This document provides biographical information about Saint Cecilia, including details about her life, martyrdom, veneration, and association with music. It notes that Cecilia was a Roman virgin martyr from the 3rd century who was married off by her parents but converted her husband and his brother to Christianity. She experienced martyrdom after distributing her wealth to the poor and was sentenced to death by suffocation in her baths but survived, then beheaded. Her relics were discovered in the Catacombs of Callisto and she became the patron saint of music, though the origin of this association is unclear. The document provides many historical details about depictions of Cecilia and the development of her veneration over centuries

1. SAINT CECILIA

2. Cecilia is a saint
celebrated in
the Trastevere
neighborhood in
Rome on Nov 22.

3. She was buried by Pope Urban
in the catacombs of Callisto.

4. The first medieval guides (Itineraria) of the tombs of
Roman martyrs, point to her grave on the Via Appia,
at the side of the crypt of the 3rd century Roman bishops

5. De Rossi located the tomb of Cecilia in the catacombs of
Callisto, in a crypt attached to the chapel of the crypt of the
popes; an empty niche in one of the walls that once contained,
probably, the sarcophagus with the saint's remains.

6. Among the later frescoes that adorn the wall of the tomb, the figure of a
richly dressed woman appears twice, and Pope Urban, a close relationship
with the saint, according to the Acts of her martyrdom,

7. the property under which the oldest part of the true catacomb
of Callisto is built, probably belonged, according to De Rossi’s
investigations, to the family of Saint Cecilia (Gens Cæcilia) and
became, by donation, the property of the Church Roman.

8. Although her name is not
mentioned in the oldest
lists of festivities
(Depositio martyrum),
(4th century), in the
"Sacramentarium
Leoniam", a collection
of Masses completed
towards the end
of the 5th century, there
are at least five different
masses in her honor.
["Sacram. Leon.", ed.
Muratori, in "Opera"
(Arezzo, 1771), XIII, I, 737, sqq.

9. "Sacramentarium Leonianum". - informs us that, Cecilia,
a virgin of a senatorial and Christian family since her childhood,
was married by her parents to a young noble pagan, Valeriano.

10. Valeriano obeyed Cecilia's wish, and was baptized
by Pope Urban, and became a Christian.

11. Then an angel appeared to both of them and crowned them with
roses and lilies - according to the "Sacramentarium Leonianum".

12. Valeriano and his brother Tiburcio distributed
alms to the poor and buried the bodies of
the confessors who had died for Christ.

13. The prefect, Turcio Almaquio,
sentenced them to death;
Máximo, was appointed
to execute the sentence,
but converted and suffered
martyrdom with the two brothers

14. Before Cecilia was arrested, she arranged that her home should
be preserved as a place of worship for the Roman Church.

15. She distributed her
wealth to the poor

16. Cecilia before the judge – by Domenichino

17. After a glorious profession of faith, she was sentenced to die of
smoke suffocation in the bathroom of her own home. She escaped
unharmed, and then the prefect sentenced her to be beheaded.

19. Valeriano, Tiburcio and Máximo, were buried in the
catacombs of Pretextato in the Via Appia, where their
tombs are mentioned in the ancient pilgrim itinerary.

20. Venancio Fortunato (Miscellanea, 1, 20; 8,6) and Ado (Martyrology,
November 22) place the moment of the saint's death rather in the
reign of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus (approximately 17 7 a.d.)

21. In other Western sources from the late Middle Ages and in the Greek "Synaxaria",
this martyrdom of Cecilia is situated in the persecution of Diocletian.
P.A. Kirsch tried to fix it in the time of Alejandro Severo (229-230);
Aubé, in the persecution of Decius (249-250);
Kellner, in that of Julian the Apostate (362).

22. Her church in the
Trastevere district
of Rome was rebuilt
by Paschal I (817-824)
and the pope wished
to transfer her
relics there. –
He found the body of
the martyr, covered
with expensive
brocade robes of gold
and with her clothes
soaked in her blood
at the catacombs
of Pretextato.

23. Cecilia is usually depicted with the crown of martyrdom in her hand
for example in Saint Apollinare in Ravenna, in a 6th century mosaic)

24. She is sometimes
represented in
an attitude
of prayer,
(for example
the two images,
from the sixth
and seventh
centuries in
her crypt

25. from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries she is presented as playing the organ –
In the Acts; of her martyrdom it says that while the musicians played at her wedding
she sang in her heart only to God ("cantantibus organis illa in corde suo soi domino
decantabat"); possibly the cantantibus organis was mistakenly interpreted
as if Cecilia herself were the organist.

