"I myself saw her incorrupt" ~ November 22, feast of St. Cecilia

Detail of Stefano Maderno's Saint Cecilia from AD 1600 —
a year after the sculptor had seen the saint's incorrupt remains.

November 22 is the feast day of one of the most ancient female martyrs of the Church – Saint Cecilia of Rome. Unlike many of the other early martyrs I have mentioned in this blog (eg. here, here, here, and here), Saint Cecilia’s Acts are considered by ecclesiastical scholars to be unreliable, having been composed two to three hundred years after her death. That said, there does seem to be broad agreement on some of the basic facts:

1. There was a Christian martyr named Cecilia. 
2. She was martyred in Rome. 
3. She was buried in the catacombs of St. Callixtus in Rome. 
4. She had a following in Rome that memorialized her from very early times. 
5. A basilica was built on the site of her house by Pope Urban in the 3rd century AD. 

As mentioned in previous posts on the destruction of Christian books under Diocletian (The Scriptures Destroyed by Fire) and the poetical remark of Prudentius on the same theme (The Oblivion of a Silent Age), the situation of Cecilia as an authentic Christian martyr with a legendary biography composed much later is far from unique. It seems clear that the Christians of the 6th century possessed only fragmentary details of the lives of many of the early martyrs, to which they added considerable pious embellishment.

St. Cecilia from the
6th century mosaics in
St. Apollinare Nuovo
in Ravenna.

The best and most comprehensive Life of Saint Cecilia (note, this link will open a PDF) was written by Abbé Prosper Guéranger and published in English in 1866. It contains her Acts set into a very broad context of the historical milieu in which Cecilia lived—presumably the 220s AD—and going in places very far afield from the main focus of the work. Abbé Guéranger seems to accept many of the romanticized aspects of the Vita, but includes numerous valuable references to Saint Cecilia from ancient ecclesiastical sources.

First among these is the Leonian Sacramentary which Abbé Guéranger calls the most ancient of the Church, the greater part of which was composed by Pope Saint Leo the Great (reigned, AD 440-461). This sacramentary contains a preface dedicated to Saint Cecilia which reads as follows:

“Cecilia, destined by the will of her parents to become the spouse of a mortal, scorned a union which was to last but a short time, and jealous of the crown of chastity, sought an immortal spouse, preferring the honors of everlasting life to the joys of maternity. Her glory is enhanced by her having prevailed upon Valerian to whom she was united in marriage, to join her in the practice of perpetual chastity, and to share with her the crown of martyrdom.” [Taken from Guéranger, Life of Saint Cecilia, page 159]

Cecilia is mentioned in the Liber Pontificalis, probably written sometime in the early 6th century but based on earlier sources, under the entry for Pope Urban I. This contains the following notice:

“[Urban] by his teaching turned many to baptism and faith, and among them Valerianus, a man of high nobility, husband of holy Cecilia.” [Taken from Loomis: Liber Pontificalis, page 21]

In the 1916 edition of the Liber, the editor, Louise Ropes Loomis, includes a helpful notice which indicates that the author of the Liber was probably familiar with the legendary Passion of St. Cecilia. In the same note, she also includes a translation of the earliest version of the Passion as provided in the Acta Sanctorum – the gigantic encyclopedic work begun by the Bollandists of the 17th century which compiles authentic acts of the saints:

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Cecilia, a virgin of lofty rank, carried always the Gospel of Christ hidden in her bosom….She was espoused to a young man, Valerianus….Valerianus found holy Urbanus, the bishop, who had already been twice a confessor and was in hiding among the tombs of the martyrs….

“Dost thouh call thyself that Urbanus whom the Christians entitle their pope? I hear that he is now condemned a second time and again he has betaken himself into hiding for the same cause.”

(Valerianus and Tiburtius, his brother,) were executed with the sword…. The holy Urbanus baptized in her (Cecilia’s) house more than four hundred of both sexes….

Almachius commanded that Cecilia should be brought before him and he asked her, saying…. “Of what state art thou?”

