November 22 : Saint Cecilia

This noble virgin was born in Rome towards the close of the second century, while Alexander Severus was the reigning emperor. Her talent for music was remarkable, and she not only composed and sang hymns, but is said to have invented the organ, consecrating it to the service of God. When she was about sixteen, her parents married her to a young senator named Valerian. He was a pagan, but of a noble and generous nature. Cecilia having revealed to him the vow of virginity she had made, the young husband reverenced her angelic resolution; and Cecilia was the means of converting him and his brother, Tiburtius. to Christianity. After their martyrdom, the young widow was put to the torture, being first immersed in boiling water (from which she emerged unscathed), and then struck with an axe in the head and breast. She lay bleeding from these cruel wounds for the space of three days, praying, and exhorting all who visited her, and at last expired, singing hymns of praise to God. Saint Cecilia is the patroness of sacred music.