| Saint Cecilia of Rome | |
|---|---|
Saint Cecilia by Guido Reni, 1606[1] |
|
| Virgin and Martyr | |
| Born | 2nd century A.D. Rome |
| Died | Sicily |
| Major shrine | Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, Rome |
| Feast |
November 22 Patron saint of musicians and church music |
| Attributes | flute, organ, roses, violin, harp, harpsichord, singing |
| Patronage | Church music, great musicians, poets; Albi, France;Archdiocese of Omaha, Nebraska; Mar del Plata, Argentina |
Saint Cecilia (Latin: Sancta Caecilia) is the patroness of musicians[2] and Church music because, as she was dying, she sang to God. It is also written that as the musicians played at her wedding she "sang in her heart to the Lord".[2] St. Cecilia was an only child. Her feast day is celebrated in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches on November 22. She is one of seven women, excluding the Blessed Virgin, commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass. It was long supposed that she was a noble lady of Rome who, with her husband Valerian, his brother Tiburtius, and a Roman soldier Maximus, suffered martyrdom in about 230, under the Emperor Alexander Severus.[3]
The research of Giovanni Battista de Rossi,[4] however, appears to confirm the statement of Venantius Fortunatus, Bishop of Poitiers (d. 600), that she perished in Sicily under Emperor Marcus Aurelius between 176 and 180. A church in her honor exists in Rome from about the 5th century, was rebuilt with much splendor by Pope Paschal I around the year 820, and again by Cardinal Paolo Emilio Sfondrati in 1599. It is situated in Trastevere, near the Ripa Grande quay, where in earlier days the ghetto was located, and is the titulus of a Cardinal Priest, currently Carlo Maria Martini.
The martyrdom of Cecilia is said to have followed that of her husband and his brother by the prefect Turcius Almachius.[5] The officers of the prefect then sought to have Cecilia killed as well. She arranged to have her home preserved as a church before she was arrested. At that time, the officials attempted to kill her by smothering her by steam. However, the attempt failed, and she was to have her head chopped off. But they were unsuccessful three times, and she would not die until she received the sacrament of Holy Communion.
Cecilia survived another three days before succumbing. In the last three days of her life, she opened her eyes, gazed at her family and friends who crowded around her cell, closed them, and never opened them again. The people by her cell knew immediately that she was to become a saint in heaven.[2] When her incorruptible body was found long after her death, it was found that on one hand she had two fingers outstretched and on the other hand just one finger, denoting her belief in the trinity.
The Sisters of Saint Cecilia are a group of women consecrated religious sisters. They are the ones who shear the lambs' wool used to make the palliums of new metropolitan archbishops. The lambs are raised by the Cistercian Trappist Fathers of the Tre Fontane (Three Fountains) Abbey in Rome. The lambs are blessed by the Pope every January 21, the Feast of the martyr Saint Agnes. The pallia are given by the Pope to the new metropolitan archbishops on the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, June 29.
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The name "Caecilia" was shared by all women of the Roman gens known as the Caecilii, whose name may be related to the root of 'caecus', blind. Legends and hagiographies, mistaking it for a personal name, suggest fanciful etymologies. Among those cited by Chaucer in The Second Nun's Tale are: lily of heaven; the way for the blind; contemplation of heaven and the active life; as if lacking in blindness; a heaven for people to gaze upon.[6]
Cecilia's musical fame rests on a passing notice in her legend that she was beheaded and at the same time praised God, singing to Him, as she lay dying a martyr's death. She is frequently depicted playing an organ or other musical instrument. Musical societies and conservatories frequently have been named for St. Cecilia. Her feast day became an occasion for musical concerts and festivals that occasioned well-known poems by John Dryden and Alexander Pope[7], and music by Henry Purcell (Ode to St. Cecilia), George Frideric Handel (Ode for St. Cecilia's Day, Alexander's Feast) and Benjamin Britten, who was born on her feast day, (Hymn to St. Cecilia), as well as Herbert Howells with text from a poem by W. H. Auden. Gerald Finzi's "For Saint Cecilia", Op. 30, was set to verses written by Edmund Blunden.
The New York post-hardcore band Polar Bear Club refer to St. Cecilia in their song "Song To Persona". David Byrne and Brian Eno's song, The River, on the album, Everything that Happens Will Happen Today, also refers to St. Cecilia's Day. Paul Simon, of Simon and Garfunkel fame, wrote the song "The Coast" which references her when a family of musicians taking refuge in the Church of St. Cecilia.[8] There is also evidence that another of Paul Simon's songs was also in her honor, as "Cecilia" can be interpreted to refer to her and the frustration of song writing.[9] English lyrics were written for a Swedish popular song "Min soldat" and released as "The Shrine of Saint Cecilia". It was recorded by a number of American close harmony and doo-wop groups during the 20th century like Willie Winfield and the Harp-Tones. Others were the Bon Aires and the Andrew sisters. The song was first released in the U.S. in 1941. Stalk-Forrest group (an early incarnation of Blue Oyster Cult) recorded a song called "St. Cecilia" on their album that was scrapped by Elektra records. The album finally saw a limited release in 2003 through Rhino Handmade under the title St. Cecilia: The Elektra Recordings. Then in 2007 Radioactive Records released the album (on cd and vinyl) as St. Cecilia: The California Album – Remastered.
A poem by Australian poet A.D.Hope (1907–2000) "Moschus Moschiferus" is sub-titled 'A Song for St Cecilia's Day'. The poem is of 12 stanzas and was written in the 1960s.
Domenichino's Fresco Cycle in San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome (1614)
The apse fresco in the Church of St. Cecilia in Trastevere