Cecilia said, “A free woman and a noble of high rank.” … The examiner beheaded (Cecilia). [Taken from Loomis: Liber Pontificalis, page 22, Footnote 1]

The above is probably all we can reliably know about the life and death of Saint Cecilia. However, events which transpired after her death related to her cult as a saint and martyr are manifold and more reliable. One such event, which confirms her veneration in Rome of the AD 540s, shows Pope Vigilius confronting the officers of the Empress Theodora in the basilica of St. Cecilia on her feast day:

When Augusta [Theodora] heard this, she sent Anthemius the scribe, with orders and great authority to Rome, saying: “If you find him in the basilica of Saint Peter, let him go. But if you find Vigilius in the Lateran or in the palace or any other church, set him immediately upon a ship and bring him to us. Else, by Him who liveth forever, I will have you flayed.”

And Anthemius the scribe came to Rome and found Vigilius in the Church of Saint Cecilia, November 22, for it was her birthday. And Anthemius took him while he was distributing gifts to the people [scholars interpret this to mean Holy Communion], and brought him down to the Tiber and set him on a ship. The people and the multitude followed him calling out that they would have a prayer from him. And when he had spoken a prayer, all of the people said: “Amen,” and the ship began to move.

The Romans saw that the ship in which Vigilius was seated had begun to move and then commenced to throw stones after him and sticks and dirty vessels and to cry out, “Your hunger go with you! Your pestilence go with you! You have done evil to the Romans; may you find evil where you go!” [Taken from Loomis: Liber Pontificalis, page 156]

More background on this fascinating episode may be found in a previous post: "I am receiving the reward for my deeds" ~ The Miserable Reign of Pope Vigilius, AD 537-555

Fresco of St. Cecilia in the
Catacombs of St. Callixtus.
Click image to enlarge.

The discovery and translation of Cecilia’s relics is a story unto itself. She was apparently buried first in the ancient catacomb of Callistus nearby the tombs of Pope Urban I, Saint Sebastian, St. Quirinus. This portion of the catacomb contains numerous frescos painted between the 5th and 13th centuries, including the one of Cecilia at right. Her relics were lost after the Lombard invasions of the 6th through 8th centuries, and rediscovered by Pope Pascal I in the 9th century, whence they were translated to the Basilica of Saint Cecilia in Trastevere which is traditionally believed to have been built over Cecilia’s house. It was said at the time when Pascal discovered Cecilia’s remains that they were in a state of perfect preservation. About 800 years later, in AD 1599, the sarcophagus was opened again by Cardinal Sfrondrati in the presence of witnesses. Sabine Baring-Gould tells the rest of the story:

It contained a coffin or chest of cypress wood. The Cardinal himself removed the cover. First was seen the costly lining and the silken veil, with which nearly eight centuries before Paschal had covered the body. It was faded, but not decayed, and through the almost transparent texture could be seen the glimmer of the gold of the garments in which the martyr was clad. After a pause of a few minutes, the Cardinal lifted the veil, and revealed the form of the maiden martyr lying in the same position in which she had died on the floor of her father’s hall. Neither Urban nor Paschal had ventured to alter that. She lay there, clothed in a garment woven with gold thread, on which were the stains of blood; and at her feet were the rolls of linen mentioned by Paschal, as found with the body. She was lying on her right side, the arms sunk from the body, her face turned to the ground; the knees slightly bent and drawn together. The attitude was that of one in a deep sleep. On the throat were the marks of the wounds dealt by the clumsy executioner. 

Thus she had lain, preserved from decay through thirteen centuries. When this discovery was made, Pope Clement VIII was lying ill at Frascati, but he empowered Cardinal Baronius and Bosio, the explorer of the Catacombs, to examine into the matter, and both of these have left an account of the condition in which the body was found. 

For five weeks all Rome streamed to the church to see the body; and it was not until Saint Caecilia’s Day that it was again sealed up in its coffin and marble sarcophagus. [Baring-Gould: Virgin Saints and Martyrs, [1901] p. 35]

Cardinal Sfrondrati summoned a young sculptor named Stefano Maderno to immortalize the incorrupt form of St. Cecilia in marble. That sculpture may be seen to this day at the Basilica of St. Cecila. Beneath the statue are words of the artist himself: “So I show to you in marble the representation of the most holy virgin Caecilia, in the same position which I myself saw her incorrupt lying in her sepulchre.”

The Nine Greatest Rulers of the Christian Roman Empire

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The 4th through 7th centuries are often considered periods of decay and decline for the Roman Empire. I view them, however, as times of crisis and regeneration, as the previously pagan Empire was transformed into an amazingly resilient Christian Empire which persisted for another millennium despite attacks on all sides and myriad convulsions from within.

