Saint Cecilia

Saint Cecilia was born in Rome, traditionally into a noble family, in the early centuries of the Church. From her youth she belonged wholly to Christ, and though her parents arranged her marriage to a pagan nobleman named Valerian, she kept a vow of virginity. On her wedding day, as music sounded around her, Cecilia “sang in her heart to the Lord,” a witness of prayerful love that later made her the Church’s beloved patron of music and musicians. According to ancient tradition, Cecilia led Valerian to seek baptism from Pope Urban I; he and others close to her—Valerian’s brother Tiburtius and the soldier Maximus—embraced the faith and suffered martyrdom. Cecilia herself was condemned and, after a brutal attempt on her life, lived three more days, using them to commend her home to the Church and to encourage believers. She was buried in the Catacomb of Callixtus and later honored at Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, built on the site associated with her life and death. Her feast day is November 22.