All Quotes

"Almachio then had her taken back to his house and ordered that she be burned by keeping her in a boiling bath day and night. Cecilia remained there as if it were a cold place, and did not even break a sweat. When this was reported to Almachio, he ordered that her head be cut off in the bath. The executioner struck her three times, but failed to sever her head; however, since the law forbade striking the condemned person four times, the executioner, covered in blood, left her dying. She lived for three more days, during which she gave all her possessions to the poor and entrusted to Urban all those she had converted to the faith, saying to him: “I have obtained a three-day reprieve for myself, so that I may entrust myself to your blessedness and so that you may consecrate my house as a church. (from 'Saint Cecilia”, p. 948)"

"(About Saint Catherine of Alexandria) Then, when she was beheaded, milk flowed from her body instead of blood, and the angels took her body and carried it from that place to Mount Sinai, a journey of more than twenty days, and there they buried her with all honours. From her bones flows an oil that heals the limbs of all the sick. Her passion took place under the tyrant Maxentius or Maximinus, who ascended the throne around 310. How Maximinus was punished for this crime, and for many others, can be read in the story of the Invention of the Holy Cross. (p. 969)"

"In the Dachau prison camp near Munich, Germany, we remember Marian Konopiński, priest and martyr, a Polish national who, patiently enduring the cruel torture inflicted by his tormentors, gave his life for Christ the Lord. (1 January)"

"In Rome, deposition of Saint Telesphorus, pope, who, according to the testimony of Saint Irenaeus, seventh bishop consecrated by the Apostles, received glorious martyrdom. (2 January)"

"Memorial of St. Agnes, virgin and martyr, who, while still a girl in Rome, offered the supreme witness of faith and consecrated the virtue of chastity with martyrdom; in fact, she overcame both her young age and the tyranny of the tyrant and thus gained great admiration among the people, obtaining even greater glory with God. On this day, we celebrate the deposition of her mortal remains. (21 January)"

"Memorial of St. Agatha, virgin and martyr, who, while still young, in Catania, Sicily, during the raging persecution, preserved the purity of her body and the integrity of her faith in martyrdom, offering her testimony for Christ the Lord. (5 February)"

"In Alexandria, Egypt, remembrance of St. Apollonia, who, after numerous and horrible tortures inflicted by her persecutors because she refused to utter sacrilegious words, preferred to be burned at the stake rather than renounce her Christian faith. (9 February)"

"In the city of Xilinxian, in the province of Guangxi in China, remembrance of St. Agnes Cao Kuiying, martyr, who, already married to a violent man, after his death devoted herself to teaching Christian doctrine on behalf of the bishop, and for this reason, after being thrown into prison and enduring terrible torments, always trusting in God, she then went to the eternal banquet. (1 March)"

"In Oberkaufungen in Hesse, Germany, Saint Cunigonde: she brought many benefits to the Church together with her husband Saint Henry the Emperor, and after his death, she herself migrated to the Lord in the convent where she had retired as a nun, making Christ her inheritance. Her body was laid to rest with full honours next to the remains of Saint Henry in Bamberg. (3 March)"

"Memorial of the Holy Martyrs Perpetua and Felicity, arrested with other young catechumens in Carthage under Emperor Septimius Severus; one of whom – Perpetua – was a woman of about twenty, wife of an influential man and mother of an infant; the other – Felicity – was a slave who, even in the terrible pains of premature labour (and according to the law could not be tortured while still pregnant), rejoiced at being thrown to the beasts. Both went from their prison cell to the amphitheatre with joy and serenity on their faces, as if they were already in paradise. (7 March)"

"In Mauthausen, Austria, we remember B. Marcello Callo, martyr, who, a young native of Rennes, comforted his fellow prisoners, exhausted by the gruelling labour of the work camps, with his great passion for Christ, and for this reason met his death in the extermination camp of Mauthausen. (19 March)"

"In Prague, Bohemia, we remember St. John of Nepomuk, priest and martyr, who, in order to defend the Church from King Wenceslaus IV, after enduring numerous insults and suffering all kinds of torture, was finally thrown into the Vltava River, thus completing his martyrdom for Christ. (20 March)"

"In Fiobbio di Albino, near Bergamo, Italy, commemoration of Blessed Pierina Morosini, virgin and martyr, who at the age of twenty-six, while returning home from the factory where she worked, was killed by blows to the head with stones for defending her chastity, which she had consecrated to God, from a young attacker. (6 April)"

"In Rome, memory of St. Domitilla, martyr, who, daughter of the sister of the consul Flavius Clemens, was accused of impiety during the persecution of Domitian because she had witnessed to Christ, and was therefore deported with other companions to the island of Ponza, where she had to endure a long martyrdom. (7 May)"

"In Orgosolo, Sardinia, commemoration of Blessed Antonia Mesina, virgin and martyr, devoted to prayer and works of charity, who at the age of sixteen defended her chastity until death. (17 May)"

