Why St Cecilia is the patron saint of music.
The association of St Cecilia with music is surprising because there is very little in her story about music.
Indeed there is just one sentence in the C5th Passio, describing the story of her life. The key words are: Cantantibus organis, Caecilia Domino decantabat in corde suo
When the day of her wedding arrived, and the musical instruments were sounding, Cecilia sang in her heart to the Lord, saying: "Let my heart and my body remain undefiled, that I may not be put to shame."
(The references to her hearing the angelic choir at her death are a later addition, after she had been associated with music.)
It is almost certainly because of that one line that she became the patron saint of music.
It is surprising, but it is also very profound.
Everything around her is disordered. She is a young woman who has chosen to commit her life to following Jesus and for him she had freely made a vow of chastity. And yet here she is at the centre of a pagan wedding being forced into a marriage.
The instruments were playing.
But, in the midst of the noise and the confusion, as she is led where she does not want to go, Cecilia is singing in her heart to the Lord. It is not that she despises the music around her – but she hears another deeper music.
We read in Luke how Martha was distracted by her many tasks, while Mary sat at the Lord’s feet and chose the better part. Cecilia, surrounded by the noise of wedding not of her choosing, does something like that. Her heart is fixed on God. She hears another music – or perhaps we can say that she is beginning to join another music: the music of heaven, the song of the angels and the heavenly hosts proclaiming the wonders and the praises of God. And she becomes part of that song.
And it is that inner music which gives her life such extraordinary power.
Through her, Valerian her husband and his brother Tiburtius become followers of Jesus, and they are so committed that they become martyrs for their faith.
And it is that inner music which enables her to endure terrible sufferings, and even in those sufferings to lead people to Jesus.
Revelation 15 speaks of those who have conquered, standing beside the sea of glass, with 'harps of God' in their hands, singing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb. That is the song Cecilia was already singing, long before her martyrdom.
It is almost certainly because of that one line that she became the patron saint of music.
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Carlo Saraceni, The Martyrdom of St Cecilia c.1610 |
It is surprising, but it is also very profound.
Everything around her is disordered. She is a young woman who has chosen to commit her life to following Jesus and for him she had freely made a vow of chastity. And yet here she is at the centre of a pagan wedding being forced into a marriage.
The instruments were playing.
But, in the midst of the noise and the confusion, as she is led where she does not want to go, Cecilia is singing in her heart to the Lord. It is not that she despises the music around her – but she hears another deeper music.
We read in Luke how Martha was distracted by her many tasks, while Mary sat at the Lord’s feet and chose the better part. Cecilia, surrounded by the noise of wedding not of her choosing, does something like that. Her heart is fixed on God. She hears another music – or perhaps we can say that she is beginning to join another music: the music of heaven, the song of the angels and the heavenly hosts proclaiming the wonders and the praises of God. And she becomes part of that song.
And it is that inner music which gives her life such extraordinary power.
Through her, Valerian her husband and his brother Tiburtius become followers of Jesus, and they are so committed that they become martyrs for their faith.
And it is that inner music which enables her to endure terrible sufferings, and even in those sufferings to lead people to Jesus.
Revelation 15 speaks of those who have conquered, standing beside the sea of glass, with 'harps of God' in their hands, singing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb. That is the song Cecilia was already singing, long before her martyrdom.
We listen to remarkable music performed by quite exceptional artists. We hear music that delights us, moves us and even changes us. But I wonder what is the music at the centre of our lives, what is the song that people hear us singing?
Because there is a song that is offered to us that will stay with us, that will be with us on the heights and in the depths, that will take us through times of deep suffering, and that gives us hope. It is a song that will transform and bring peace and life in the chaos of the disorder of our lives and our world.
The greatest music is not always the music that is heard
It is the music that lives.
It is the song that Cecilia sang
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