St. Cecilia

Please help support the mission of New Advent and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more — all for only $19.99...

Virgin andmartyr,patroness ofchurch music, died atRome.

This saint, so often glorified in thefine arts and in poetry, is one of the mostveneratedmartyrs ofChristian antiquity. The oldest historical account of St. Cecilia is found in the "Martyrologium Hieronymianum"; from this it is evident that herfeast was celebrated in theRoman Church in the fourth century. Her name occurs under different dates in the above-mentionedmartyrology; its mention under 11 August, thefeast of themartyr Tiburtius, is evidently a later anderroneous addition, due to the fact that this Tiburtius, who wasburied on the Via Labicana, was wrongly identified with Tiburtius, the brother-in-law of St. Cecilia, mentioned in theActs of hermartyrdom. Perhaps also there was another Romanmartyr of the name of Ceciliaburied on the Via Labicana. Under thedate of 16 September Cecilia is mentioned alone, with the topographical note: "Appiâ viâ in eâdem urbe Româ natale et passio sanctæ Ceciliæ virginis (the text is to be thus corrected). This is evidently the day of theburial of theholymartyr in theCatacomb ofCallistus. Thefeast of thesaint mentioned under 22 November, on which day it is still celebrated, was kept in the church in the Trastevere quarter atRome,dedicated to her. Its origin, therefore, is to be traced most probably to this church. The earlymedieval guides (Itineraria) to the burial-places of Romanmartyrs point out her grave on the Via Appia, next to thecrypt of the Romanbishops of the third century (De Rossi, Roma sotterranea, I, 180-181).De Rossi located the burial-place of Cecilia in theCatacomb of Callistus in acrypt immediately adjoining thecrypt orchapel of thepopes; an emptyniche in one of the walls contained, probably, at one time the sarcophagus with the bones of thesaint. Among the frescoes of a later time with which the wall of thesepulchre are adorned, the figure of a richly-dressedwoman appears twice andPope Urban, who was brought personal into close relation with thesaint by theActs of hermartyrdom, is depicted once. The ancient titular church ofRome, mentioned above was built as early as the fourth century and is still preserved in the Trastevere. This church was certainly dedicated in the fifth century to thesaintburied on the Via Appia; it is mentioned in the signatures of the Roman Council of 499 as "titulus sanctae Caeciliae" (Mansi, Coll, Conc. VIII, 236). Like some other ancientChristian churches ofRome, which are the gifts of thesaints whose names they bear, it may be inferred that theRoman Church owes this temple to the generosity of theholymartyr herself; in support of this view it is to be noted that theproperty, under which the oldest part of thetrueCatacomb of Callistus is constructed, belonged most likely, according toDe Rossi's researches, to thefamily of St. Cecilia (Gens Caecilia), and bydonation passed into the possession of theRoman Church. Although her name is not mentioned in the earliest (fourth century) list offeasts (Depositio martyrum), the fact that in the "Sacramentarium Leoniam", a collection of masses completed about the end of the fifth century, are found no less than five different masses inhonour of St. Cecilia testifies to the great veneration in which thesaint was at that time held in theRoman Church ["Sacram. Leon.", ed.Muratori, in "Opera" (Arezzo, 1771), XIII, I, 737, sqq.].

About the middle of the fifth century originatedActs of themartyrdom of St. Cecilia which have been transmitted in numerousmanuscripts; these acts were also translated into Greek. They were utilized in the prefaces of the above-mentioned masses of the "Sacramentarium Leonianum". They inform us, that Cecilia, avirgin of a senatorialfamily and aChristian from her infancy, was given in marriage by herparents to a noblepagan youth Valerianus. When, after the celebration of the marriage, the couple had retired to the wedding-chamber, Cecilia told Valerianus that she wasbetrothed to anangel who jealously guarded her body; therefore Valerianus must take care not to violate hervirginity. Valerianus wished to see theangel, whereupon Cecilia sent him to the third milestone on the Via Appia where he should meetBishop (Pope) Urbanus. Valerianusobeyed, wasbaptized by thepope, and returned aChristian to Cecilia. Anangel then appeared to the two andcrowned them with roses and lilies. When Tiburtius, the brother of Valerianus, came to them, he too was won over toChristianity. Aszealous children of theFaith both brothers distributed richalms andburied the bodies of theconfessors who had died forChrist. The prefect, Turcius Almachius, condemned them to death; an officer of the prefect, Maximus, appointed to execute this sentence, was himselfconverted and sufferedmartyrdom with the two brothers. Their remains wereburied in onetomb by Cecilia. And now Cecilia herself was sought by the officers of the prefect. Before she was takenprisoner, she arranged that her house should be preserved as a place of worship for theRoman Church. After aglorious profession offaith, she was condemned to be suffocated in the bath of her own house. But as she remained unhurt in the overheated room, the prefect had her decapitated in that place. The executioner let his sword fall three times without separating the head from the trunk, and fled, leaving thevirgin bathed in her own blood. She lived three days, made dispositions in favour of thepoor, and provided that after her death her house should be dedicated as a church.Urbanusburied her among thebishops and the confessors, i.e. in theCatacomb of Callistus.

