St Cecilia

Virgin and martyr of Rome, patron of music · Feast: 22 November

St Cecilia
Raphael, The Ecstasy of St Cecilia, with Sts Paul, John the Evangelist, Augustine and Mary Magdalene, oil (transferred from panel to canvas), 1514, Pinacoteca Nazionale, Bologna, Italy. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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Word for the day

“O sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth.” Psalm 96:1

Life

Cecilia is one of the most honoured martyrs of the early Roman Church. Her name is said in the Roman Canon of the Mass (Eucharistic Prayer I), and an ancient church in the Trastevere district of Rome bears her name. These facts show that her memory was treasured from early times.

The details of her life come from a later account, the Acts of St Cecilia, written around the late fifth century, which historians regard as largely legendary. It tells that Cecilia, a Christian girl of a noble family, had consecrated her virginity to God but was given in marriage to a young pagan, Valerian. She told him of the angel who guarded her; Valerian was converted and baptised, together with his brother Tiburtius, and both died as martyrs.

According to the same account Cecilia was then arrested; she survived an attempt to suffocate her and, after being struck with a sword, lived for three days, encouraging the faithful, before she died. In 1599 her tomb in Santa Cecilia was opened, and the sculptor Stefano Maderno carved the well-known statue of her lying on her side.

Lessons

Belonging wholly to God

Cecilia's story shows a heart given entirely to Christ.

Bringing others to faith

Her witness led her husband and his brother to Christ.

Singing in the heart

She is patron of music because the account says that, while instruments played at her wedding, she sang to God in her heart.

Stories

Singing in her heart (legend)

The Acts say that at her wedding feast, while the instruments played, Cecilia sang in her heart to God alone, asking that her heart be kept pure. From this phrase she became patron of musicians.

The statue of Maderno (history)

When her tomb was opened in 1599, Stefano Maderno sculpted the figure of the martyr lying as she was found; the statue lies beneath the altar of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere.

Homily

1. Belonging wholly to God

Cecilia's story shows a heart given entirely to Christ.

2. Singing in the heart

Sing to the Lord a new song (Psalm 96:1). She sang to God in her heart while the world made noise around her.

3. Leading others to Christ

Her witness brought her husband and his brother to faith.

Dear friends, St Cecilia is one of the martyrs named in the ancient Roman Canon of the Mass. Much of her story comes to us through a later account that historians regard as largely legendary, and we say so honestly. Yet the Church has loved her memory from the earliest centuries, and her story carries a true message.

The account says that at her wedding feast, while the instruments played, Cecilia sang in her heart to God alone. That is why she is patron of music. The psalm invites us: sing to the Lord a new song (Psalm 96:1). Amid the noise of our world, can we keep a song to God in our hearts?

Her faith also led her husband and his brother to Christ. Let us thank God today for our choirs and musicians, who help us pray, and let us sing to the Lord with our lives as well as our lips. Amen.

Prayer

Lord, accept our prayer through the intercession of St Cecilia, and let us sing your praises with our lives as well as our lips. Amen.