St. Cecilia

For more than a thousand years, Cecilia has been one of the martyrs of the early Church's most revered. His name, that she founded a church and was buried in a crypt of the Catacombs of St.Callistus, the context as the existence of Valerian and a Tubercius is all that is historically verifiable has subject. However, it is certain that this holy life is based on some facts.

The story of St.Cecilia, which is not devoid of beauty and merit, is built partly on legends. The romance of Cecilia and Valerian is known for the legendary passion of Cecile written in 535. At that time, many church founders and martyrs were canonized. The first mention of Cecilia in the canon of the Mass date from 496.

 

St.Cecilia is born into the noble family of Rome practitioner Coecilia which many senators are from. She possessed all the gifts of grace, beauty and innocence that a girl could have. Rich and educated, she was fervent arts and had a special talent for music. Very young, she devoted her life to God and vowed to virginity.

Against her will, her father married a young pagan named Valerian. The wedding day arrived, and while everyone sang and danced, Cecilia had retired to invoke the protection of Heaven in this difficult situation, while singing in his heart and reciting psalms. This is the origin of the veneration in time patron of music. Valerian, a remarkable man, was known to be of great understanding.

The evening of the marriage when the young couple found themselves in their room, Cecilia tells her husband :
- I'll tell you a secret he must swear not to divulge to anyone. I am accompanied by an angel who watches over me. If you touch me in the context of marriage, he gets angry and you will suffer. If you respect my decision, he will love you as he loves me.

Valerian replied
- Show me this angel.

She said :
- If you believe in God, and you become known, you'll see. Valerian accepted as his wife Cecilia and promised to respect his wish not claim the rights of the marriage.

I was very impressed by the piety and the state of grace of his wife. With the support of Pope Urbain St, Cecilia managed to convert her husband to Christianity and to be baptized.

Returning to his wife, he found her in prayer with an angel with wings of fire next to her. Angel Cecilia crowned with roses and lilacs and Valerian said :
- Get the crowns, they are a sign from heaven. They never dry out or lose their scent. As for you Valerian, ask me what you want. He wished that his brother Tiburcius, which was very expensive, accompanies him in his faith. His wish was accepted. When Tiburcius entered the house, the fragrant flowers are invisible to her eyes seized and he was persuaded by Cecile and Valerian to renounce his false gods. He converted and was baptized by St.Urban.

The young couple lived in chastity, devoted themselves to good works. Cecilia was singing the praises of God diligently and often added to a musical instrument.

But cruel persecution of Christians, committed by the emperor Marcus Aurelius have because of them. Because of their eagerness to bury the bodies of Christian martyrs in the catacombs outside the city, they were arrested. The prefect Almachius incited them to renounce their faith they refused. So that they can not make arrangements to donate their property, they were sentenced to flogging after being decapitated. Maximus, the officer responsible for making the award, after seeing an apparition of martyrs, suddenly converted to Christianity and suffered the same fate. The three men were executed around Rome.

Braving danger, Cecilia buried in the catacombs of St Praetextatus on the Appian Way and decided to use his future home to preach the faith. With unmatched eloquence, Cecilia converts more people. One day, when Pope Urban visited him at home, he baptized more than 400 people.

Shortly after Valerian, she was arrested and brought before the prefect for having buried the bodies of her husband and Tiburcius. She had no other choice than the veneration of pagan gods or death. After a glorious confession of faith, she was sentenced to death.

But carry out a daughter of such a noble work for the poor was not easy even during the cruel emperors. Rejecting a public performance she was sentenced to be locked in the bathroom (sudatorium) of his own house in Trastevere and suffocated by the steam. The grate was charged seven times its normal load. The heat and humidity had no reason for it. When she fell unconscious, after one day and one night the angry warden ordered the beheading.

 

At the sight of the holy, the soldier lost his courage and sent trembling struck three times, but in vain. The Roman law prohibiting the fourth stroke, she was left lying in his blood. Immediately the Christians rushed into the house and wiped the wounds with linen garments, without moving the soil. Cecilia survived three days during which she never ceased to preach his faith and to encourage the poor. When St.Urbain arrived, she donated his house to build a church and bequeathed his possessions to the poor. Then turning his face against the ground, Cecilia died Nov. 22 in the year 230.

