Macchiatone

Besides the Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute, Venice also had another beautiful church built for the Virgin Mary—the Santa Maria del Giglio.

It stood in Campo San Zobenigo, west of St. Mark's Square, and possessed one of the most beautiful Baroque facades in all of Venice. Its relief maps depicted the places where General Antonio Barbaro had once served, including Heraklion, Zadar, Padua, Rome, Corfu, and Split.

The church was originally founded by the Zobenigo family in the ninth century, but it was rebuilt in the seventeenth century after falling into disrepair over the years.

People remembered the names of artists and writers, yet knew very little about the soldiers who had died for this country. To leave behind proof that they had once existed, those soldiers would donate their own money to build sculptures and bronze statues.

Lilies were the flowers the angel Gabriel offered at the Annunciation. Along the path from the chapel to the altar lay white petal-shaped terrazzo marble. Apart from that, the decorations inside were extremely simple. It was not much of a sightseeing destination for tourists who liked taking pictures, which gave this church, hidden deep within the shopping streets, a rare tranquility.

While other Venetian girls were busy dating or working part-time after school, Veronica regularly volunteered at the church.

Sweeping the floor, wiping down the chairs, changing the flowers in the altar vase.

Yet sometimes, after she finished cleaning, she would pray when no one was around.

The first vow meant resolving to become a nun. One could change one's mind within a period of one or three years. Renewing one's vows after the temporary vow expired was called a renewal of vows, until one finally took perpetual vows.

When taking the first vows, one received a cross, a Bible, and