Cecilia, Saint

Cecilia, Saint (səsĭl`yə, –sēl–), 2d or 3d cent., Roman virgin martyr. An ancient and famous account of her life is factually valueless. As patron of music, she is represented at the organ. St. Cecilia is the subject of one of the Canterbury Tales, of a song by Dryden, and of an ode by Pope. Cecily is an English form of her name. Feast: Nov. 22.

---

Cecilia, Saint

(flourished 3rd century, Rome; feast day November 22) Early Christian martyr and patron saint of music. According to a late 5th-century tradition, she was a noble Roman who had dedicated her virginity to God as a child and was married against her will to Valerian, a noble pagan. She told him of her vow, and he promised he would let her keep it if he could see the angel with whom she conversed. After being baptized, Valerian saw Cecilia talking to the angel. Valerian's brother also converted, and both were eventually martyred. Cecilia's good works infuriated the Roman prefect, who ordered her burned at the stake; when the flames did not harm her, she was beheaded. Her relics were discovered in the 9th century by Pope Paschal I, who moved them to the church in Rome that bears her name.