saint cecilia

[emarie]

does anyone know when and how saint cecilia was made a saint? how long did it take... which pope.. etc?? i know her biography up until she died.. but not the process involved in making her a saint.

[pega]

Have looked at my Everyman book of saints and found for St Ceclia Feast Day Nov 22nd

'St cecilia's church in Rome contains a chapel built on the site of death, afterwards became patroness of music this may be due to Pope Paschal l who translated her relics in A.D. 817. to monastery adjoining the church'

You could perhaps research this I have a lot of books so will see if can find anymore, the music connection may bring up something have been to St Celia's Abbey Ryde, IOW. and Solemes France plainsong glorious so may be information these places.

[jno]

I think she lived before canonisation was an official process - it didn't get organised until the 10th century.

[jno]

Catholic Encyclopedia entry here (doesn't actually seem to answer your question): http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03471b.htm

[Tatty Rollox]

It was because of the saintliness of her life. Cecilia was a maiden of noble birth. At an early age, she dedicated her life to God with a vow of chastity. She, however, was betrothed and married to a young noble named Valerian. On her wedding day, she prayed to the Lord and asked Him to protect her virginity. History records, "The day on which the wedding was to be held arrived and while musical instruments were playing she was singing in her heart to God alone saying: Make my heart and my body pure that I may not be confounded". This text lead to the eventual naming of Cecilia as the patroness of music. St. Cecilia's prayers were answered, and Valerian was willing to take her as his wife without forcing her to break her vow. Not only did he accept her vow of chastity, but he and his brother Tiburtius were both converted to Christianity and were baptized by
Pope Urban I. At this time, Christianity was still illegal in Rome. Both Valerian and his brother Tiburtius were soon discovered as professed Christians and were martyred. Cecilia was discovered soon after and met a similar fate. It required two attempts, however, before the death of Cecilia was successful. She was first locked in a bath in her own home to be suffocated by the steam. When she emerged from the bath unharmed, she was then beheaded. The stroke of the axe failed to sever her head from her body, however, and she lived for three days. During this time, she saw to the disbursment of her assets to help the poor, and she donated her home to the ecclesiastical authorities to be used as a church. In the fifth century, this church was considered to be the one at Trastevere which bears her name. Cecilia is believed to be buried at the Catacomb of Callistus. And here is Saint Cecilia.

[Tatty Rollox]

No, there is nothing confused, vague or unreliable. The basic story is the same as the one which I have related above. However, there is some additional information inasmuch that that her church in the Trastevere quarter of Rome was rebuilt by Paschal I (817-824), and that this Pope wished to transfer her relics there. At first he could not find them and believed that they had been stolen by the Lombards. Later, in a vision, he saw St. Cecilia, who told him that he had already been very near her, i.e. near to her grave. He searched further and in the Catacomb of Pr�textatus found her body draped in gold brocades soaked in blood. It may have been placed there from the Catacomb of Callistus to save it from the Lombards. The relics of St. Cecilia, together with those of Valerianus, Tiburtius, and Maximus and also those of Popes Urbanus and Lucius, were taken up by Pope
Paschal, and reburied under the high altar of St. Cecilia in Trastevere. The monks in a nearby convent were charged with the duty of singing the daily Office in this basilica and from this the veneration of St. Cecilia The Holy Martyr spread. During the restoration of the Trastevere church in 1599 Cardinal Sfondrato had the high altar examined and found the sarcophagi and relics of the saints which Pope Paschal had place there. Excavations beneath the church uncovered remains of Roman buildings which are still to be seen. A richly adorned underground chapel was built beneath the middle aisle, and in it a latticed window, opening over the altar, allows a view of the receptacle in which the bones of the Saint repose. When the Academy of Music was founded at Rome in 1584 St. Cecilia was made patroness of that Institute, whereupon her patroness of church music became Universal and today Cecilian societies (musical associations) exist everywhere. And here is St Cecilia again ............

[stanleyman]

Isn't she an Isle of Wight ferry?