St. Cecilia

Honored Since Ancient Times

St. Cecilia is one of the most venerated martyrs of early Rome, honored in the Church's liturgy since ancient times and named daily in the Roman Canon of the Mass. The historical details of her life are uncertain: her story rests largely on a fifth-century account of her passion, written well after the events it describes, and even the date of her death is disputed, with tradition placing it around the year 230.

Valerian, Tiburtius, and Her Passion

According to that tradition, Cecilia was a young Roman noblewoman who had consecrated her virginity to Christ. Given in marriage to a pagan named Valerian, she won him to the faith, and he and his brother Tiburtius were baptized and later martyred for burying the bodies of persecuted Christians. Cecilia herself was condemned to death; the account relates that an attempt to suffocate her in her own bath failed, and that the executioner's three sword strokes left her dying for three days, during which she continued to profess her faith.

Patroness of Music and Musicians

Her association with music comes from a line in her passion which says that as the musicians played at her wedding, Cecilia "sang in her heart to the Lord." From this she became the beloved patroness of musicians, singers, and church music, and music academies and societies across the world bear her name.

Trastevere and the Opened Tomb

Cecilia was buried in the Catacomb of St. Callixtus, and in the ninth century Pope Paschal I translated her relics to the Basilica of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, built over what tradition identifies as her family home. When her tomb was opened in 1599, her body was reported to be incorrupt, and Stefano Maderno's famous sculpture of the recumbent saint, displayed beneath the basilica's altar, records what witnesses said they saw. Her memorial is celebrated on November 22.

Significance

Though much of her story comes to us through tradition rather than certain history, this Roman martyr has been honored in the Church's prayer since ancient times. The image of a young woman singing to the Lord in her heart has made her the friend of musicians, singers, and all who serve in church music. She reminds believers that worship begins within, and that a life given to Christ can itself become a song of praise.