26. Venit díes in quo thálamus collacatus
est, et, canéntibus [cantántibus]
órganis, il•la [Cecilia virgo] in corde
suo soli Domino decantábat [dicens]:
Fiat Dómine cor meum et corpus meus
inmaculatum et non confundar.
The day came when the marriage was
celebrated, and, while the musical
instruments sounded,
she (the virgin Cecilia) sang in her heart
to her only Lord [saying]:
Make, Lord, my heart and my body
immaculate and let me not be
disappointed – This is based on psalm
70 -The Latin word organisis the plural
of organum, which means ‘musical
instrument’, and it was translated as
‘organ’. Then the phrase "while the
musical instruments sounded, she said
to the Lord" became "she sang and
accompanied herself with an organ."
And so Ceciliareturned patron
saint of music

27. Another interpretation holds that the oldest
codices do not say canentibus organis
(canentibus as a synonym for cantantibus),
but candentibus organis, Caecilia virgo. –
The "organs" would not be "musical
instruments", but "incandescent instruments"
(instruments of torture)

28. Near the site of the Santa Cecilia church in Trastevere is the temple of
the Bona Dea Restituta. This 'good goddess of restitution [of health]'
was the Roman goddess who cured blindness. And the Latin word
for blindness is cæcitas (/ chechitás /or / kekitás /), very similar
to Cæcilia (/ chechília / or / kekília /). Perhaps by association
Cecilia became the patron saint of the blind.

29. Cecilia was
represented
by Raphael
in a famous
painting
preserved
in Bologna.

30. Carlo Maderna represented her prostrate,
just as she had received the blowof death,
at the hands of her executioner.

31. In 1594, Pope Gregory XIII canonized her, and officially made her
the patroness of music, for “having demonstrated an irresistible
attraction towards the melodious chords of the instruments”.

35. LIST OF PRESENTATIONS IN ENGLISH
Revised 30-9-2021
Advent and Christmas – time of hope and peace
All Souls Day
Amoris Laetitia – ch 1 – In the Light of the Word
Amoris Laetitia – ch 2 – The Experiences and Challenges of Families
Amoris Laetitia – ch 3 - Looking to Jesus, the Vocation of the Family
Amoris Laetitia – ch 4 - Love in Marriage
Amoris Laetitia – ch 5 – Love made Fruitfuol
Amoris Laetitia – ch 6 – Some Pastoral Perspectives
Amoris Laetitia – ch 7 – Towards a better education of children
Amoris Laetitia – ch 8 – Accompanying, discerning and integrating weaknwss
Amoris Laetitia – ch 9 – The Spirituality of Marriage and the Family
Beloved Amazon 1ª – A Social Dream
Beloved Amazon 2 - A Cultural Dream
Beloved Amazon 3 – An Ecological Dream
Beloved Amazon 4 - An Ecclesiastical Dream
Carnival
Christ is Alive
Christ the King
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 1 – Church and Family today
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 2 - God’s plan for the family
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 3 – 1 – family as a Community
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 3 – 2 – serving life and education
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 3 – 3 – mission of the family in society
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 3 – 4 - Family in the Church
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 4 Pastoral familiar
Football in Spain
Haurietis aquas – devotion to the Sacred Heart by Pius XII
Holidays and Holy Days
Holy Spirit
Holy Week – drawings for children
Holy Week – glmjpses of the last hours of JC
Inauguration of President Donald Trump
Juno explores Jupiter
Laudato si 1 – care for the common home
Laudato si 2 – Gospel of creation
Laudato si 3 – Human roots of the ecological crisis
Laudato si 4 – integral ecology
Laudato si 5 – lines of approach and action
Laudato si 6 – Education y Ecological Spirituality
Love and Marriage 12,3,4,5,6,7,8,9
Lumen Fidei – ch 1,2,3,4
Martyrs of North America and Canada
Medjugore Pilgrimage
Misericordiae Vultus in English
Mother Teresa of Calcuta – Saint
Pope Franciss in Thailand
Pope Francis in Japan
Pope Francis in Sweden
Pope Francis in Hungary, Slovaquia
Pope Francis in America
Pope Francis in the WYD in Poland 2016
Querida Amazonia
Resurrection of Jesus Christ –according to the Gospels
Russian Revolution and Communismo 3 civil war 1918.1921
Russian Revolution and Communism 1
Russian Revolution and Communismo 2
Saint Agatha, virgin and martyr
Saint Albert the Great
Saint Anthony of Padua
Saint Cecilia
Saint Elizabeth of Hungary
Saint Francis of Assisi
Saint Ignatius of Loyola
Saint James, apostle
Saint Joseph
Saint Maria Goretti
Saint Martin of Tours
Saint Maximilian Kolbe
Saint Mother Theresa of Calcutta
Saint Jean Baptiste MarieaVianney, Curé of Ars
Saint John of the Cross
Saint Patrick and Ireland
Saints Zachary and Elizabeth, parents of John Baptis
Signs of hope
Sunday – day of the Lord
Thanksgiving – History and Customs
The Body, the cult – (Eucharist)
Valentine
Vocation – mconnor@legionaries.org
Way of the Cross – drawings for children
For commentaries – email – mflynn@legionaries.org
Fb – Martin M Flynn
Donations to - BANCO - 03069 INTESA SANPAOLO SPA
Name – EUR-CA-ASTI
IBAN – IT61Q0306909606100000139493