Who were the most effective rulers during this period? Opinions vary, but here are my choices. Portraits of all, taken from antiquity, may be found in the above image:

Constantine the Great (AD 306-337). Constantine may be considered the founder of the Christian Roman Empire. The story of his life is one of the great tales of triumph (at Rome and at Chyrsopolis) and tragedy, hinging on an episode of divine intervention which literally changed the course of human history—his vision of a Cross in the sky. By embracing Christianity and moving the imperial capital to Byzantium, Constantine created a solid foundation for a renewed Roman Empire which would endure for centuries to come. On his deathbed, he became the first Roman emperor to be baptized a Christian.

Constantius II (AD 337-361). Of the sons of Constantine the Great, Constantius proved to be the most effective. Though his methods left much to be desired, Constantius managed to protect and defend the empire from Persian aggression in the east, and from barbarian invasions in the west. He also crushed a major rebellion in the west under the usurper Magnus Magnentius who had previously slain his brother, Constans. A complicated man with a tendency toward brutality, Constantius swayed toward Arianism and caused the Church a great deal of theological and political upset.

Valentinian I (AD 364-375). Called “a good man and capable of holding the reins of the empire” by Hermias Sozomen, Valentinian rose through the ranks of the Roman military to become the leader of the elite Jovian and Herculean divisions. A steadfast Christian, he endured the hostility of the emperor Julian the Apostate and was elected emperor by the soldiers upon the death of Jovian in AD 364. He spent most of his reign effectively defending the imperial frontiers in the west and perished from a stroke after an angry confrontation with some barbarian ambassadors.

Theodosius I (AD 379-395). A Spaniard by birth, Theodosius was elevated to the imperial throne in the aftermath of the catastrophic Battle of Adrianople where the Roman field army was annihilated and the emperor Valens was killed. He faced the task of rebuilding the army and dealt admirably with the Gothic menace, putting the empire back on a sound footing. He also beat back a dangerous rebellion under Eugenius and Arbogast, and was the last man to rule a unified Eastern and Western Roman Empire. A devout Christian, Theodosius obeyed the command of Saint Ambrose of Milan to offer public repentance for his slaughter of innocent citizens in Thessalonika.

Pulcheria (AD 414-453). The daughter of the Eastern Emperor Arcadius, Pulcheria ruled as regent for her brother, the child-emperor Theodosius II, for many years. Having taken a vow of virginity, “she governed the Roman empire excellently and with great orderliness,” according to her contemporary, Hermias Sozomen. Her reign straddled the disastrous years of the barbarian invasions in both West and East, and under her guidance, the East was able to weather this storm successfully. She was also a driving force behind the Council of Chalcedon which helped unify the Christian Church which was rent with theological disputes.

Majorian (AD 457-461). Considered the last effective Western Roman Emperor, Majorian rose to power along with the barbarian Ricimer. Both men served under the powerful general Aetius, and together they navigated the chaotic political and military situation of mid-5th century Gaul. The two were strong enough to gain the imperial throne for Majorian in AD 457. Using a mixture of armed force and diplomacy, Majorian was able to reconstitute imperial authority in much of Gaul and Spain, and planned to re-conquer Vandal Africa. Ultimately, he was thwarted when his fleet was captured by the Vandals. Following this defeat, his one-time ally Ricimer had Majorian assassinated.

Justinian I (AD 527-565). After Constantine, Justinian is probably the best known of the Christian Roman Emperors. Having inherited the eastern Empire from his uncle, Justin I, Justinian conceived a grand plan for revitalizing the Roman Empire. Starting with the law, he successfully reformed and made clear over 1,000 years of Roman legal code. Though nearly toppled in a fiery rebellion early in his reign, Justinian used the opportunity to rebuild Constantinople and crown her with his great church, Hagia Sophia. Via his brilliant general, Belisarius, he re-conquered vast regions of the west that had been lost during the previous century. His efforts to bring harmony to the Church were less successful, however, and ultimately his efforts over-extended the resources of the empire, leaving it weaker though considerably larger upon his death.

