Page 8 - StCecilia

Santa Cecilia

The doors of the bath-room had remained open after the lictor’s
departure; and the crowd of Christians who were awaiting the
consummation of the sacrifice, respectfully entered the room. A
sublime and lamentable spectacle met their eyes. Cecilia, in the
agonies of death, still smiled upon the poor whom she loved, and
the neophytes, who had been converted by her. With eagerness,
they gathered up with linen cloths, the blood which was flowing
from her virginal wounds; 4 all endeavored by every means to
testify their veneration and love. From one moment to the next,
they expected to see her sever the last link which held her captive,
and yield up her beautiful soul to God. The crown is suspended
above Cecilia’s head; she has only to stretch forth her hand to
grasp it, and yet she lingers. The faithful were ignorant of the
delay which she had asked and obtained from heaven.
During three entire days, they surrounded her bloody couch,
wavering between hope and fear, and filled with respect for the
will of God, so mysteriously manifested in His servant. Cecilia
unceasingly exhorted them to remain firm in the faith. From time
to time, she made the poor approach her ; she lavished upon them
the most touching marks of her affection, and desired that the
remainder of her fortune should be divided among them. 5 The
officers whose duty it was to confiscate her property, had not
presented themselves. They knew that the executioner had missed
his victim ; and, moreover, this palace, stained with blood, must
have been as terrible to the Pagans as it was august in the eyes of
the faithful, who venerated it as the glorious arena where Cecilia

3 See Acta S. Caecilae: “Hoc cum audisset Almachius, misit qui eam in ipso
balneo decollaret; quam cum spiculator tertio ictu percussisset, caput ejus
amputare non potuit: sic autem seminecem eam cruentus carnifex dereliq-
uit; nam apud veteres lex erat eis imposita, ut si in tribus percussionibus non
decollaretur, amplius percutere non audebat.”
4 See ibid.: “Cujus sanguinem omnes bibulis linteaminibus populi, qui per eam
crediderant, extergebant.”
5 See ibid.: “Per triduum autem quod supervixit, non cessavit, quos nutrierat
et quos docuerat in fide Domini confortare, quibus et divisit universa quae
habuit.”

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