Feast Day of St. Cecilia

Carlo Dolci, St Cecilia at the Organ, 1671 (Dresden Gemäldegalerie)

Saint Cecilia is the patron saint of musicians and Church music. Her feast day is celebrated in the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches on November 22.

Saint Cecilia was a Roman martyr of the 3rd century. From the 6th century onwards, she was referred to as a saint. According to one version of her life she was a Christian who converted her pagan husband and his brother. Because she refused to perform an act of idolatry before a prefect, she was condemned to death by suffocation with the steam and heat of her own bathroom. She survived this, but was then decapitated.

From the 16th century onwards Cecilia was regarded as the patron saint of musicians, perhaps because according to the account of her life, she sang 'in her heart' to God.