36. LISTA DE PRESENTACIONES EN ESPAÑOL
Revisado 30-9-2021
Abuelos
Adviento y Navidad, tiempo de esperanza
Amor y Matrimonio 1 - 9
Amoris Laetitia – ch 1 – A la luz de la Palabre
Amoris Laetitia – ch 2 – Realidad y Desafíos de las Familias
Amoris Laetitia – ch 3 La mirada puesta en Jesús: Vocación de la Familia
Amoris Laetitia – ch 4 - El Amor en el Matrimonio
Amoris Laetitia – ch 5 – Amor que se vuelve fecundo
Amoris Laetitia – ch 6 – Algunas Perspectivas Pastorales
Amoris Laetitia – ch 7 – Fortalecer la educacion de los hijos
Amoris Laetitia – ch 8 – Acompañar, discernir e integrar la fragilidad
Amoris Laetitia – ch 9 – Espiritualidad Matrimonial y Familiar
Carnaval
Cristo Rey
Cristo Vive
Dia de todos los difuntos
Domingo – día del Señor
El camino de la cruz de JC en dibujos para niños
El Cuerpo, el culto – (eucarisía)
Espíritu Santo
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 1 – iglesia y familia hoy
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 2 - el plan de Dios para la familia
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 3 – 1 – familia como comunidad
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 3 – 2 – servicio a la vida y educación
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 3 – 3 – misión de la familia en la sociedad
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 3 – 4 - participación de la familia en la iglesia
Familiaris Consortio (FC) 4 Pastoral familiar
Fátima – Historia de las Apariciones de la Virgen
Feria de Sevilla
Haurietis aquas – el culto al Sagrado Corazón
Hermandades y cofradías
Hispanidad
Laudato si 1 – cuidado del hogar común
Laudato si 2 – evangelio de creación
Laudato si 3 – La raíz de la crisis ecológica
Laudato si 4 – ecología integral
Laudato si 5 – líneas de acción
Laudato si 6 – Educación y Espiritualidad Ecológica
Lumen Fidei – cap 1,2,3,4
Madre Teresa de Calcuta – Santa
María y la Biblia
Martires de Nor America y Canada
Medjugore peregrinación
Misericordiae Vultus en Español
Papa Francisco en Bulgaria
Papa Francisco en Rumania
Papa Francisco en Marruecos
Papa Francisco en México
Papa Francisco – mensaje para la Jornada Mundial Juventud 2016
Papa Francisco – visita a Chile
Papa Francisco – visita a Perú
Papa Francisco en Colombia 1 + 2
Papa Francisco en Cuba
Papa Francisco en Fátima
Papa Francisco en la JMJ 2016 – Polonia
Papa Francisco en Hugaría e Eslovaquia
Queridas Amazoznia 1,2,3,4
Resurrección de Jesucristo – según los Evangelios
Revolución Rusa y Comunismo 1, 2, 3
Santa Agata, virgen y martir
San Alberto Magno
San Antonio de Padua
San Francisco de Asis 1,2,3,4
Santa Cecilia
Santa Maria Goretti
San Ignacio de Loyola
Santa Isabel de Hungria
San José, obrero, marido, padre
San Juan Ma Vianney, Curé de’Ars
San Juan de la Cruz
San Martin de Tours
San Maximiliano Kolbe
Santa Teresa de Calcuta
San Padre Pio de Pietralcina
San Patricio e Irlanda
Santiago Apóstol
Santos Zacarias e Isabel, padres de Juan Bautista
Semana santa – Vistas de las últimas horas de JC
Vacaciones Cristianas
Valentín
Virgen de Guadalupe
Vocación – www.vocación.org
Vocación a evangelizar
Para comentarios – email – mflynn@lcegionaries.org
fb – martin m. flynn
Donations to - BANCO - 03069 INTESA SANPAOLO SPA
Name – EUR-CA-ASTI. IBAN – IT61Q0306909606100000139493