Hail, bright Cecilia!

Today's saint, the Roman virgin-martyr Cecilia, has a special place in my heart, not least because she is the patroness of music and musicians, and I consider myself among them. Concerts are a popular way to honour her on this day and for some time I used to gather a group of musicians to put on a small recital on her feast day.

She is one of the few saints in the Calendar to be accorded a full Office, despite being only a memoria. The texts used in her Office are lovely, being taken from the Golden Legend and other older sources.

A particularly delightful antiphon, the third at Lauds in the pre-Vatican II liturgy was brought to my attention: "Caecilia, famula tua, Domine, quasi apis tibi argumentosa deservit" which translates as 'O Lord, your servant Cecilia served you like a busy bee.' This image of the bee, so sadly lost in the modern translations of the Liturgy, particularly the Exsultet, was popular as a figure of industry and has a long history of usage in literature, beginning with Aristotle. In the case of the antiphon above, the idea is that Cecilia served the Lord so very devotedly and fully throughout her life...

Pope Pius XII's address on bees is well worth a read and the 'Tales from the Hive' site is also worth a visit.

Finally, to return to St Cecilia, there is a wonderful setting of Auden's poem 'Hymn to St Cecilia' by Benjamin Britten which may be sampled here and I quote from this same poem by way of ending and prayer:

"Blessed Cecilia, appear in visions
To all musicians, appear and inspire:
Translated Daughter, come down and startle
Composing mortals with immortal fire."

Given the state of modern Catholic church music, I would pray that rather earnestly!


The marble sculpture above of St Cecilia as she lays in her tomb is by Maderno and is found in her church and shrine in Trastevere, Rome.