St. Cecilia. ROMAN MARTYR

WRITTEN BY: The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. This article was most recently revised and updated by Melissa Petruzzello, Assistant Editor.

 Stefano Maderno's Martyrdom of Saint Cecilia, Church of St. Cecilia, RomeSt Cecilia's Martyr

According to a late 5th-century legend, she was a noble Roman who, as a child, had vowed her virginity to God. When she was married against her will to the future saint Valerian, then a pagan, she told him that an angel of God wished her to remain a virgin. He promised to respect this wish if he were allowed to see the angel. She replied that he would if he were baptized. On his return from baptism he found Cecilia talking to the angel. She then converted his brother Tiburtius, who also saw the angel. Both men were martyred before she was. She distributed her possessions to the poor, which enraged the prefect Almachius, who ordered her to be burned. When the flames did not harm her, she was beheaded.

Cecilia was buried in the catacomb of St. Callistus, near Rome. At the beginning of the 9th century, Pope Paschal I discovered her incorrupt relics in the catacomb of St. Praetextatus and had them moved to Rome, to a basilica in Trastevere that now bears her name. She became the patron saint of musicians and music; in art she is often represented playing the organ.

A few examples of the many artistic works about Saint Cecilia:

• Chaucer commemorates Saint Cecilia in his “Second Nun’s Tale.”
• John Dryden’s poem “A Song for Saint Cecilia’s Day” was set to music by Handel in his “Ode for Saint Cecilia’s Day.”
• Charles Gounod composed the Saint Cecilia Mass.
• Benjamin Britten composed the “Hymn to Saint Cecilia.

1.       Guess how she came to be patron saint of music and musicians.

2.       Why is Cecilia depicted in paintings as singing and playing the organ?

3.       Why did Pope Paschal found a monastery in her honour in Trastevere?