"In Lyon, France, we remember the holy martyrs Pothinus, bishop, and Blandina of Lyon, together with forty-six companions, whose numerous and arduous trials, endured during the time of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, are attested to in the letter addressed by the Church of Lyon to the churches of Asia and Phrygia. Of these, Bishop Potinus, aged ninety, perished shortly after being imprisoned; some died like him in prison, while others were led into the arena in front of thousands of spectators: those who were found to be Roman citizens were beheaded, while the others were fed to the wild beasts; Finally, Blandina, her throat cut after suffering endless and increasingly cruel tortures, was finally able to join in glory those companions whom she had previously exhorted to attain the palm of martyrdom. (2 June)"

"In Seville, Spain, commemoration of the Saints Justa and Rufina, virgins, who, arrested by the governor Diogenian, had to endure various tortures before consummating their martyrdom by bearing witness to Christ: Giusta perished during her imprisonment, subjected to torture, while Rufina died by beheading. (17 July)"

"In Antioch in Pisidia (Asia Minor), commemoration of St. Marina (or Margaret), who is said to have consecrated her body to Christ in virginity and martyrdom. (20 July)"

"Memorial of SS. Sixtus II, pope, and companions. Martyrs. While Pope Sixtus was celebrating Mass and explaining divine law to his brothers, some soldiers arrived and immediately arrested and beheaded him, in accordance with the edict of Emperor Valerian, on the sixth day of August. Four deacons were also martyred with him and were buried with the pontiff in Rome, in the Cemetery of St. Callixtus on the Appian Way. On that day, Saints Agapitus and Felicissimus, his deacons, were also martyred in the Cemetery of Pretestato, where they were also buried. (7 August)"

"In Gondar, Ethiopia, commemoration of the Blessed Agatangelo de Vindocino (Francis) Nourry and Cassiano da Nantes (Gundisalvo) Vaz Lopez-Netto, priests of the Capuchin Friars Minor and martyrs, who, in Syria, Egypt and Ethiopia, attempted to reconcile separated Christians with the Catholic Church; were stoned to death after being hanged with their own Franciscan cords. (7 August)"

"Feast of St. Lawrence, deacon and martyr, who, desiring to be a companion of Pope Sixtus even in martyrdom, as St. Leo the Great recalls, having been ordered to hand over the treasures of the Church, he showed the foolish tyrant the poor whom he had fed and clothed with the alms he had collected; three days after Sixtus' martyrdom, he was burned on the gridiron for his faith in Christ, and in honour of his triumph, the instruments of his torture also migrated to heaven. His body was buried in Rome at Verano, in the cemetery that would take his name. (10 August)"

"In Otranto in Puglia, remembrance of the approximately eight hundred BB. martyrs, who received the crown of martyrdom by being beheaded by the Ottoman Turks who had conquered the city: they ordered them to abandon the Christian faith, but the ‘Idruntini’, exhorted by Blessed Antonio Primaldo, an elderly weaver, to persevere in the faith of Christ, achieved the glorious palm. (14 August)"

"In Rome, in the cemetery of Callisto on the Via Appia, memory of St. Cecilia, virgin and martyr, who, as tradition has it, achieved this double palm for the love of Christ, and to whose name the ancient church of Trastevere is dedicated. (22 November)"

"Memorial of St. Lucy, virgin and martyr, who, while she lived, kept the lamp lit for her coming Bridegroom, and once she was put to death for Christ, she deserved to be married to Him, thus possessing the Light that never goes out. (13 December)"

"For centuries, the names contained in the Roman Martyrology have been the main, if not the only, source of Italian names."

"Martirologio romano, translation into Italian by Istituto San Clemente I Papa e Martire (Stefano Calvi), vatican.va."

"Lucia, nimica di ciascun crudele"

"Lucia, a noble maiden from Syracuse, hearing talk throughout Sicily of the fame of Saint Agatha, went to her tomb with her mother Euticia, who had been suffering from blood loss for four years and whom the doctors had been unable to cure. It so happened that during the celebration of Mass that day, the passage from the Gospel was read in which it is said that the Lord healed a woman from that same illness. Lucia then said to her mother: ‘If you believe what has been read, believe that Agatha always has beside her the one for whom she suffered martyrdom. Therefore, if you touch her tomb with faith, you will immediately regain your health.’"

"[13 December] Memorial of Saint Lucy, virgin and martyr, who, while she lived, kept the lamp lit for her coming Bridegroom, and once she was put to death for Christ, she merited to be wedded to Him, thus possessing the Light that never goes out."

"‘However bad things may go for you, at least may your eyes be spared,’ the beggar wishes, invoking Saint Lucy, patron saint of the eyes."

"Saint Lucy, condemned to work in a brothel, preferred to face the stake, which left her unharmed; and in Naples, more than one Filumena Marturano, who took to the streets to escape the oppressive heat of a basement flat, imagines harmless blackmailing flames. It is almost surprising that such a saint was born in Syracuse and not at the foot of Vesuvius."

"Saint Lucy is, from a strictly historical point of view, the place where the city of Naples was born."

"“May Saint Lucy preserve your sight”, the Neapolitan beggar has been repeating for centuries, holding out his hand on street corners, and with that phrase he gives the exact measure of the importance attached in Naples to the “faculty of sight”, a primary good that constitutes the extreme wealth of the poor and the ultimate health of the sick."