In this shape the whole story has no historical value; it is apious romance, like so many others compiled in the fifth and sixth century. The existence of the aforesaidmartyrs, however, is a historical fact. The relation between St. Cecilia and Valerianus, Tiburtius, and Maximus, mentioned in theActs, has perhaps some historical foundation. These threesaints wereburied in theCatacomb of Praetextatus on the Via Appia, where theirtombs are mentioned in the ancient pilgrimItineraria. In the "Martyrologium Hieronymianum" theirfeast is set down under 14 April with the note: "Romae via Appia in cimiterio Prætextati"; and theoctave under 21 April, with the comment: "Rome in cimiterio Calesti via Appia". In the opinion of Duchesne the octave was celebrated in theCatacomb of Callistus, because St. Cecilia wasburied there. If, therefore, this second notice in themartyrology is older than the aforesaidActs, and the latter did not give rise to this secondfeast, it follows that before theActs were written this group ofsaints inRome was brought into relation with St. Cecilia. The time when Cecilia sufferedmartyrdom is not known. From the mention ofUrbanus nothing can be concluded as to the time of composition of theActs; the author without any authority, simply introduced the confessor of this name (buried in theCatacomb of Praetextatus) on account of the nearness of histomb to those of the othermartyrs and identified him with thepope of the same name. The author of the"Liber Pontificalis" used theActs for his notice ofUrbanus. TheActs offer no other indication of the time of themartyrdom.Venantius Fortunatus (Miscellanea, 1, 20; 8,6) and Ado (Martyrology, 22 November) place the death of thesaint in the reign ofMarcus Aurelius andCommodus (about 177), andDe Rossi tried toprove this view as historically the surest one. In other Western sources of the earlyMiddle Ages and in the Greek "Synaxaria" thismartyrdom is placed in thepersecution ofDiocletian. P.A. Kirsch tried to locate it in the time ofAlexander Severus (229-230); Aubé, in thepersecution ofDecius (249-250);Kellner, in that ofJulian the Apostate (362). None of these opinion is sufficiently established, as neither theActs nor the other sources offer the requisite chronological evidence. The only suretime indication is the position of thetomb in theCatacomb of Callistus, in the immediate proximity of the very ancientcrypt of thepopes, in whichUrbanus probably, and surely Pontianus andAnterus wereburied. The earliest part of thiscatacomb dates at all events from the end of the second century; from that time, therefore, to the middle of the third century is the period left open for themartyrdom of St. Cecilia.

Her church in the Trastevere quarter ofRome was rebuilt byPaschal I (817-824), on which occasion thepope wished to transfer thither herrelics; at first, however, he could not find them andbelieved that they had beenstolen by theLombards. In a vision he saw St. Cecilia, who exhorted him to continue his search, as he had already been very near to her, i.e. near hergrave. He therefore renewed his quest; and soon the body of themartyr, draped in costly stuffs of gold brocade and with the cloths soaked in her blood at her feet, was actually found in theCatacomb of Prætextatus. They may have been transported thither from theCatacomb of Callistus to save them from earlier depredations of the Lombards in the vicinity ofRome. Therelics of St. Cecilia with those of Valerianus, Tiburtius, and Maximus, also those of PopesUrbanus andLucius, were taken up byPope Paschal, and reburied under thehigh altar of St. Cecilia in Trastevere. Themonks of aconvent founded in the neighbourhood by the samepope were charged with theduty of singing the daily Office in thisbasilica. From this time the veneration of theholymartyr continued to spread, and numerous churches were dedicated to her. During the restoration of the church in the year 1599 Cardinal Sfondrato had thehigh altar examined and found under it the sarcophagi, with therelics of thesaints, thatPope Paschal had transported thither. Recent excavations beneath the church, executed at the instigation and expense of Cardinal Rampolla, disclosed remains of Roman buildings, which have remained accessible. A richly adorned undergroundchapel was built beneath the middleaisle, and in it a latticedwindow, opening over the altar, allows a view of the receptacles in which the bones of thesaints repose. In a sidechapel of the church there have long been shown the remains of the bath in which, according to theActs, Cecilia wasput to death.

The oldest representations of St. Cecilia show her in the attitude usual formartyrs in theChristian art of the earlier centuries, either with the crown ofmartyrdom in her hand (e.g. at S. Apollinare Nuovo inRavenna, in a sixth-centurymosaic) or in the attitude ofprayer, as anOrans (e.g. the two sixth and seventh-century pictures in hercrypt). In theapse of her church in Trastevere is still preserved themosaic made underPope Paschal, wherein she is represented in rich garments as patroness of thepope.Medieval pictures of thesaint are very frequent; since the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries she is given theorgan as an attribute, or is represented as playing on theorgan, evidently to express what was often attributed to her in panegyrics and poems based on theActs, viz., that while the musicians played at her nuptials she sang in her heart toGod only ("cantantibus organis illa in corde suo soli domino decantabat"); possibly thecantantibus organis waserroneously interpreted of Cecilia herself as theorganist. In this way thesaint was brought into closer relation with music. When the Academy of Music was founded atRome (1584) she was made patroness of the institute, whereupon her veneration as patroness ofchurch music in general became still more universal; today Ceciliansocieties (musical associations) exist everywhere. Theorgan is now her ordinary attribute; with it Cecilia was represented byRaphael in a famous picture preserved at Bologna. In another magnificent masterpiece, the marble statute beneath thehigh altar of the above-mentioned church of St. Cecilia atRome,Carlo Maderna represented her lying prostrate, just as she had received the death-blow from the executioner's hand. Herfeast is celebrated in the Latin and theGreek Church on 22 November. In the "Martyrologium Hieronymainum" are commemorated othermartyrs of this name, but of none of them is there any exact historical information. One sufferedmartyrdom in Carthage with Dativus in 304.

CONTACT US |ADVERTISE WITH NEW ADVENT