Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 1.djvu/248

AGNELLI The Trisagion is sung in the Greek Church at all the canonical hours and several times during the long Mass­service. In the Latin church it is sung only on Good Friday, as we have seen. Sung throughout the impressive ceremony of the Adoration of the Cross, the polyphonic musical setting of Palestrina for both the "Reproaches" and the Trisagion, assuredly a masterpiece, perhaps the masterpiece of that prince of church song, adds an overpowering pathos of music to the words, and constitutes, like the Hallelujah Chorus of Handel, a marvel of simplicity achieving a marvellous effect. 2em

Agnelli, chiefly known for his catechetical and devotional works, b. at Naples, 1621; d. in Rome, 8 October, 1706. He entered the Society of Jesus, in Rome, in 1637. He was professor of moral theology, and rector of the colleges of Montepulciano, Macerata, and Ancona, and also Consultor of the Inquisition of the March of Ancona. He passed the last thirty-three years of his life in the Professed House at Rome, where he died. He wrote (1) "Il Catechismo annuale". It was adapted to the use of parish priests, and contained explanations of the Gospels for every Sunday of the year. It went through three editions. (2) A week's devotion to St. Joseph, for the Bona Mors Sodality. (3) Four treatises on the "Exercises of St. Ignatius", chiefly with regard to election. (4) A Raccolta of meditations for a triduum and a retreat of ten days. (5) Sermons for Lent and Advent.

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Agnelli,, sculptor and architect, b. at Pisa, probably in 1238; d. probably in 1313. He was a pupil of Niccolo Pisano, who had then brought the art of sculpture to a great perfection, modelled on Greek and Roman ideas, matured by the study of actual truth, and preserving only such traditions of the earlier medieval school as seemed necessary for Christian art at a time when art was truly the handmaid of religion. Agnelli joined the Dominican Order at Pisa in 1257, as a lay brother. He was soon engaged in work on the convent of the brethren at Pisa and built the campanile of the Abbey of Settimo, near Florence. His best work is the series of marble reliefs executed, in conjunction with Pisano, for the famous tomb of St. Dominic in the church of that Saint at Bologna. The figures on the funeral urn, in Mezzo-rilievo, are about two feet high. Fra Guglielmo's work on the posterior face of the tomb deals with six Dominican legends, vis: the Blessed Reginald smitten by a distemper; the Madonna healing a sick man and pointing to the habit of the Friars Preachers, indicating that he should assume it; the same man freed from a terrible temptation by holding St. Dominic's hands; Honorius III having his vision of St. Dominic supporting the falling Lateran Basilica; Honorius examining the Dominican rule, and his solemn approbation of it. This work afforded little scope to Fra Guglielmo's imaginative powers, but its masterly execution places him among the greatest artists of his time, second only to his master, Niccolo Pisano. On the other hand, the figures show some faultiness characteristic of the period in the stiffness and lack of finish in the extremities. They are also crowded into too narrow limits. Fra Guglielmo and Niccolo also embellished the upper cornice of the urn with acanthus leaves and birds. We know no more of Fra Guglielmo until 1293 when we find him occupied on the famous Cathedral of Orvieto. Though his share in the sculptures of this edifice is not fully established, it is believed that the bas-reliefs are in great part his work. The length of time he spent at Orvieto is also unknown. In 1304 he was engaged on works of sculpture and architecture at his native Pisa, and was called upon to adorn the façade of the Church of San Michele di Borgo with historical bas-reliefs. These labours, together with his work on other parts of that church, and the construction of a pulpit, engaged him for the remaining nine years of his life. Fra Guglielmo was not only the foremost among the Dominican sculptors, but according to Marchese, "by reason of his many and important works, deserves to be ranked among the grandest Italian sculptors, far excelling all contemporaries. Arnolfo, Giovanni Pisano, and his master excepted."

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Agnellus of Pisa, Friar Minor and founder of the English Franciscan Province, b. at Pisa c. 1195, of the noble family of the Agnelli; d. at Oxford, 7 May, 1236. In early youth he was received into the Seraphic Order by St. Francis himself, during the latter's sojourn in Pisa, and soon became an accomplished model of religious perfection. Sent by St. Francis to Paris, he erected a convent there and became custos. Having returned to Italy, he was present at the so-called Chapter of Mats, and was sent thence by St. Francis to found the Order in England. Agnellus, then in deacon's orders, landed at Dover with nine other friars, 12 September, 1224, having been charitably conveyed from France by the monks of Fécamp. A few weeks afterwards they obtained a house at Oxford and there laid the foundations of the English Province, which became the exemplar for all the provinces of the order. Though not himself a learned man, he established a school for the friars at Oxford, which was destined to play no small part in the development of the university. But his solicitude extended beyond the immediate welfare of his brethren. He sent his friars about to preach the word of God to the faithful, and to perform the other offices of the sacred ministry. Agnellus wielded considerable influence in affairs of state, and in his efforts to avert civil war between the King and the Earl Marshal, who had leagued with the Welsh, he contracted a fatal illness. Eccleston has left us a brief account of his death. Agnellus's body, incorrupt, was preserved with great veneration at Oxford up to the dissolution of the religious houses in the time of Henry VIII. The cultus of Blessed Agnellus was formally confirmed by Leo XIII in 1882, and his feast is kept in the Order on 7 May.

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Agnellus of Ravenna,, historian of that church, b. 805; the date of his death is unknown, but was probably about 846. Though called Abbot, first of St. Mary ad Blachernas, and, later, of St. Bartholomew, he appears to have remained a secular priest, being probably only titular abbot of each abbey. He is best known as the author of the "Liber Pontificalis Eccl. Ravennatis", an account of the occupants of his native see, compiled on the model of the Roman Liber Pontificalis. It begins with St. Apollinaris and ends with Georgius, the forty-eighth archbishop (846). Though the work contains no little unreliable material, it is a unique and rich source of information concerning