St cecilia

Cecilia , Saint, virgin and martyr, patroness of church music, d. This saint, so often glorified in the fine arts and in poetry, is one of the most venerated martyrs of Christian antiquity. The oldest historical account of St. Her name occurs under different dates in the above-mentioned martyrology; its mention under August 11, the feast of the martyr Tiburtius, is evidently a later and erroneous addition, due to the fact that this Tiburtius, who was buried on the Via Labicana, was wrongly identified with Tiburtius, the brother-in-law of St.

Cecilia, mentioned in the Acts of her martyrdom. Perhaps also there was another Roman martyr of the name of Cecilia buried on the Via Labicana.

Saint cecilia story

This is evidently the day of the burial of the holy martyr in the Catacomb of Callistus. The feast of the saint mentioned under November 22, on which day it is still celebrated, was kept in the church in the Trastevere quarter at Rome dedicated to her. Its origin, therefore, is to be traced most probably to this church. The early medieval guides Itineraria to the burial-places of Roman martyrs point out her grave on the Via Appia, next to the crypt of the Roman bishops of the third century De Rossi, Roma sotterranea, I, De Rossi located the burial-place of Cecilia in the Catacomb of Callistus in a crypt immediately adjoining the crypt or chapel of the popes; an empty niche in one of the walls contained, probably, at one time the sarcophagus with the bones of the saint.

St cecilia feast day

Among the frescoes of a later time with which the walls of the sepulchre are adorned, the figure of a richly-dressed woman appears twice and Pope Urban, who was brought personally into close relation with the saint by the Acts of her martyrdom, is depicted once. The ancient titular church of Rome , mentioned above was built as early as the fourth century and is still preserved in the Trastevere.

VIII, Cecilia Gens Caecilia , and by donation passed into the possession of the Roman Church. About the middle of the fifth century originated Acts of the martyrdom of St. Cecilia which have been transmitted in numerous manuscripts; these acts were also translated into Greek.