ST. CECILIA Virgin and Martyr

          If there’s one image that comes immediately to my  mind often when I think of  St. Cecilia it is that of a beautiful young woman playing an ancient musical instrument.I am very proud of St.Cecilia that she was only  a woman  patron saint of church music.

 The most liked saint by me is St.John De Britto in men saint and the second one is St.Cecilia in woman saint.So I would like to share something about  St. Cecilia.

There are hundreds of paintings depicting the church’s earliest saints and martyrs and all of them do justice to the beauty of our saint and her love of music.

          St. Cecilia is one of the most venerated saints in the Roman Catholic Church although she lived almost 1800 years ago. The true story is told of how while digging the ruins of an ancient church where it was believed the saint was buried, the excavators and priests who were gathered there, were astonished to see that this young martyr’s body was miraculously preserved after more than one thousand, two hundred years in the tomb. Witnesses said that she looked as though she was just sleeping.

          Our great saint was put to death in Rome during the year 230 CE during the reign of Emperor Alexander Severus. We do not know much about the childhood of St. Cecilia but we can be sure that she was born in pagan Rome and of noble birth. 

From a very early age she showed a remarkable devotion to Christ, solidly practicing her faith without fail. Being close to God right through her childhood and youth, it is no surprise that this beautiful girl decided to keep her virginity for her entire life.

          Now as was a custom, Cecilia was betrothed to a young nobleman by the name of Valerian. He was a pagan and could not understand or follow the Christian faith but he loved Cecilia and it happened that one day he actually saw an angel talking to his wife and he was converted along with his brother. They were both put to death for being Christians.

          One particularly terrible punishment for the Christians was being thrown to wild animals in the arena and the young noble woman knew her time would come soon. And so it was that Cecilia was eventually tried by the Roman perfect Almachius but refused to denounce Christ. 

The frustrated perfect bound Cecilia and had her carried away to her own home where a steam bath was prepared to suffocate and burn the young woman. Astonishingly, after three days she was alive and well and not even sweating a little. 

Filled with anger and bitterness, he sent an executioner to chop off her head. The executioner used all his skill and strength and struck her not once but thrice. But to his horror, the lady was still alive and according to the law, he could not strike a fourth time.

          Cecilia must have been in the utmost agony, lying in a pool of blood for another three days though another kind of miracle occurred in the bath. In these state of death itself, Cecilia did not stop praying and preaching to the people who came to see her and sent all who believed in Jesus to be baptized. 

She arranged for all her money and property to be given to the poor and made a final request. She was keen that her house be converted into a church where she hoped to be buried. Then she gave up her spirit to God. Cecilia became a martyr. Her people were filled with sorrow and mourned for her a long time.

          On account of her martyrdom, she became a Saint instantly and her grave was venerated by Christians for centuries. Following her death, her body lay in the Catacomb of Callistus in a small crypt close to the chapel of the early Popes.

 This is said to be the same house and property that belonged to Cecilia and her family. Her feast day is commemorated on 22^nd November. St. Cecilia is the patron saint of church music.

ST. CECILIA PRAY FOR US!