Martyr
Martyr Cecilia of Rome
† ок. 230
Also known as: Цецилия Римская
Martyr Cecilia of Rome — a noble virgin who converted her husband Valerian and his brother Tiburtius to Christ; after their execution she was condemned to death but survived a steam bath and three sword blows, dying three days later; patroness of church singing.
The martyr Cecilia came from a noble pagan Roman family but was a secret Christian from her youth and had vowed perpetual virginity. Married to the pagan Valerian, she revealed her faith to him on their wedding night and, according to tradition, persuaded him to respect her vow by telling him of a guardian angel who protected her purity; soon afterward Valerian and his brother Tiburtius were baptized by Pope Urban I.
All three began openly burying the bodies of executed Christians and aiding the persecuted, for which Valerian and Tiburtius were beheaded. Cecilia was condemned to be suffocated by steam in her own bathhouse but survived unharmed; an executioner was then ordered to behead her with a sword, but after three blows she remained alive and lived three more days, preaching and distributing her property to the poor, before dying.
She is venerated as the patroness of church singing and music.
Her feast is kept on November 22/December 5.