St. Cecilia
Patron of musicians, singers, and church music
- Feast day
- November 22
- Origin
- Rome
- Era
- 2nd–3rd century
About the saint
Cecilia was a Roman noblewoman of the second or third century who had vowed her virginity to God but was married by her family to a pagan, Valerian. The account says that during the wedding music she sang in her heart to God alone — the line that made her the patron of music.
She told Valerian of the angel who guarded her; he was baptised, as was his brother Tiburtius, and both were martyred for burying the bodies of executed Christians. Cecilia was condemned soon after.
Her tomb was opened in 1599 and the body found in the position in which it had been buried, an image carved by Stefano Maderno for the church of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere.
Documented miracles
The angel and the crowns
Valerian is said to have seen the angel who guarded Cecilia, holding crowns of roses and lilies, and was converted.
Rome, c. 230
The preserved body
When her tomb was opened in 1599 the body was reported intact and undisturbed, and was recorded in a sculpture made from direct observation.
Rome, 1599