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These hundred years of turmoil were punctuated with persecutions. One of the most famous of the time was Cecilia.
St. Cecilia is the patroness of musicians and Church music because during her martyrdom, she sang to God.
As we have said before, not too much is clear about this early part of Church history. We have pieced together as well as we could the story of St. Cecilia.
St. Cecilia’s feast day is celebrated on November 22nd.
The Mass of Saint Cecilia prays:
“Arise, soldiers of Christ, throw away the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.”
She is one of seven women, excluding the Blessed Virgin, commemorated by name in the
Canon of the Mass. She is thought to have died in the mid to late 230’s AD, since she is linked with Pope Urban, who died 230 AD. Who was succeeded by a string of martyred popes, during this persecution.
Cecilia was given in marriage to a pagan youth named Valerian. She had been a Christian since childhood, doing penances and fasting, while invoking the saints, and angels, to guard her virginity. Making a vow of virginity to Jesus before her parents had betrothed her; she begged that her parents wouldn’t marry her off. Some mistakenly say when telling her story, that she was betrothed to an angel. But this is silly. She, like all consecrated virgins in the Church, was betrothed to Jesus Christ. The angel in the story was just her protector. Angels do not marry.
Mark 12:25
“For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.”
On her wedding nite she revealed her vow of virginity to her new husband. She also warned him: “There is an angel who watches over me, and wards off any who would touch me.”
He said, “if this is true, show me this angel.”
She replied: “You can only see if you will believe in the one true God, and are baptized.”
She sent him to Pope Urban (223-230), who baptized him. We assume after some instruction. When he returned, after baptism, he saw Cecilia praying in her chamber, and an angel by her side, holding two crowns of roses and lilies, which the angel placed on each of their heads, and then vanished.
Shortly after, Tibertius, the brother of Valerian, entered, and wondered at the fragrance and beauty of the flowers out of season. When he heard the story of how they had obtained these crowns, he also consented to be baptized.
The newly-baptized wealthy brothers devoted themselves to distributing alms and burying the martyrs slain daily by the prefect of the city, Turcius Almachius. During this time, it was forbidden for anyone to bury the bodies of Christians. For this, they were arrested and brought before a judge who ordered them to worship the Roman god Jupiter, and were martyred when they refused to deny their Christian faith. The officer of the prefect, Maximus, who was appointed to execute the brothers was himself converted, most likely already a secret Christian, suffering martyrdom with them.
After these martyrdoms, Cecilia's testimony had converted some four hundred persons, whom Pope Urban baptized.
The Roman government soon came for Cecilia, who continued the work of her husband and brother-in-law. They demanded she renounce the Faith. In reply, she told them that she would prefer to die than to denounce her Faith. Upon hearing this response, Cecilia was condemned to be suffocated in her own bath– she was an aristocrat and owned a large home with a bath. They heated the large oven with the intention of suffocating her with the heat and toxic gasses, which it emitted. However, instead of choking, Cecilia began to sing.
She was shut in for a night and a day, and the fires were heaped up, and made to glow and roar their utmost, but Cecilia did not even break out into perspiration through the heat. When the Roman prefect, Almachius, heard this, he sent an executioner to cut off her head. The man struck three times without being able to separate her head from her body, but he did cause a major wound. The executioner was frightened, and left her bleeding. She lived three days. Christians came to her house and prayed. At the end of that period she died. She had also left her estate to the Church. St. Cecilia was buried in the Catacomb of Pope Callistus and later her body was transferred to the Church of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, her former house, with her husband, her brother-in-law, and Maximus the converted soldier.
In 1599, her tomb was opened and her body was found still incorrupt, seeming to be asleep. Also it was confirmed at this time of examining the body that the details of her being dressed in a beautiful gown, according to her legend, were also true.
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