Who was St Cecilia?
St. Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr, was killed in Rome in A.D. 230. The Church of St. Cecilia in Trastevere is reputedly built on the site of the e house in which she lived. The original church was constructed in the fourth century; her remains were placed there in the ninth century and the church was rebuilt in 1599. Her tomb is under the high altar. The sculptor Stefano Maderno examined her perfectly preserved remains and said, “I have in this marble expressed for thee the same saint in the very same posture and body.” By far the best account of her life in English is to be found in The Second Nun’s Tale of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. It is a dramatic story. The young Roman maid was brought up from the cradle in the faith of Christ and His Gospel. She prayed for her virginity. On the night of her wedding to Valerian she confessed that she had a guardian angel who would slay Valerian if he touched her either in love or lust. The naturally somewhat suspicious bridegroom demanded to see the
