Agnus Dei wax medallions are religious objects that have a long history and deep significance in the Catholic tradition. They are often used as a form of meditation or prayer, and can be worn as a symbol of faith, They come in the form of an oval, very rarely round, white wax medallion with one side l ' Paschal lamb and on the other a varied religious subject, usually the figure of a saint.
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Agnus Dei medallions are often made from virgin wax, and usually depict the Lamb of God, which is a symbol of Jesus Christ in the Bible. According to Catholic tradition, Jesus is seen as the slain lamb who took upon himself the sins of the world. The virgin wax symbolizes the purity of Jesus and his divinity.
Agnus Dei medallions can come in different shapes and sizes, but they are usually small in size and can be worn on a necklace or chain. Some Agnus Dei medallions can also be used during religious ceremonies, such as the consecration of holy oil or the laying on of ashes.
In the Middle Ages, the confection was carried out in the Lateran by the cardinal protodeacon. By bull of March 21, 1470, Paul II reserves, to avoid trafficking, the right to have these objects made, blessed and consecrated to the pope alone.
At the very end of the 16th century, Clement VIII entrusted the exclusive manufacturing of the Agnus Dei to the Feuillant Cistercians of Sainte-Pudentienne. Paul V, one of his successors, confirms this privilege which passes, upon their extinction, to the Cistercians of the Sainte-Croix-de-Jérusalem abbey in Rome.
The ceremony is fixed in the sixteenth century. The pope solemnly blesses the Agnus Dei in the hall of the Consistory on Easter Wednesday (the Holy Saturday previously) of the first year of his pontificate and then every seven years or on the occasion of a jubilee year. The pope immerses them in a very large vase filled with water mixed with balsam and holy chrism. After having blessed them, he then removes them using a large colander. The last pope to have blessed Agnus Dei was Paul VI in 19643. Logic would have dictated that there should be a new blessing in 1971, seven years later, which was not the case. Since then, none of the successors of Paul VI have had new ones made. If this tradition is currently "dormant", it has not been officially abolished by Rome. Agnus Dei could therefore be made in the future if the pope so wished.
The Agnus Dei were distributed in the octave of Easter to the members of the papal court (the custom being to deposit them, for cardinals and bishops, in their reversed mitres). They were also given to Roman catechumens at their baptism. Finally, they were given to certain faithful and religious.
The Agnus Dei were generally embedded in reliquaries , metal pyxes or in frames made of paperolles, hence the regular confusion between these and relics of saints.
The Agnus Dei are considered sacramentals.
Agnus Dei wax medallions are important religious objects in the Catholic tradition that hold deep meaning. They are made from virgin wax and represent the Lamb of God, symbol of Jesus Christ. They can be worn as a symbol
Michele T. R., Les Agnus Dei: Histoire et Traditions, Éditions Liturgiques, 1985.
F. Charles, The Agnus Dei: A Study in Catholic Ritual, University of Notre Dame Press, 1989.
M. Dumont, Le Rituel des Agnus Dei et sa Signification, Éditions du Cerf, 1990.
Jean-Paul Desroches, Les Sacramentaux dans la Tradition Catholique, Éditions Saint-Paul, 2004.
Paul H. P., Agnus Dei: The Tradition and the Ritual, Cambridge University Press, 1973.
E. Farina, Les Pratiques Religieuses du Moyen Âge: Les Agnus Dei, Éditions L'Harmattan, 2001.