Maurice (AD 582-602). Maurice was described by his contemporary Evagrius Scholasticus as “a prudent and shrewd man, very precise in all matters and unperturbed.” He rose through the court in Constantinople and won fame as Magister Militum of the East. He would later write a military manual which would come down to us as the Strategikon of Maurice. Upon acceding to the throne, Maurice inherited an empty treasury and aggressive enemies on all sides. He nonetheless managed to secure the frontiers, even pushing the Avars out of the Balkan provinces and campaigning on the far side of the Danube. His caution with the imperial finances, however, was scorned by the soldiers, who eventually rose up, deposed and killed Maurice and his family, initiating the disastrous reign of the tyrant, Phocas.

Heraclius (AD 610-641). Heraclius rose to power as the son of the exarch of Carthage during the calamitous reign of Phocas. Along with his father, Heraclius rose in rebellion in AD 608 and captured Constantinople two years later, deposing and beheading Phocas. By that time, however, much of the empire had been overrun by the Persians in the east, and the Avars in the north. Heraclius spent practically all of his reign painstakingly reconquering the lost regions, achieving a final decisive victory over the Persians in AD 630. Sadly, his herculean efforts had utterly exhausted the Roman Empire. At the Battle of Yarmuk in AD 636, Heraclius’s army was crushed by the invading Arabs, leading to the conquest of Roman Syria, Palestine, Egypt and Mesopotamia by the forces of Islam.

After the death of Heraclius in AD 641, the Empire carried on, but it would never again regain the size, power or hegemony that it had originally possessed. It would, however, continue to transmit its wealth of culture, learning, religious heritage and history far into the future.

"Dread Gehenna, and hold fast to Christ" ~ November 13, feast of Sts. Arcadius, Paschasius, Probus and Eutychianus

Funerary mosaic of Natalica, a Christian girl of 10, from 5th century
Roman or Vandal north Africa.

November 13 is the feast day of Saints Arcadius, Paschasius, Probus and Eutychianus. These four Spanish Roman martyrs were put to death by the cruel Vandal king, Geiseric, after he had completed his conquest of Roman Africa. Their martyrdom took place about AD 437 and their crime was refusing to accept the Arian heresy which was favored by the Vandals.

Writing in the mid-5th century, not many years after the events described, the chronicler Prosper of Aquitaine recorded the following about these martyrs:

In Africa, Geiseric, King of the Vandals, wanted to use the Arian impiety to undo the Catholic faith within the regions where he resided. He persecuted some of our bishops….In the same period, four Spaniards, Arcadius, Paschasius, Probus and Eutychianus were formerly considered by Geiseric to be valued and distinguished by virtue of their wisdom and faithful service. To make them even more esteemed, he commanded them to convert to the Arian heresy. But as they most steadfastly rejected this wickedness, the barbarian was roused to a most furious anger. First, their property was confiscated. Next, they were driven into exile, then tortured severely, and finally, suffering death in various ways, they succumbed wonderfully to a most glorious martyrdom.” [Taken from Eric Fournier: "The Vandal Conquest of North Africa: The Origins of a Historiographical Persona" in The Journal of Ecclesiastical History]. 

To one of these martyrs, Saint Arcadius, a remarkable letter was sent by Honoratus Antoninus, Bishop of Constantina in Africa. This letter urged the tortured man to constancy and pleaded with him to set aside the allurements of the world in favor of the Heavenly Kingdom. It reads, in part, as follows:

"The company of martyrs, thy predecessors, are waiting for thee. They guard thee, they hold out to thee the crown. I beseech thee, hold fast to what thou hast and let no other take away thy crown….Fear, then, the eternal punishments, where the fire always burns, where both body and soul are tortured in the darkness, where, with the devil, soul and body are consumed eternally. Dread Gehenna, and hold fast to Christ."

The persecution of Catholics by the Vandals in their newly won north African kingdom was brutal and thorough-going, though little remembered in our own time. I hope to write more about it in forthcoming posts. In the mean time, here is a previous post on the Vandalic conquest of Rome's north African provinces, as recorded by an eye-witness:

• 5th century bishop, Possidius of Calama, describes the last days of St. Augustine and the Vandal Conquest of Roman Africa

"To banish war, he must a warrior be" ~ Remembering Sgt. Joyce Kilmer on Veteran's Day

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In honor of Veteran's Day, let us remember a soul so brave and so brilliant whose brief life-course flared too briefly across the early 20th century firmament before he met his merciful Maker. To this day, he is best known for his familiar poem entitled Trees which begins: “I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree…”

Joyce Kilmer was of a breed of men that seems practically extinct today. He was a New Jersey Catholic husband and father of an artistic and literary bent who, nonetheless, was able to summon courage and charity in the superlative as enunciated by Our Lord in John 15:13.