"Cecilia, an illustrious virgin, born of noble Roman lineage, was raised from the cradle in the faith of Christ. She always carried the image of Christ hidden in her bosom, and never ceased to pray day or night, asking God to preserve her virginity. Having been promised in marriage to a young man named Valeriano, and the wedding day having already been set, Cecilia wore a hair shirt next to her skin, while above it she wore her gold-woven garments. While the choirs sang, she sang alone, to herself, only for the Lord, saying: “Lord, may my heart and my body remain immaculate, so that I may not be confused at the Judgment.”"

"Almachio then had her taken back to his house and ordered that she be burned by keeping her in a boiling bath night and day. Cecilia remained there as if it were a cold place, and did not even break a sweat. When this was reported to Almachio, he ordered that her head be cut off in the bath. The executioner struck her three times, but failed to sever her head; however, since the law forbade the condemned person from being struck four times, the executioner, covered in blood, left her dying. She lived for three more days, during which she gave all her possessions to the poor and entrusted to Urban all those she had converted to the faith, saying to him: “I have obtained a three-day reprieve for myself, so that I may entrust myself to your blessedness and so that you may consecrate my house as a church.”"

"Agnese, a young woman full of wisdom, as Ambrogio tells us in his “Passione,” left death behind and found life at the age of thirteen. Her young age was evident, but the maturity of her mind was extraordinary: young in body, but mature in soul, beautiful in appearance but even more beautiful in faith. It happened that while she was returning from school, the prefect's son fell in love with her. He promised her endless jewels and riches if she agreed to marry him. Agnes replied: "Stay away from me, get out of sin, food of evil deeds, nourishment of death! Another loved me before you."

"Then the prefect had her stripped and taken to the brothel. But the Lord made Agnes' hair so thick that it covered her better than a dress, and when she entered that vile place, she found the angel of the Lord waiting for her, who illuminated the room with a shining light and prepared a pure white stole for her. Thus the place of sin became a place of prayer, so much so that Agnes came out purer than when she had entered, when that great light had honored her."

"[January 21] Memorial of St. Agnes, virgin and martyr, who, while still a girl in Rome, offered the supreme testimony of faith and consecrated the virtue of chastity with martyrdom; in fact, she overcame both her young age and the tyranny of the tyrant and thus acquired great admiration among the people, obtaining even greater glory with God. On this day, we celebrate the deposition of her mortal remains."

"(To the Roman emperor) Why do you want to lose this crowd with the worship of gods? Learn about God, Creator of the world, and His only Son Jesus Christ, who freed humanity from hell with the cross!"

"Then, when she was beheaded, milk flowed from her body instead of blood. The angels took her body and carried it from that place to Mount Sinai, a journey of more than twenty days, and there they buried her with full honors. From her bones flows an oil that heals the limbs of all the sick. Her passion took place under the tyrant Maxentius or Maximinus, who ascended the throne around 310. How Maximinus was punished for this crime, and for many others, can be read in the story of the Invention of the Holy Cross."

"(To the governor who asked for her hand in marriage) Can you expect me to renounce heaven and choose instead the dust of the earth?"

"[July 20] In Antioch in Pisidia (Asia Minor), commemoration of St. Marina (or Margaret), who is said to have consecrated her body to Christ in virginity and martyrdom."

"Her husband had slipped a gold ring set with a fine ruby onto her finger, and her mother-in-law had given her a birth bag which, in her time, she herself had tied to her thigh for the duration of her pregnancy. “It contains a parchment recounting the birth of Margaret of Antioch. It will protect you from a brutal death, just as it protected me.” Swallowed by a dragon, Margaret of Antioch had escaped from the beast's bowels by piercing its spine with her cross. My son, Hades had thought, will not have to resort to violence to come into the world. At the right moment, I will open wide and he will slide out without pain. He will be born with rosy skin and a healthy complexion."

"This is one reason why I identify myself as a classical crossover performer. It’s called ‘crossover’ because you can rearrange pop songs and put a classical spin into it, or rearrange a classical piece to make it sound modern. Then, it will be easier for the public to appreciate the genre."

"There are challenges along the way, but it’s all part of the journey. Whatever your career is, whether you’re a lawyer, businessman or painter, you might have supporters, but you cannot control negative criticism. There’s also politics within the workplace and rumors are inevitable."

"Musical theater and stage plays will always have a special spot in my heart. I’m open to joining new theater productions anytime."

"Your likelihood of slipping in a shower is orders of magnitude larger than your likelihood of being in a terrorist attack— but just try convincing someone of that, especially if they knew someone who died in the Twin Towers."

"The successful funds in any given year are mostly lucky; they have a good roll of the dice. There is general agreement among researchers that nearly all stock pickers, whether they know it or not— and few of them do— are playing a game of chance."

"When it comes to learning, Triumph is the real foe; it’s Disaster that’s your teacher. It’s Disaster that brings objectivity. It’s Disaster that’s the antidote to that greatest of delusions, overconfidence. And ultimately, both Triumph and Disaster are impostors. They are results that are subject to chance. One of them just happens to be a better teaching tool than the other."

"“Only through education will we grow into a nation.”"