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Friday, November 13, 2009 Le Curé d'Ars Camille Dolard (1818- ?) Le Curé d'Ars sur son lit de mort (saint Jean-Marie Vianney, 1786-1859) Also entitled: Le Curé d'Ars, décédé le 4 août 1859, photographié d'après nature Taken 1859 pos. montées sur carton : papier albuminé : d'après nég. sur verre au collodion Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris Saint Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney died on 4 August 1859 By 1855, the number of pilgrims who came to see him had reached twenty thousand a year. Vianney yearned for the contemplative life of a monk, and four times ran away from Ars, the last...

Madrid, Spain, Oct 31, 2009 / 08:20 am (CNA).- Award-winning director Roland Joffé discussed his upcoming film “There Be Dragons” in a Thursday press conference. The film, set during the brutal Spanish Civil War and based on the life of St. Josemaria Escriva, can teach about love and forgiveness between families and enemies, Joffé said. The film begins with a young journalist, estranged from his military father Manolo, who conducts research on the life of Opus Dei founder and priest St. Josemaria Escriva. He discovers his father was a childhood friend of the future saint, and also uncovers family secrets.The...

Pilgrims venerate the relics of St. Therese in Aylesford, England. Credit: Catholicrelics.co.uk London, England, Oct 13, 2009 / 09:19 pm (CNA).- As many as 100,000 pilgrims are expected to visit Westminster Cathedral to view and venerate the relics of St. Therese of Lisieux during their month-long tour of England and Wales.Agence France Presse reports that the cathedral has ordered 100,000 candles and 50,000 pink roses to meet the demand. The cathedral expects 2,000 pilgrims every hour until Thursday.St. Therese became a Carmelite nun at the age of 15 and died in 1897 at the age of 24. Known as...

Saint Faustina's Diary includes a series of personal revelations she received from Jesus Christ in the 1930s. Many believe St. Faustina will eventually join the ranks of the great post-apostolic teachers Can you guess the following saint? The author, Fr. Steven Payne, OCD, wrote about this obscure and humble nun in 2002. He describes her "limited education," saying she "never wrote a treatise or published an article," and what she did write displayed an "imperfect literary style." Yet, he writes, no one would have guessed that she "would soon take the world by storm and go on to become the...

On October 1, 2009, the liturgy of the Church celebrates the memory of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face, "the greatest saint of modern times," in the words of Pope Saint Pius X. The charm of her "Little Way," with all its sweetness and mercy, admirably harmonizes with the traits of a genuine warrior, "I would die in a battlefield, arms in hand," she once stated. Her soul had infinite aspirations: she wanted to be a warrior, priest, apostle, doctor of the Church and martyr; she felt the courage of a crusader, of a Papal...

Maronite image of Saint Thecla, taken from Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Catholic Church (The following is excerpted from the 23 September entry in Volume XIV of the 1983 Marian House edition of the English translation of Dom Prosper Guéranger's 'The Liturgical Year' by the Benedictines of Stanbrook.) "While honouring the first successor of St. Peter [St. Linus], Rome commemorates the protomartyr of the female sex. Together with holy Church, then, let us unite in the concert of praise unanimously lavished upon [Saint] Thecla by the fathers of east and west. When the martyr pontiff Methodius [Saint Methodius of Olympus]...

The book "Gun Saint" by John Michael Snyder takes a close look at St. Gabriel Francis Possenti. The cover features an illustration of a shooting incident connected to the 19th-century Passionist priest. Using a revolver, the priest is shown shooting and killing a lizard with one shot in his attempt to reign in a group of armed criminals. WASHINGTON (CNS) -- From lost causes to the unattractive, patron saints are associated with virtually every occupation, ailment and activity. St. Gabriel Francis Possenti, a 19th-century Passionist monk and patron saint of Italy's Abruzzi region, clerics and youths, is gaining a line...

Pope Benedict XVI today announced the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman. The declaration means that the Anglican vicar, who shocked Victorian England by converting to Catholicism, will be given the title 'Blessed'. It also puts Newman just one stage away from becoming the first English saint in about 40 years.

