in Christ, and her love for Virgin Mary, so she asked God to protect her virginity. Even when she was betrothed to a man named Valerian, on her wedding day she begged God again to protect her virginity and sang to him, "O Lord, keep my soul and my body unspotted, lest I be confounded." On her wedding night, Cecilia asked Valerian to understand her decision to not consummate the marriage, and informed him that her body is protected by an angel of God, and if he was to touch or love her "ignobly," the angel would "without delay...slay you on the spot". However, if he protects Cecilia "in clean love", the angel would also love him and appreciate him for his purity. When Valerian asked to see the angel, Cecilia told him that he must "go forth to the Appian Way," and get baptised by Saint Urban. After his baptism, during which he saw God who appeared as an old man in pure white garments, Valerian returned home and saw the angel. The angel gifted him and Cecilia with two crowns of lilies and roses, and asked that they guard the crowns with "a pure body and unspotted thought." The lilies and roses from the crown were fetched by the angel from "Paradise". Valerian then asked his brother, Tiburce, to come and accept God and know the truth, so he could also be protected by the angel. The angel then agreed and called his brother to come. Upon his arrival, Valerian convinced Tiburce to get baptised by Pope Urban, and renounce his faith in idols. Cecilia referred to them as, "nothing but vain things, for they are dumb and deaf…" Tiburce went with his brother to Pope Urban, and got christened, which allowed him also to see the angel of God. Eventually, Almachius the prefect heard of this and ordered his officers to take these saints to the idol of Jupiter, and to behead anyone who does not make a sacrifice. On his way, Maximus, one of his officers, started crying and per the saints' instructions, he took the executioners to his house and from their preaching, "...they rooted out the false faith from the executioners," and made them believers of God. Cecilia baptised them all together, and told Valerian and Tiburce that they had served well, and preserved their faith, and in order to save their lives, they