November 22 is feast day of Saint Cecilia, Martyr, Celibate Spouse, patron saint of music and musicians. She is one of several virgin martyrs commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass in the Latin Church. She died a virgin, just like she had vowed to God, and was martyred for it.
Historical records suggest that she was born around the 2nd or 3rd century AD. According to legend, Cecilia was a noble lady of Rome who, with her husband Valerian, his brother Tiburtius, and a Roman soldier named Maximus, suffered martyrdom under the Emperor Alexander Severus.
Valerian was baptized by Pope Urbanus, who was then Bishop of Rome. He found an angel standing beside Cecilia on his return, crowning her with a bouquet of roses and lilies.
Together, both brothers dedicated their lives to burying the martyrs killed every day by the Turcius Almachius, city prefect. It was a dangerous time to be a Christian in Rome.
Eventually, both brothers were arrested and presented before the prefect. Maximus, the city’s prefect executioner, was ordered to kill the brothers.
However, Maximus, stunned by their faith, got converted too. The brothers were executed after refusing to offer sacrifice to the gods of Rome with Maximus.
Following her husband and brother-in-law’s murder, she continued to preach the gospel of Christ. She was able to convert over 400 people, who were baptized mainly by Pope Urbanus.
Cecilia was soon arrested and sentenced to death by suffocation in her own bath. She was shut in, and the tub heated to a terrifying temperature, but Cecilia was miraculously saved unharmed.
Alarmed by her survival, Almachius, the city prefect, ordered her execution. Legend has it that Cecilia was struck three times with a sword to the neck and was not beheaded. The executioner fled, leaving her in a pool of her own blood. Cecilia lived for three days. She preached and prayed for the people who came to her. She donated her wealth to the poor and left a legacy that her house should be converted into a church.