St Cecily, By Onorio Marinari (1627 – 1715)

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thehistorianshut
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This painting, by the Italian artist Onorio Marinari (1627 – 1715), depicts the enigmatic Saint Cecily—more commonly known as Saint Cecilia. She was said to have been a Christian martyr from the 3rd century, and was associated with two other martyrs named Valerian and Tiburtius. As the story goes, Cecilia was a patrician woman in Rome who was forced to marry a man named Valerian, but she refused to consummate the marriage because she wished to live like a nun. Apocryphal Acts of Cecilia and other works devoted to the lives of saints claim that Cecilia sang in accompaniment to the wedding organs at her marriage ceremony, her lyrics pleading with God to save her purity from being violated. One such text, the Golden Legend of Jacobus de Voragine (c. 13th century), stated, “And she hearing the organs making melody, she sang in her heart, only to God, saying: O Lord, I beseech thee that mine heart and body may be undefouled so that I be not confounded” (Golden Legend, 6.24). Valerian, as the legend goes, made peace with his wife’s abstinence, and he and his brother, Tiburtius, converted to Christianity, after which they were arrested and executed by the Roman government during the religious persecutions of the era. Cecilia was said to have been caught by the authorities soon after the execution of her husband, and was also sentenced to death. Miracles allegedly prevented her executioners from carrying out their grisly work on multiple occasions, but Cecilia ultimately succumbed to the headsmen’s blades.

Unfortunately, the legendary episodes attached to Cecilia’s name are largely uncorroborated by historical evidence, as the closest contemporary figures, such as Jerome (c. 347-419/420), Ambrose (c. 339-397), Damasus (c. 304-384), and Prudentius (c. 348-405+) did not mention her in their written works even though they were keenly interested in documenting ancient martyrs. Due to the absence of Cecilia in the texts of these 4th-century authorities, it is believed that the Cecilia legends, as we know them, were likely penned down and began to spread through Christendom in the late 5th century, long after the saint’s reported time of death in the 3rd century. Nevertheless, there are gems of truth in the tales of Saint Cecilia.

Interestingly, a certain Roman patrician matron, likely named Cecilia, is believed to have founded, or contributed to, an ancient church that was present in the Trastevere district in Rome. This church, since ancient times, was associated with Saint Cecilia, and the site has become the modern Basilica of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere. Remains that were attributed to her were discovered in the catacomb of St. Callistus in Rome, and Pope Paschal I (r. 817-824) relocated the relics to the church in Trastevere around the year 820. During the move, Paschal I proclaimed that Cecilia was an incorruptible—a saint whose body decomposes incredibly slowly, or not at all. A similar proclamation was made in 1599, when Cecilia’s tomb was being renovated, but the saint’s incorruptible remains reportedly disintegrated right after observation. The 16th century was also the time when Cecilia started to become increasingly associated with music. Notably, she was chosen to serve as the patron saint of Rome’s Academy of Music in 1584. Her musical connotations traced back the tales of her singing along to the organs playing at her wedding, and as a result, the organ is a key component of Saint Cecilia’s iconography.

Written by C. Keith Hansley

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