St. Cecilia

22nd November

Saint Cecilia is the patron

saint of musicians

and Church music.

Her feast day is

celebrated in the Roman

Catholic Church on November

22.

She was a noble lady of Rome who, with her

husband Valerian and

his brother Thateus, suffered

martyrdom.

A church in her honor exists in Rome. It is situated in Trastevere.

The martyrdom of Cecilia is said

to have followed that

of her husband and his brother.

She arranged to have her home preserved as a church before she

was arrested.

At that time, the officials

attempted to kill her by

locking her in an overheated

bathhouse. However, the

attempt failed, and she was to be beheaded.

The executioner

attempted to cut of her head three

times unsuccessfully, after which

he fled.

Cecilia survived another three days before eventually dying.

In the last three days of her life, she opened her eyes, gazed at her family and friends who crowded around her cell, closed them, and never opened

them again.

Cecilia's musical fame rests on a legend that she

praised God, singing to him,

as she lay dying a martyr's

death.

THE END