From Ba-a-a- to Yoke

Msgr. Moran related the story of the lamb's significance on today, the feast of Saint Agnes.  St. Agnes was a young girl in the fourth century who was martyred.  Her name in Latin means lamb, and since Jesus is called the Lamb of God, and since lambs were the animals that were usually sacrificed to honor God, the church uses the lamb in an interesting tradition.

On the feast of St. Agnes, January 21, lambs are brought to be blessed by the pope.  The lambs are then cared for until it's time for them to be sheared.  The wool taken from the lambs is used to make palliums.  Palliums are cloth yokes.  New bishops will take on the yoke of Christ (Matthew 11: 30) on the Feast of Peter and Paul, June 29.

There are five crosses on the pallium, which is white.  The crosses represent the five wounds of Christ.  There is one cross on the back and two on the front.  Crosses are also on each shoulder.