 

She was buried in the exact position where she died, with fingers extended, into the Catacombs of St.Callistus beside the crypt of the popes, his feet, his clothes had suffered wounds. The Catacombs of St.Callistus are among the largest in Roma. This set cimeteral built in the mid second century, occupying 15 hectares of land consists of 20 km of tunnels at several levels at 20 meters underground.

In 817, Paschal 1^st began to move out of thousands of corpses decaying catacombs, to places more secure and safe from intruders. But the relics of Cecilia remained untraceable. One morning in the year 822, while he celebrated in Rome, Cecilia appeared to the Pope Paschal 1^st, revealing the location of the burial. It was found the same day in the catacombs of St.Callistus. In the cypress coffin was Cecilia dressed in a robe of gold cloth and linen garments soaked with blood at his feet. It also brought to light the tomb of Valerian, and Maximus Tiburcius. The pope make transfer Cecile under the main altar of the church in Trastevere, which was later called: Titulus Sanctae Caeciliae "Church founded by a woman named Cecilia. Placed in the position discovery, the pope placed the coffin in a marble sarcophagus. Valerian and her friends were placed in another location of the Chapel.

Under the reign of Pope Clement VIII in 1599, during renovation of the church of Santa Cecilia and the construction of its high altar, Cardinal Paul Emilius Sfondrati opened the tomb and found the white marble sarcophagus containing the body of Cecilia intact.

After more 800 years, she was miraculously and beautifully preserved. Lying on the right side face against the ground, as in a deep sleep, his neck still bore traces of blows. The green and gold of her dress luxury were not altered by time. There is no other similar case in the history of the Church : the preservation of a body in the position of death and immortalized in marble. At the opening of his tomb, artists were allowed to paint tables and images. Thousands of people had the privilege of seeing her in her coffin and during 4-5 weeks, she was exposed for veneration. Then the body was decomposed rapidly on contact with air.

 

At present Cecilia and Valerian are reunited for eternity. Their relics and that of St.Urban are sumptuous in a vault under the great altar of St.Cecilia in Trastevere which was dedicated by Sfondrati. The closing ceremony of the tomb with the relics in a silver casket was attended by the pope himself and 42 cardinals.

 

Under this altar is a beautiful marble statue carved in 1601 by Stefano Maderno and faithfully representing the martyrdom in a pool of blood as it fell after the shots and as we found her at the opening of his tomb in 1599. In this work, Maderno, fell in love with her, was able to express the grace of Cecile working marble in a representation bright and warm. " A replica of this statue occupies the original site of the saint in the catacombs of Callistus, where the crypt of St.Cecilia is entirely decorated with frescoes and mosaics (early IX^th century). On the wall near the replica of the statue is an ancient image of Saint Cecilia in an attitude of prayer.

 

 

Until the middle ages, the patron of musicians was Pope St.Gregory, but when the music academy in Roma was founded in 1584, she was placed under the protection of St.Cecilia. Thus establishing its veneration become universal, as the patroness of musicians. The association of St.Cecilia with music dates from the late V^th century and is due to the pilgrims come to see the relics. She became the subject of many representations (painting, frescoes, mosaics) and is the source of prayers, songs that have contributed to its popularity. Dryden wrote "A Song for St.Cecilia's Day" and the poet Alexander Pope wrote "Ode to Music for the Feast of St.Cecilia".

 

Since the XV^th century, the emblem of St.Cecilia became the organ. In pictorial representations, she is depicted with an organ, a harp or other musical instrument. Previously, she was crowned with roses, bearing a palm or busy converting her husband St.Valerian, etc... The earliest images of Cecilia without musical instruments were found in the VI^th century Roman frescoes in the catacombs of San Callisto. After she was painted in organist by Raphael, her image has become a favorite topic for the windows.

St.Cecilia patron of music, musicians, composers and singers, of luthiers, of poets, is celebrated on November 22.