St. Cecilia: Feast Day, Patronage & Prayers
Updated: Oct 3
Feast day: November 22 (Memorial of St. Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr)
Patron of: Musicians, singers, and poets.
About St. Cecilia
St. Cecilia is one of the most famous virgin martyrs of Rome, honored since the early centuries and named in the Roman Canon of the Mass. A church in her honor stood in Trastevere by the fifth century, traditionally built on the site of her home, and her remains were later moved there from the Catacomb of St. Callixtus.
According to her traditional story, Cecilia was a young Roman noblewoman who had vowed her virginity to God but was given in marriage to a young pagan named Valerian. On their wedding night she told him of her vow and of the angel who guarded her, and Valerian, moved by her faith, was baptized, along with his brother Tiburtius. Both brothers were martyred, and Cecilia was then condemned and, after surviving an attempt to suffocate her, was struck with the sword. The story says that at her wedding, while the musicians played, she sang to God in her heart, and so she became the patron of musicians and of sacred music. Her feast is kept on November 22. Cecilia invites us to make our lives a song to God.
Prayers to St. Cecilia on Daily Catholic Prayers
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