Saint Cecilia

(Third Century)

Saint Cecilia by Guido Reni, 1606

For centuries St. Cecelia has remained one of the church's most beloved saints. Singers, poets, and musicians honor her as their patron. Her name is derived from the Latin words that mean "lily of heaven."

She dedicated her virginity to God, but her parents married her to Valerian of Trastevere.

As the wedding day approached, she fasted for two or three days..., recommending her fears to God. On her nuptial day she wore a hair shirt next to her flesh, concealed by her gown of gold; and when the organs rang out, she sang in her heart to God alone, saying, "O Lord, let my heart and my body be undefiled, that I be not confounded."

That night, when with her spouse, she sought the secret silences of the bridal chamber, she spoke to him as follows: "O sweetest and most loving youth, there is a secret that I may confess to you, if only you will swear to guard it faithfully."  Then Valerian swore that no necessity would make him betray it in any way. Then she said: "I have for my lover an angel of God, who guards my body with exceeding zeal!  If he sees you but lightly touch me for sordid love, he will smite you, and you will lose that fair flower of your youth. But if he knows that you love me with a pure love, he will love you as he loves me, and will show you his glory!"

Then Valerian, guided by the will of God, said: "If you will have me believe you, show me the angel! If I find that he is really an angel, I shall do as you ask me. But if your lover is another man, you shall both fall by my sword!"

Cecilia told her new husband that in order to see it, he must be purified. He agreed to the purification, and was baptized.  Returning from the ceremony, he found her in prayer accompanied by a praying angel. The angel placed a crown on each of their heads, and offered Valerian a favor; the new convert asked that his brother be baptized.

The two brothers developed a ministry of giving proper burial to martyred Christians. F or this they were arrested and martyred for their faith.   Cecilia buried them at her villa on the Apprian Way.  In the meantime, Cecilia continued to make many conversions, and prepared to have her home preserved as a church at her death.  Finally, she too was arrested and brought before the prefect.  He ruled that she should die by suffocation in the baths.  Saint Cecilia was locked into the bathhouse and the fires vigorously stoked.  She remained there for a day and a night but was still alive when the soldiers opened the doors.  She was then ordered beheaded, but the executioner, after striking three times without severing St Cecilia's head, ran away, leaving her badly wounded.

St. Cecilia hung onto life for three days after the mortal blows, preaching all the while.  She made many more conversions and people came to soak up her flowing blood with sponges and cloths.  There exists in Rome a church in St. Cecilia's honor that dates from about the fifth century.  Her relics were believed to have been found by Pope Paschal I in 821 A.D., in the cemetery of St. Celestas.  St. Cecilia's  remains were exhumed in 1599,  when Cardinal Paul Emilius Sfondrati rebuilt the church of St. Cecilia, and said to be incorrupt.

In a clear walled city on the sea. Near gilded organ pipes - slept St. Cecily by John William Waterhouse, 1870-1917

Prayer to Saint Cecilia

O glorious St. Cecilia, virgin and martyr, you won the martyr's crown without renouncing your love for Jesus, the delight of your soul. We ask that you help us to be faithful in our love for Jesus, that, in the communion of the saints, we may praise Him twice in our song of rejoicing for the Blood that He shed which gave us the grace to accomplish His will on earth.

Amen

Saint Cecilia and Saint Valerian, Lelio Orsi, 1511-1587

Saints Cecilia, Valerian, Tiburtius and female donor by Francesco Botticini