1. "The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name" (Is 49,1). Today we celebrate the birth of St John the Baptist. The words of the Prophet Isaiah are well-suited to describe this great biblical figure who stands between the Old and the New Testaments. In the long line of Israel's prophets and just men and women, John "the Baptist" was placed by God's providence immediately before the Messiah, in order to prepare the way before him by his preaching and by the witness of his life. Of all the saints, John...

I learned today that the Saint Louis Science Center is and will be hosting an exhibit this summer called "Ends of the Earth: From Polar Bears to Penguins." The exhibit website, available here, has more information about it. While I'm sure the exhibit contains plenty of good information, according to the website it's purpose is to "highlight [the] climate change crisis." I don't want to preach to the choir too much, but we've all seen politics done in the guise of science, and as a scientist, I don't like it one bit. And while the fact that the earth has...

This Sunday, Pope Benedict XVI will include in the canon of saints of the Catholic Church the great warrior, holy patriot, and humble Christian: Nuno Alvares Pereira. As we mentioned last year, in an age of so many disgraceful individuals involved in public life, the life of the Holy Constable of Portugal, Nuno Alvares Pereira (1360-1431), is perhaps the most surprising of them. One of the greatest statesmen and military leaders in the history of the Iberian Peninsula, he was always a most faithful son of the Church. After becoming a widower, and despite having all the fortune, power, and...

Obama’s message is not new: tax the rich, give to the poor. Sure, it sounds nice… or does it? This strain sounds pretty Marxist to me. Why? Because his “tax cuts” are not tax cuts. He promises tax cuts for 95% of Americans. Guess what? Only 62% of Americans even pay federal income tax. So those other people, the ones who don’t pay taxes, can’t get “cuts” on something they don’t pay! So they’re just getting checks from the government. You know what we actually call Obama’s tax cuts? Income redistribution. Yes, I want to help the poor. But you...

Nancy Pelosi is now a Saint....CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS? On a Saturday afternoon, in Washington, D. C., House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's aide visited the Cardinal of the Catholic Cathedral. He told the Cardinal that Nancy Pelosi would be attending the next day's sermon, and he asked if the Cardinal would kindly point out Pelosi to the congregation and say a few words that would include calling Pelosi a saint. The Cardinal replied, "No. I don't really like the woman, and there are issues of conflict with the Catholic Church over certain of Pelosi's views." Pelosi's aide then said, "Look. I'll...

"I ... encourage you to look to Saint Joseph. When Mary received the visit of the angel at the Annunciation, she was already betrothed to Joseph. In addressing Mary personally, the Lord already closely associates Joseph to the mystery of the Incarnation. Joseph agreed to be part of the great events which God was beginning to bring about in the womb of his spouse. He took Mary into his home. He welcomed the mystery that was in Mary and the mystery that was Mary herself. He loved her with great respect, which is the mark of all authentic love. Joseph...

(The following is excerpted from the book "A Bishop, A Saint: The Life of Saint John Neumann," by Father James J, Galvin, CSsR, published by The Neumann Press.) "...St. Peter's [Basilica] was intensely quiet....Now, except for the sputter of candle-flames high in the arches, the only sound was one human voice reading in the singsong Latin. While Pio Nono [Blessed Pius IX] read, the basilica listened with a rapt excitement, waiting to hear expressed what all Christendom in its heart believed: that the Mother of the Redeemer has, by unique exception, entered time unbesmirched by Original Fault." "Not since...

LONDON -- Plans to transfer the remains of 19th-century Roman Catholic Cardinal John Henry Newman from a humble country graveyard to a posh marble sarcophagus have been abandoned because gravediggers could not find his body. When church officials sought to exhume his bones from his grave in a rural English cemetery on Thursday (Oct. 2), all they found were a brass plaque and a scattering of red tassels from his cardinal's hat. The Catholic Church had wanted to shift Newman's remains to Birmingham Oratory, the Midlands edifice that he established in Victorian England, in preparation for his expected beatification as...

One of the good luck charms Senator Barack Obama carries around with him all the time is a St. Martin de Porres figure. Saint Martin de Porres is the patron saint of: interracial relations, social justice, public education, public health service, people of mixed race, and animal shelters. His feast day is November 3rd, the day before this year's election. To make your own prayer card click on the thumbnail of the image you want with either the traditional prayer to St. Martin de Porres as found on the real prayer cards, or my own tongue-in-cheek version that is a...

