Leo XIV restores the lamb blessing: the ancient rite behind the metropolitans’ pallia

Vatican City - This morning, on the liturgical memorial of St Agnes, at 8.30 a.m., an ancient tradition was renewed in the Vatican, one that weaves together martyrdom, symbolism and the governance of the Church: the blessing of the lambs whose wool will be used to make the pallia of metropolitan archbishops. It is a rite that, in recent years, had been set aside under Pope Francis.
This morning, however, in the Chapel of Urban VIII in the Apostolic Palace, Leo XIV blessed the lambs, restoring a practice attested for centuries and directly linked to the figure of the young Roman martyr.
History and tradition
The link between Agnes and the lamb is first and foremost symbolic and linguistic. The saint’s name evokes both the Greek haghnós (pure) and the Latin agnus. In iconography, Agnes is often depicted beside a lamb, a sign of purity, sacrifice and fidelity to Christ, the Bridegroom whom the martyr refused to renounce even in the face of death. The tradition of the blessing …