Agnes’ parents were the king of Bohemia (now in the Czech Republic) and the sister of Hungary’s king. Their ambitions for Agnes to marry royalty were dashed by death, the machinations of other royals and Agnes’ devotion to Christ. Finally, after several engagements, Agnes was able to dedicate herself to God. She built a Franciscan friary and hospital in Prague, then a convent for the poor Clares, which she joined in 1236. She spent the next 44 years in prayer and service, and was canonized in 1989 on the eve of the Czech “velvet revolution.”