Lamb of God Lamb of God sung or recited during the fraction of the Host. It is said to have been introduced into the Mass by Pope Sergius I (687–701). "Agnus Dei" has been set to music by many composers, usually as part of a Mass setting. In Christian iconography, an Agnus Dei is a visual representation of Jesus as a lamb, since the Middle Ages, usually holding a standard or banner with a cross. This normally rests on the lamb's shoulder and is held in its right foreleg. Often the cross will have a white banner suspended from it charged with a
Vitex agnus-castus Vitex agnus-castus Vitex agnus-castus, also called vitex, chaste tree (or chastetree), chasteberry, Abraham's balm, lilac chastetree, or monk's pepper, is a native of the Mediterranean region. It is one of the few temperate-zone species of "Vitex", which is on the whole a genus of tropical and sub-tropical flowering plants. Theophrastus mentioned the shrub several times, as "agnos" (άγνος) in "Enquiry into Plants". It has been long believed to be an anaphrodisiac – leading to its name as "chaste tree" – but its effectiveness for such action remains unproven. Vitex is a cross-pollinating plant, but its self-pollination has been recorded. "Vitex",