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SAINT
CECILIA - THE PATRON SAINT OF MUSIC
A patrician woman of second or third century Rome, her life was, to put it
mildly, harsh, and her martyrdom was, to put it even more mildly, cruel.
Her recorded life begins with her marriage, against her will, to Valerian.
She had planned to devote her life to serving God, and during her wedding
feast, she remained alone in a corner, praying while the others ate and
danced.
 Her husband was a
remarkable man who agreed to respect her vow of virginity. He and his
brother Tiburtius were both impressed by Cecilia's piety, and they too
were soon baptized. Together, the three lead a life of buying the remains
of Christian martyrs and giving them proper burials. Of course, as was the
rule in Roman Rome, no good deed was ever left unpunished, and Valerian
and Tiburtius were quickly hauled before prefect Almachius' court. He
ordered them to sacrifice to the pagan gods, and when they refused, he
sentenced them to be scourged and beheaded. During their whippings, they
even managed to convert one of their guards to Christianity, Maximus. He
too died with them.
Cecilia of course rushed out to get their bodies, and
lovingly buried them in the cemetery of Praetextatus. Having lost her
husband, her brother-in-law, and the soldier who whipped them both, she
re-decorated her home. Almachius was horrified to see the new scheme--a
fetching church interior, complete with services, and attempted to force
her to renounce her Christianity. Having no more luck with her than with
her husband, he sentenced her to death too.
Her death sentence was to be carried out by suffocating
her in her own bath. Locked in her bathroom, the executioners stoked the
furnace until the temperature in the roman bath was seven times normal
temperature. Several hours later, Cecilia emerged unharmed. The same could
not be said for her new wallpaper, which was in tatters. Enraged,
Almachius ordered her to be beheaded. A bumbling klutz of a soldier
managed to only fatally wound her after three attempts. Over the next
three days, she lay in pain, singing songs of praise to God, and
comforting herself with sacred music, as her friends came to seek her
final blessings. Finally, she died, never once forsaking her faith in
Christ. More about Saint
Cecilia
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