How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
And then the deep groan of something heaving startled them both. Luce gasped as the top of the marble statue teetered over them, like a tree branch swaying in the breeze. For a second, it seemed to hover in the air.
Luce and Daniel stood staring at the angel. Both of them knew it was on its way down. The angel's head bowed slowly toward them, like it was praying—and then the whole statue picked up speed as it started hurtling down. (4.109-110)
Foreshadowing, folks. A stone angel almost kills Luce, just as, we later learn, the knowledge of Daniel's existence as a fallen angel had killed Luce in the past, over and over again. The fact that Daniel is right next to Luce to witness this whole thing—and also save her from the falling angel—is as romantic as it is ironic.
Quote #2
There was a row of pretty stained-glass windows, with only a few broken panels, spanning the walls near the high, arched ceiling. There were candlelit stone niches along the wall. A diving board had been installed where the altar probably used to be. If Luce had not been raised agonistic, but rather as a God-fearing churchgoer, like the rest of her friends in elementary school, she might have thought this place was sacrilegious. (6.37)
Not only is this little info drop a huge spoiler alert (it hints to Luce's lack of a religious upbringing), but it also says that Luce is an anomaly in her group of childhood friends. Again, Luce is set apart. Unrelatedly, we also see yet another example of Sword & Cross lazily recycling a building that probably didn't need to have a pool in it.
Quote #3
"Like everything else in this hellhole, they did a totally half-assed job of updating it. I mean, who builds a pool in the middle of an old church?"
"You're joking," Luce said.
"I wish." Penn rolled her eyes. "Every summer, the headmaster gets it in his little mind to try and stick me with the task of redecorating this place. He won't admit it, but all the God stuff really freaks him out," she said. "Problem is, even if I did feel like pitching in, I'd have no idea what to do with all this junk, or even how to clear it out without offending, like, everyone and God." (6.29-31)
This interaction between Penn and Luce does a great job of showing the mentality the school has for religion, even though it does offer a religion class. Penn's confession that the headmaster gets freaked out by the state of the gym shows that the respect the Sword & Cross staff feels for the school's religious background is about as enthusiastic as Penn's non-enthusiasm about cleaning the church-nasium.