment. Their custody, too, has passed through various stages: at first they were entrusted to the care of the apostolic Subdeacons, and later to a monastery at the Pope’s pleasure. At present they are presented to the Pontiff by the Dean of the S. Rota, a consistorial Advocate, the Camerlenghi of the Lateran Chapter, a Trappist monk, and the Master of Pontifical Ceremonies. They are then entrusted to the Benedictine nuns of S. Cecilia, who are to spin their wool.