Page 5 - StCecilia

Introduction

he church and convent of Santa Cecilia in Trastavere in
Rome was built over the home of St Cecilia, an upper-
T class woman who owned a house on this site and was
martyred in the 3rd century. Her body was found incorrupt in
1599, complete with deep axe-cuts in her neck; a statue under the
altar depicts the way it was found. Excavations of Cecilia’s Roman
house can be toured underneath the church.

The Saint
t Cecilia is one of the most popular of Roman saints. She
lived in the third century and the first full account of her
S life was written in the sixth century. A noblewoman from
a senatorial family, Cecilia took a personal vow of virginity and
pledged her life to God. Unfortunately for her, Cecilia’s parents
still tried to marry her off.
On her wedding night, Cecilia told her husband, Valerian of
Trastevere, about her pledge of virginity and persuaded him to be
baptized. Valerian’s brother Tibertius and another man named
Maximus were converted and baptized as well, and the three men
began a Christian ministry of giving alms to the poor and arrang-
ing for proper burial of martyrs. Eventually they became martyrs
themselves for refusing to worship Roman gods.
After burying her husband and his brother, Cecilia was perse-
cuted as well. According to her legend, she was first locked in the
caldarium of her own bathhouse for several days. This failed to
suffocate her as planned; in fact, she sang throughout the ordeal
(Cecilia is the patron saint of music). Next a soldier was sent to
behead her, but after three hacks with an axe she was still alive.
However, she died of her wounds three days later.

History
It has been difficult to determine the dates of Cecilia’s life and
death, but a few historical details given in early accounts provide