Regarding Rome, the Eternal City, “I will not speak about the places [Saint Thérèse, her father and sister Celine] visited . . . only about the impressions I had.
“One of the sweetest views that really moved me was that of the Coliseum, as I finally contemplated the arena where so many martyrs had shed their blood for Jesus . . . .
“My heart beat very strongly when my lips kissed the dust turned red by the blood of the first Christians. I asked for the grace of being also a martyr for the love of Jesus, and felt deep in my heart that my prayer was heeded! . . . .
“Martyrdom, behold the dream of my youth! The dream that grew up with me in the shadow of the Carmel’s cloisters . . . . Here also I perceive that my dream is folly, for I could not limit myself to desiring only one type of martyrdom . . . . “
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