ROME, OCT. 10, 2008 (Zenit.org).- As Christians in India continue to face persecution for their faith, they will have a new advocate in the figure of soon-to-be St. Alfonsa of the Immaculate Conception.Blessed Alfonsa (born Anna Muttathupadathu) is one of four people to be canonized by Benedict XVI this Sunday. The other three are Maria Bernarda Butler, from Switzerland; Narcisa de Jesús Martillo Morán from Ecuador; and Father Gaetano Errico from Italy.Blessed Alfonsa will be the first woman from India to be canonized. She was a religious of the Poor Clares.Anna Muttathupadathu was born in the Indian state of Kerala...

(The following is the legend of the breviary for St. Bruno, as quoted in Dom Prosper Guéranger's entry in The Liturgical Year for October 6, in Volume XIV of the 1983 Marian House edition of the English translation by the Benedictines of Stanbrook.) "Bruno, the founder of the Carthusian Order, was born at Cologne [Germany], and from his very cradle gave great promise of future sanctity. Favoured by divine grace, the gravity of his character made him shun all childishness; so that, even at that age, one might have foreseen in him the future father of monks and restorer...

Glenn Dallaire of Bristol, Connecticut, has recently started a blog devoted to St Gemma Galgani with quotations from her writings and posts showing her heroic life. See Saint Gemma Galgani. Glenn, married with six children, hopes by this blog to inspire others to a greater love of Jesus and Mary. Please say a prayer for him and his family.

The statue of St. Anthony of Padua in my "icon corner," with the icon of St. Charbel Makhlouf in the left background. (The following is excerpted from Dom Prosper Guéranger's entry in The Liturgical Year for 13 June, in Volume XII of the 1983 Marian House edition of the English translation by the Benedictines of Stanbrook.) "...The days of Charlemagne were past and gone; yet the work of Leo III still lived on, despite a thousand difficulties. The enemy, now at large, had sown cockle in the field of the divine householder; heresy was springing up and there, whilst vice...

The Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints has ruled that a Hawaiian woman’s cure from cancer was a miracle linked to her prayers to Blessed Father Damien De Veuster. The missionary priest, who was renowned for working with leprosy patients, is now one step closer to being declared a saint. Audrey Toguchi, a 79-year-old retired schoolteacher who lives in Aiea, became ill in 1997 with a lump on her left thigh that was discovered to be cancerous. She asked her sisters to accompany her to Kalaupapa to pray at Father Damien’s grave. “I prayed that he would ask God...

The exhumed body of Padre Pio, a saint considered a miracle worker by his devotees, attracted thousands of pilgrims on Thursday when it went on display 40 years after his death.Padre Pio is one of the Catholic Church's most popular saints and during his lifetime the Italian monk was said to have had the stigmata, the bleeding wounds of Jesus' crucifixion on his hands and feet.The economy of this southern town revolves around the cult of Padre Pio and heaving crowds waited to see his body, displayed in a crystal, marble and silver sepulcher in the crypt of the monastery...

ROME, March 3 (Reuters Life!) - The body of the mystic monk Padre Pio, one of the Roman Catholic world's most revered saints who died 40 years ago, has been exhumed to be prepared for display to his many devotees. The body of the Capuchin friar, who was said to have had the stigmata -- the wounds of Christ's crucifixion -- on his hands and feet -- is to be conserved and put in a part-glass coffin for at least several months from April 24. A Church statement said the body was in "fair condition", particularly the hands, which Archbishop...

VATICAN CITY, FEB. 13, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI announced he will dispense with the five-year waiting period established by Canon Law to open the cause of beatification of Sister Lucia, one of the three Fatima visionaries. The news was announced today in the cathedral of Coimbra, Portugal, by Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes, on the third anniversary of the Carmelite's death.The Holy Father dispensed with the established waiting period once before for the cause of Pope John Paul II. Benedict XVI made the announcement on May 13, the feast of Our Lady of Fatima,...

