Saint Cecilia
Virgin and Martyr. Patron of Church Music
Feast day – November 22
It is under the emperor
Alexander Severus that this young Saint, one of the most fragrant flowers of
Christian virginity and martyrdom, suffered for the Faith she had chosen; to
choose it was at that moment as certain an end to earthly felicity as it is a
guarantee, at every epoch, of the eternal felicity of those who remain faithful
to it. Cecilia was the daughter of an illustrious patrician, and was the only Christian
of her family; she was permitted to attend the reunions held in the catacombs
by the Christians, either through her parents’ condescension or out of
indifference. She continually kept a copy of the holy Gospel hidden under her
clothing over her heart. Her parents obliged her, however, despite her vow of
virginity, which most probably they knew nothing of, to marry the young
Valerian, whom she esteemed as noble and good, but who was still pagan.
During the evening of the
wedding day, with the music of the nuptial feast still in the air, Cecilia,
this intelligent, beautiful, and noble Roman maiden, renewed her vow. When the
new spouses found themselves alone, she gently said to Valerian, “Dear friend,
I have a secret to confide to you, but will you promise me to keep it?” He
promised her solemnly that nothing would ever make him reveal it, and she
continued, “Listen: an Angel of God watches over me, for I belong to God. If he
sees that you would approach me under the influence of a sensual love, his anger
will be inflamed, and you will succumb to the blows of his vengeance. But if
you love me with a perfect love and conserve my virginity inviolable, he will
love you as he loves me, and will lavish on you, too, his favors.” Valerian
replied that if he might see this Angel, he would certainly correspond to her
wishes, and Cecilia answered, “Valerian, if you consent to be purified in the
fountain which wells up eternally; if you will believe in the unique, living
and true God who reigns in heaven, you will be able to see the Angel.” And to
his questions concerning this water and who might bestow it, she directed him
to a certain holy old man named Urban.
That holy Pontiff
rejoiced exceedingly when Valerian came to him the same night, to be instructed
and baptized; his long prayer touched the young man greatly, and he too
rejoiced with an entirely new joy in his new-found and veritable faith, so far
above the religion of the pagans. He returned to his house, and on entering the
room where Cecilia had continued to pray for the remainder of the night, he saw
the Angel waiting, with two crowns of roses and lilies, which he would place on
the head of each of them. Cecilia understood at once that if the lilies
symbolized their virginity, the roses foretold for them both the grace of
martyrdom. Valerian was told he might ask any grace at all of God, who was very
pleased with him; and he requested that his brother Tiburtius might also
receive the grace he had obtained; and the conversion of Tiburtius soon
afterwards became a reality.
The two brothers, who
were very wealthy, began to aid the families which had lost their support
through the martyrdom of the fathers, spouses, and sons; they saw to the burial
of the Christians, and continually braved the same fate as these victims. In
effect they were soon captured, and their testimony was such as to convert a
young officer chosen to conduct them to the site of their martyrdom. He
succeeded in delaying it for a day, and took them to his house, where before
the day was ended he had decided to receive Baptism with his entire family and
household. The two brothers offered their heads to the sword; and soon
afterward the officer they had won for Christ followed them to the eternal
divine kingdom. It was Cecilia who saw to the burial of all three martyrs. She
then distributed to the poor all the valuable objects of her house, in order
that the property of Valerian might not be confiscated according to current
Roman law, and knowing that her own time was close at hand.
She was soon arrested and
arraigned, but having asked a delay after her interrogation, she assembled
those who had heard her with admiration and instructed them in the faith; the
Pontiff Urban baptized a large number of them. The death appointed for her was
suffocation by steam. Saint Cecilia remained unharmed and calm, for a day and a
night, in the calderium, or place of hot baths, in her own palace,
despite a fire heated to seven times its ordinary violence. Finally, an
executioner was sent to dispatch her by the sword; he struck with trembling
hand the three blows which the law allowed, and left her still alive. For two
days and nights Cecilia would lie with her head half severed, on the pavement
of her bath, fully sensible and joyfully awaiting her crown. When her neophytes
came to bury her after the departure of the executioner, they found her alive
and smiling. They surrounded her there, not daring to touch her, for three
days, having collected the precious blood from her wounds. On the third day,
after the holy Pontiff Urban had come to bless her, the agony ended, and in the
year 177 the virgin Saint gave back her glorious soul to Christ. It was the
Supreme Pontiff who presided at her funeral; she was placed in a coffin in the
position in which she had lain, as we often see her pictured, and interred in
the vault prepared by Saint Callixtus for the Church’s pontiffs. The authentic
acts of her life and martyrdom were prepared by Pope Anteros in the year 235.
When the tomb was opened in 1599 her body was entirely intact still.
Sources for this article were taken from: http://magnificat.ca
Prayer
St. Cecilia, glorious Virgin and Martyr of Jesus Christ, I
admire the courage with which you professed your faith in the face of severe
persecution, and the generous love with which you offered your life in withness
to your belief in the Blessed Trinity. I thank God with you for the wonderful
graces He had bestowed upon you to make your life holy and pleasing to Him even
in the midst of the wealth that was yours. I thank Him for the privilege
offered to you of receiving the glorious crown of martyrdom.
Saint Cecilia, I also admire the purity of love that bound you to the Savior,
which was greater in your eyes than any human affection, so that you declared
yourself before the enemies of the Church, "I am the bride of my Lord
Jesus Christ." Pray for me that in imitation of you I may keep my body
pure and my soul holy, and that I may love Jesus with all my heart.
In these times so full of pleasure seeking and so lacking in faith, teach us to
profess our faith courageously and to be willing to sacrifice ourselves in
practicing it, so that our good example may lead others closer to Christ and
the Church He has founded.
In thanksgiving to God for the graces He bestowed on St Cecilia: Our Father.
Hail Mary. Glory be. St. Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr of Jesus Christ, pray for
us.
Amen.
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