I boast of Christ Jesus in whom I exist, the wisdom from God, my saving justice, holiness and my redemption. The Church honors today St. Agnes, one of her youngest martyrs. St. Agnes came from a noble Roman family and was martyred at age twelve (or thirteen) at the beginning of the 4 ^thcentury during the persecution of Diocletian. She is the patroness of Christian virtue. 
The above opening sentence must have been the words that were being pronounced by St. Agnes as she joyfully underwent her persecution and eventual martyrdom. As young as she was, St. Agnes fully understood what discipleship entailed. She did not let her noble background stand in her way of being fully assimilated in Christ. As our Gospel reading reminds us today, St. Agnes had found her sought after treasure, and indeed she sold everything in order to cling to the treasure. Threats of persecution and death did not dissuade this young soldier of Christ from her chosen path because she was already saved in Christ. At only 12, St. Agnes understood that a follower of Christ must be fully assimilated in Christ. She was not afraid to undergo martyrdom because she knew that as a disciple of Christ, she was living in Christ. In other words, Christ was her existence.  She could not die, for she was already alive  inChrist, Christ who cannot die again because he had died once and for all (cf. Romans 6:10). It is in this belief and understanding that the martyrs derived their courage and strength. The thought of Christ being all in all for them emboldened them to face their persecutions and martyrdom. While we might not be called to martyrdom such as St. Agnes underwent, we are still called to let our firm faith in Christ carry us across seemingly impossible situations. Christ in whom am fully assimilated will carry me through any situation, but only if I let him.