Amongst the many venerables, blesseds and saints, some were assigned as gatekeepers in their respective communities. One such gatekeeper was Father Solanus Casey was a man who found God through the Catholic faith as a Capuchin Friar who ministered to the needs of all God's children, of all denominations and faiths.  God bestowed upon Father Solanus the ability to administer the divine gifts of healing. After his ordination in 1904, Fr. Solanus spent 20 years in New York, Harlem, and Yonkers. In 1924 he was assigned to St. Bonaventure Monastery in Detroit where he worked for 20 years. Fr. Solanus spent his...

I was an Anglican priest the summer I met St. Thérèse of Lisieux.I was living in England and had three months free between jobs, so I decided to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. I was going to hitchhike and stay in monasteries and religious houses on the way. The first leg of my journey took me across the English Channel to Normandy. After staying with the Benedictines at the monastery of Bec Hellouin, I headed for the town of Lisieux. As a convert from evangelical American religion, I didn’t know much about the little saint of Lisieux, and what I...

According to legend, Saint Barbara was the extremely beautiful daughter of a wealthy heathen named Dioscorus, who lived near Nicomedia in Asia Minor. Because of her singular beauty and fearful that she be demanded in marriage and taken away from him, he jealously shut her up in a tower to protect her from the outside world. Shortly before embarking on a journey, he commissioned a sumptuous bathhouse to be built for her, approving the design before he departed. Barbara had heard of the teachings of Christ, and while her father was gone spent much time in contemplation. From the windows...

Detail from The Martyrdom of St. Matthew by Caravaggio (The following is excerpted from Dom Prosper Guéranger's entry in The Liturgical Year for the 21 September, in Volume XIV of the 1983 Marian House edition of the English translation by the Benedictines of Stanbrook.) "The name of Matthew signifies one who is given. He gave himself when, at the word of Jesus 'follow Me,' he rose up and followed Him; but far greater was the gift he received from God in return. The Most High, who looks down from heaven upon the low things of earth, loves to choose the...

NEW LONDON, Conn. (Catholic Online) – Miracles, bilocation, wounds that bled like Christ’s – none of these amazed the Capuchin Friars who dined, laughed and worked with the Capuchin saint internationally known as Padre Pio. Canonized on June 16, 2002, Padre Pio impressed his brother monks not with mystical feats but with intensive prayer habits and a Christian example.“You cannot imagine how deeply he prayed,” said Brother Joseph Martin. “When he prayed, Padre Pio’s face looked like an angel’s,” said Brother Alessio Parente. “He would have conversations with God, just like you and I are doing right now.” Padre Pio’s...

The pills are snippets of rice paper printed with prayer, which Franciscan monk Antonio de Sant'anna Galvao first began distributing in the 18th century. Pope Benedict XVI's will canonize the monk during a visit to the country in May. Photo slide show: Antonio de Sant/anna Galvao BRASILIA, Brazil - As her 8-year-old son, Enzzo, played on the balcony of her apartment, Sandra Grossi de Almeida held up an X-ray picture that she said proved that his very existence was a miracle.  The chemist pointed to a black wedge that she said was a wall of tissue dividing her uterus,...

From time to time, God calls a generous soul to live in reparation for the sins committed by men against their Creator and Savior. Such a lover of the cross was the young Italian mystic, Gemma Galgani, who dedicated herself as a victim of atonement. Gemma could have said “No” to God, in answer to many of His requests for sacrifice. Instead, she modeled herself on Our Lady’s answer, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord.” Gemma Galgani was born on March 12, 1878, in a small Italian town near Lucca. Gemma is the Italian word for gem. The child’s...

Two years later, John Paul II remembered Ian Hunter, National Post Published: Saturday, March 31, 2007 The life of Karol Wojtyla, the relatively unknown Polish Cardinal who became Pope John Paul II, came to an end two years ago this Monday: April 2, 2005. And what a life it was. Former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev credits the late Pope for bringing about the end of communism. During his 27-year papacy, John Paul II conducted mass in the presence of countless worshippers; he was seen in the flesh by more people than any other human being who ever lived. John...

