Sharing the Blessing of Lent - 6) St.Cecilia

St. Cecilia is one of the famous martyrs of the Roman Catholic Church but there are not much of historical evidence about her life. She is believed to have born in the 2^nd century into a wealthy family. She was very beautiful but always wore sack clothes to avoid attention. She always fasted and prayed to the saints and angels to protect her virginity.

She was a virgin and a great devotee of the Lord and she was given in marriage to a young man named Valerian. As the ceremony was going on, she sang a song in her heart to the Lord. After she was wedded, she told her husband that she has taken a vow of celibacy and an angel was near her to protect her. He asked to see the angel himself to believe. She told him that he will able to see the angel only when he gets baptized.

He loved her so much that he developed faith for her sake and got baptized. Once he came back, he saw the angel near her and he got even more faith. Valerian’s brother saw these and he too wanted to serve the Lord and he got baptized. Both the brothers wanted to serve the Lord in their won way. They decided to give a decent and fitting burial to all the Priests and patrons preaching Christianity  who were killed by the then ruler, Turcius Almachius.

He came to know about this and called the brothers to his court. Once they refused to serve him, he beheaded them. After this, Cecilia grew even more close to God out of fear and remorse and was able to convert about four hundred people to the Lord. Cecilia was later arrested and was condemned to be suffocated. But after a day of suffocation too , St.Cecilia did not even sweat and was praying.

She was then ordered to be beheaded. The executioners did their job but she did not die immediately. Till 3 days she preached and prayed as she bled slowly to death. People came and collected her blood and preserved it. She is believed to have died in the 3^rd century. When she was exhumed in the year 1599, she was found in a silk satin cloth not decayed and a mysterious sweet odour was filled in her coffin box.

Feast Day – November 22

Patron of Music. As she was singing to the Lord when she was married and many of her prayers are in the form of song lyrics, the Parish have considered her to be the patron of music and musicians.

St.Cecilia’s Prayer

O glorious St. Cecilia, virgin and 
martyr, you won the martyr's crown
without renouncing your love for
Jesus, the delight of your soul. We 
ask that you help us to be faithful in
our love for Jesus, that, in the
communion of the saints, we may 
praise Him twice in our song of
rejoicing for the Blood that He shed
which gave us the grace to accomplish
His will on earth.
Amen.