Why is Saint Cecilia the Patron Saint of Music?

Music is a universal language, resonating across generations and cultures with profound individual impact. Singing lullabies to a baby is second nature when words alone seem too harsh for their innocent soul. Lyrics are used to weave stories and lessons into childhood lore. Newly married couples carefully choose a song for their first dance to reflect the meaning of the moment. Music defines cultures, seasons, and historical periods; it can comfort those who weep and rally those who are persecuted. Even the angels of heaven rejoice and praise with song, and in doing so pass this sacred tradition on to our own liturgies.

It is natural then to feel a connection to the patron saint of music. As such, Saint Cecilia is perhaps one of the most well-known and well-loved saints. But the story behind her patronage isn’t told in most of the portraits depicting a solemn, contented woman with a harp. Rather, this heroine of early Christianity was a force of faith that wielded music the way many would wield a sword, with confident courage that her victory was already sealed in Christ.

Saint Cecilia was born around the year 200 AD to a noble Roman family. Despite her pagan upbringing, she desired to follow Christ - a dangerous venture. At the time, Christianity was still persecuted in Rome, and although there were periods of relative peace, certain rulers or local authorities would find any reason to expose and punish those of the faith. Cecilia dedicated her own heart to God and made a personal vow of virginity in her youth, but her parents insisted she marry a pagan with noble standing - a natural choice for a woman of her time and stature. During her wedding to the chosen groom Valerian, she maintained a song to God in her heart, determined that she would remain faithful to her original promise even through her obedience to marriage. Song sustained and defended her faith even as it seemed that the world would overcome it.

One can only imagine the conversation that followed between husband and wife. Cecilia’s disclosure of her vow to God must have seemed outlandish to someone of Valerian’s background. But as she confidently described the angel who watched over her and the protection the angel would provide over anyone who violated her vow, Valerian requested only to meet this angel to have proof that her intentions were pure. Cecilia told him he would see the angel when he had been baptized in the name of the one true God.

I’m not able to comprehend the courage and trust Cecilia displayed in this exchange. Perhaps she had a history of knowing Valerian and was certain his heart would be open to such a challenge. More than likely, she knew she was risking persecution as a Christian and certainly evoking disappointment if not anger in her husband. But she was certain of Christ, her angel, and her future - if not her earthly one, the future she saw for herself in heaven.

Valerian was so convinced by Cecilia’s testimony that he did, in fact, seek baptism. Cecilia instructed him how to find the Pope who would formalize his conversion, and promised that Valerian would meet the angel upon his return. When he returned as a Christian, he saw Cecilia with an angel, wings flaming, who reached out and crowned them both with roses and lilies before departing. Valerian’s brother, Tiburtius, saw the miraculous flowering crowns and was also converted. Through simple interactions with Cecilia’’s firm faith, the two Roman nobles were introduced to Christ and wholly converted to living out their Christianity. It was not through a sword in her hand, but a song in her heart that she paved the way for their conversion.

Then Cecilia, Valerian, and Tiburtius served the church through burying Christian martyrs, who at the time were being put to death by the Roman prefect Almachius for their refusal to worship pagan gods. Ironically, this act would lead to their own sentencing by Almachius - but not before they had converted over 400 Romans to Christianity.

When the time came for her execution, Cecilia was given the opportunity to save her life by denouncing her faith. She refused. Sentenced to suffocation, she was locked in the steam baths for more than a day, but instead sang through the attempt and came out unharmed. This enraged the prefect who immediately ordered her beheading. Three attempts were unsuccessful, she was injured and left to die. Cecilia survived for three days before succumbing to the wounds of martyrdom. In her final words, she proclaimed, “To die for Christ is not to sacrifice one’s youth, but to renew it. It is relinquishing a perishable thing and receiving in turn an immortal gift.”

This is the true portrait of Saint Cecilia: relinquishing the perishable in return for the immortal. Images show us a saint holding a harp; we know her as a woman clinging to song even as she was certain her earthly life was ending. They show her surrounded by cherubs or children at a piano; we see her altering the world around her, starting with the man we now know as Saint Valerian.

Saint Cecilia converted those around her rather than conforming to them.

Music was not just a soundtrack to the celebrations and solemnities of Cecilia’s life, it was her way of staying in communion with God. She has claim as the patron saint of music not because she studied it, excelled at it, or received accolades because of it. Saint Cecilia is the patron saint of music because she made it her prayer and allowed herself to become an instrument of God’s love on earth.