Boutrosiya (Pierina) Shabaq al-Rayes, the only child of her parents, was born on the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, the 29th of June 1832 in Hemlaya, Lebanon. Her father was Mourad Saber Shabaq al-Rayes and her mother was Rafqa Gemayel. She was orphaned upon her mother's death six years later. After working as a maid in the house of her father's friend in Syria from 1843-1847, she returned to Lebanon. In 1853, she entered the convent of Our Lady of Liberation in Bikfaya and became a nun in the Marian Order of the Immaculate Conception (Saadé 1986: 11-12). Boutrosiya...

Besides those prayers which every Catholic should know by heart (the Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, Apostle's Creed, Salve Regina, Memorare, St. Michael the Archangel prayer, etc.), I highly recommend the following prayers. They are truly prayers for the times. Prayer of Recognition of Christ's Sovereignty O Christ Jesus, I acknowledge Thee as King of the world. All that exists has been created for Thee. Exercise Thy rights upon me. I renew my baptismal vows and renounce Satan with all his works and pomps, and I promise to lead a good Christian life. I particularly promise to do...

Catholics This Week Commemorate St. Gabriel Possenti By John M. Snyder On February 27, Catholic and other religionists commemorate the Feast Day of St. Gabriel Possenti, an Italian seminarian who died 145 years ago on this date in Isola del Gran Sasso. Today, Isola is about a two or three hour automobile drive east of Rome. In 1860, Possenti rescued villagers in Isola from a terrorizing gang of renegade soldiers with a striking one-shot demonstration of handgun marksmanship. The renegades had separated from the main body of Garibaldi's army following the battle of Pesaro. The 20 or so renegades ransacked...

Dublin will get a new saint in June when Pope Benedict XVI canonizes a Dutch priest who became a much-loved figure in the Irish capital, the city's archdiocese said Friday. Blessed Charles of Mount Argus, who was born John Andrew Houben in Mustergleeen, the Netherlands, in 1821, joined the Passionist order aged 19. He was the fourth of eleven children born to Peter and Johanna Houben. Dublin's Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, who warmly welcomed the news, said Blessed Charles was a much loved figure in the city and around Ireland for his devotion to the sick and healing. He joined the...

"A song of ascents. I I raise my eyes toward the mountains. From where will my help come? My help comes from the LORD, the maker of heaven and earth." (Psa 121:1-2).  2 Timothy 3:10-17 You have followed my teaching, way of life, purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, persecutions that I endured. Yet from all these things the Lord delivered me. In fact, all who want to live religiously in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But wicked people and charlatans will go from bad to worse, deceivers...

What Does It Means To Be Canonized. For many, even in the Church, the Catholic practice of beatifying and canonizing is an enigma. Why does the Church do it? How does the Church do it? What are the implications of being beatified, or, as is now the case of Padre Pio, canonized? General History. First it should be noted that according to the testimony of Sacred Scripture every Christian is a saint. The Greek New Testament speaks in many places of the hagios (Acts 9:32; Rom 15:25, 31; Eph 1:1; Col. 1:2; Jude 1:3 and others). The Latin Vulgate speaks...

THE VATICAN is close to making the late pope John Paul II a saint after investigating three "miracles" attributed to him. John Paul had already been credited with curing a nun of Parkinson's disease and now it has emerged he has been credited with two other cures, proof of which will confer on him beatification and then canonisation.This weekend the cardinal in charge of the process said he expected the checks performed by the local dioceses on all three miracles to be complete by April. A formal announcement is expected on April 2, the second anniversary of John Paul's death,...

From Myra

The Charity of St. Elizabeth of Hungary by Edmund Blair Leighton (1853-1922)(taken from St. Elizabeth of Hungary) An account on the life of St. Elizabeth of Hungary by Conrad of Marburg (her spiritual director) (from Patron Saints Index) Elizabeth was a lifelong friend of the poor and gave herself entirely to relieving the hungry. She ordered that one of her castle should be converted into a hospital in which she gathered many of the weak and feeble. She generously gave alms to all who were in need, not only in that place but in all the territories of her...

