Story of her life
SAINT CECILIA, virgin and martyr (d. c. 177)
In the fifth century a basilica dedicated to Saint Cecilia was erected at Rome. From that time devotion to her spread, largely owing to account of her sufferings. She is praised as the most perfect model of the Christian woman because of her virginity and the martyrdom which she suffered for love of Christ. The burial-place of Cecilia was discovered in the Catacomb of Callistus in a crypt immediately adjoining the crypt reserved for the popes. An empty niche in one of the walls contained at one time the remains of the saint which were eventually located in the year 817.
In a collection of masses compiled in the fifth century there were found no less than five different masses in honor of St. Cecilia testifying to the great veneration in which the saint was at that time held in the Roman Church.
Cecilia, a virgin of a senatorial family and a Christian from her infancy, was given in a marriage arranged by her parents to a noble pagan youth Valerianus. When, after the celebration of the marriage, the couple had retired to the wedding-chamber, Cecilia told Valerianus that she was betrothed to an angel who jealously guarded her body; therefore Valerianus must take care not to violate her virginity. Valerianus wished to see the angel, whereupon Cecilia sent him to the third milestone on the Via Appia where he met Pope Urbanus and was baptized by him. He then returned to Cecilia. An angel appeared to the two and crowned them with roses and lilies. Tiburtius, the brother of Valerianus, came to them, he too was won over to Christianity. Both brothers distributed alms to the poor and buried the bodies of the confessors who were martyred for Christ. Hearing of this, the prefect, Turcius Almachius, condemned them to death. An officer of the prefect, Maximus, was appointed to execute this sentence but too was converted and baptized. As a result he suffered martyrdom with the two brothers. The remains of these three were buried in one tomb by Cecilia. And now Cecilia herself was sought by the officers of the prefect. Before she was taken prisoner, she arranged that her house should be preserved as a place of worship for the Roman Church. After a glorious profession of faith, she was condemned to be suffocated by the heat chamber in a bath of her own house. Miraculously she was unhurt in the overheated room. The prefect then ordered her to be decapitated in that place. The executioner let his sword fall three times but was unable to separate the head from the trunk. Seeing this, he fled in fear, leaving the virgin bathed in her own blood. She lived three days and made arrangements to give away her property to the poor. She also provided that after her death her house should be dedicated as a church. Pope Urbanus buried her among the bishops and the confessors in the Catacomb of Callistus. The existence of these martyrs is a historical fact and the relation between St. Cecilia and Valerianus, Tiburtius, and Maximus is mentioned in the Acts of the Martyrs, the official records of the trials of early Christian martyrs made by the notaries of the court. The Acts however offer no other indication of the time of her martyrdom but other sources place her death during the reign of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus (about 177). The body of Saint Cecilia was eventually located in the Catacomb of Praetextatus in 817, and her body removed to the church of Saint Cecilia in Rome. Her remains were found to be incorrupt and still wearing her costly garments of gold brocade and cloths soaked in her blood at her feet.
From a discourse on the psalms by Saint Augustine, bishop
Sing to God with songs of joy
Praise the Lord with the lyre, make melody to him with the harp of ten strings! sing to him a new song. Rid yourself of what is old and worn out, for you know a new song. A new man, a new covenant – a new song. this new song does not belong to the old man. Only the new man learns it: the man restored from his fallen condition through the grace of God, and now sharing in the new covenant, that is, the kingdom of heaven To it all our love now aspires and sings a new song. Let us sing a new song not with our lips but with our lives.
Sing to him a new song, sing to him with joyful melody. Every one of us tries to discover how to sing to God. You must sing to him, but you must wing well. He does not want your voice to come harshly to his ears, so sing well, bothers!
If you were asked, “Sing to please this musician,” you would not like to do so without having taken some instruction in music, because you would not like to offend an expert in the art. An untrained listener does not notice the faults a musician would point out to you. Who, the, will offer to sing well for God, the great artist whose discrimination is faultless. whose attention is on the minutest detail, whose ear nothing escapes? When will you be able to offer him a perfect performance that you will in no way displease such a supremely discerning listener?
See how he himself provides you with a way of singing. Do not search for words, as if you could find a lyric which would give God pleasure. Sing to him “with songs of joy.” This is singing well to God, just singing with songs of joy.
But how is this done? You must first understand that words cannot express the things that are sung by the heart. Take the case of people singing while harvesting in the fields or in the vineyards or when any other strenuous work is in progress. Although they begin by giving expression to their happiness in sung words, yet shortly there is a change. As if so happy that words can no longer express what they feel, they discard the restricting syllables. They burst out into a simple sound of joy, of jubilation. Such a cry of joy is a sound signifying that the heart is bringing to birth what it cannot utter in words.
Now, who is more worthy of such a cry of jubilation than God himself, whom all words fail to describe? If words will not serve, and yet you must not remain silent, what else can you do but cry out for you? Your heart must rejoice beyond words, soaring into an immensity of gladness, unrestrained by syllabic bonds. Sing to him with songs of joy.