Margaret Occhiena, Co-founder of Salesian Family VATICAN CITY, NOV. 16, 2006 (Zenit.org).- The prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes read a decree recognizing the heroic virtues of Margaret Occhiena, mother of St. John Bosco, as well as her reputation for holiness. Cardinal José Saraiva Martins read the decree Wednesday in the chapel of the Salesian community in the Vatican. On hand were the rector major of the Salesians, Father Pascual Chávez; the postulator general, Father Enrico dal Cóvolo; the prefect of the Apostolic Vatican Library, Father Raffaele Farina; the director general of the Vatican Press, Father Elio Torrigiani; and...

Pope Benedict XVI gave Catholics four news saints Sunday, bestowing the honor on a 19th century nun who struggled in the American frontier, a bishop who tended to the wounded during the Mexican Revolution and two Italian clergy.French-born Mother Theodore Guerin endured harsh conditions on the American frontier and resisted the objections of a local bishop in pursuing her dream of establishing Catholic education for pioneers. She established a college for women in Indiana, which enrolled its first student in 1841.Among those at the ceremony on the steps of St. Peter's Basilica were ailing Chicago Cardinal Francis George and five...

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- An Indiana nun once banished from her congregation by a bishop will be proclaimed a saint tomorrow, providing a model of virtuous life to America's Roman Catholics. Pope Benedict XVI will canonize Blessed Mother Theodore Guerin as the first U.S. saint in six years, a span marked in this country by the scandal over the sexual abuse of minors by clergy. The pontiff also will canonize a Mexican bishop and two Italians who founded religious orders. The celebration of a new saint offers a respite from the lawsuits and settlements that have dominated much of the...

SAN GENNARO: NEW MIRACLE(AGI) - Naples, Sept. 19 - The miracle of San Gennaro's blood that liquefies happened again in the cathedral of Naples during the feast of the Patron Saint, which is the anniversary of the martyrdom which took place in 305 A.C. at the Pozzuoli solfatara. It was announced by the archbishop, cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, who is going to celebrate for the first time on this occasion, after the reading of the Gospel. At 9.20 the archbishop said: 'I would like to announce that a few minutes ago the blood started to melt.' The announcement was welcomed by...

Nun killed for sheltering Jews is beatified in Hungary By Jonathan Luxmoore 9/18/2006 Catholic News Service OXFORD, England (CNS) – A nun executed for sheltering Jews during World War II was remembered for her feminine example of holiness during her beatification in Hungary. Advertisement Cardinal Peter Erdo of Esztergom-Budapest, Hungary, said the martyrdom of Sister Sara Salkahazi of the Sisters of Social Service is "close to us, and her example is within our reach. She is someone of modest circumstances, who lived through the storms of 20th-century history and gave us an example of the feminine way to holiness." Sister...

(Taken from the old Breviary) While the Mohammedans were besieging Assisi and trying to seize the monastery of St Clare, she desired, though sick, to be carried to the gate of the city, together with a vessel in which the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist was contained, and there she prayed: "Do not hand over to the beasts, O Lord, the souls confessing you, and guard your maid-servants, whom thou hast redeemed by thy Precious Blood!" At whose prayer, a great voice was heard: "I will always protect you!" Indeed part of the Musselmen betook themselves to flight while...

The Man Who Stepped Out of LineIn this post-feminist age where men are still learning remedial masculinity, we have a model of manhood lived heroically which we would do well to emulate. In the early twentieth century Poland gave us that manly priest, John Paul II, but also his hero, Maximilian Kolbe, priest, missionary, spiritual father and martyr of brotherly love. St. Maximilian’s feast day is August 14th, the vigil of his beloved Virgin Mary’s Assumption and the day which commemorates the conquest of virile love over the totalitarian creeds of his generation. As men, we could all learn a...

Joachim and Anne, how blessed a couple! All creation is indebted to you. For at your hands the Creator was offered a gift excelling all other gifts: a chaste mother, who alone was worthy of him. Joachim and Anne, how blessed and spotless a couple! You will be known by the fruit you have borne, as the Lord says: "By their fruits you will know them." The conduct of your life pleased God and was worthy of your daughter. For by the chaste and holy life you led together, you have fashioned a jewel of virginity: she who remained...