Though married with four children and widely regarded as one of the outstanding poets of his generation, Kilmer enlisted in the U.S. Army when war was declared between the United States and the Central Powers in 1917. He requested to be assigned to the infantry and though he was recommended for promotion to officer status, he refused and was deployed at the front in France as a sergeant. He was given dangerous duty, often acting as a scout operating in no-man’s land.

His division, the Fighting 69th, was immortalized after the war in a film of the same name starring James Cagney. Kilmer was portrayed in the movie by Jeffrey Lynn, and his poem, The Rouge Bouquet, is featured in this poignant scene, based on an actual event:


Kilmer wrote numerous charming letters from the front to his wife, Aline, which may be found collected here. Writing in one such letter on May 18, 1918, Kilmer draws a distinction between pacifism and peacemaking as follows:

P. C. ought to know the distinction between peacemakers and pacifists. I wonder he didn’t include St. Michael in his catalogue of pacifists. We are peace-makers, the soldiers of the 69th, we are risking our lives to bring peace to the simple, generous, gay, pious people of France, who anyone (knowing them as I have come to know them in the last six months) must pity and admire and love. They are an invaded people—and invaded people always are right….

Here are nice old ladies, fat babies, jovial humorous men, and little girls just making their First Communions. They’ve been driven out of their pretty sleepy little villages. They want to get back and mend the shell holes in the roof and go to school and take their place drinking red wine of an evening according to their tastes and ages. Well, we men of the 69th are helping to give these people back their homes—and perhaps to prevent our homes from one day being taken from us by the same Power—of whom nothing at all worse need be said than that it is an invader. And St. Patrick, and St. Bridgid, and St. Columkill and all the other Saints are with us—they are no more pacifists than they are Roycrofters! [an arts and crafts guild in New York around the turn of the 20th century founded by self-styled anarchist, Elbert Hubbard] ~ Taken from Joyce Kilmer: Prose Works

Perhaps not coincidentally, Kilmer's last poem was entitled The Peacemaker which I present here in full:

The Peacemaker by Sergeant Joyce Kilmer

Upon his will he binds a radiant chain,
For Freedom’s sake he is no longer free.
It is his task, the slave of Liberty,
With his own blood to wipe away a stain.
That pain may cease, he yields his flesh to pain.
To banish war, he must a warrior be.
He dwells in Night, eternal Dawn to see,
And gladly dies, abundant life to gain.

What matters Death, if Freedom be not dead?
No flags are fair, if Freedom’s flag be furled.
Who fights for Freedom, goes with joyful tread
To meet the fires of Hell against him hurled,
And has for captain Him whose thorn-wreathed head
Smiles from the Cross upon a conquered world.

[Taken from Joyce Kilmer: Memoir and Poems]

While on a scouting mission in no-man's land on July 30, 1918, Joyce Kilmer was shot and killed by a German sniper.

For more about Joyce Kilmer, click here.

For All Saints Day, read about the Saints to enhance your own faith

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Wishing you a blessed All Saints Day!

"I saw a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and tribes, and peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne, and in sight of the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands: And they cried with a loud voice, saying: 'Salvation to our God, who sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb.'" 

~The Apocalypse of Saint John 7:9-10 

May all the saints pray for us who yet labor here on earth! 

The Litany of the Saints: 

Lord, have mercy. 

Christ, have mercy. 

Lord, have mercy. 

Christ, hear us. 

Christ, graciously hear us. 

God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us. 

God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us. 

God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us. 

Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us. 

Holy Mary, pray for us. 

Holy Mother of God, pray for us. 

Holy Virgin of virgins, pray for us. 

St. Michael, pray for us. 

St. Gabriel, pray for us. 

St. Raphael, pray for us. 

All you holy Angels and Archangels, pray for us. 

All you holy orders of blessed Spirits, pray for us. 

St. John the Baptist, pray for us. 

St. Joseph, pray for us. 

All you holy Patriarchs and Prophets, pray for us. 

St. Peter, pray for us. 

St. Paul, pray for us. 

St. Andrew, pray for us. 

St. James, pray for us. 

St. John, pray for us. 

St. Thomas, pray for us. 

St. James, pray for us. 

St. Philip, pray for us. 

St. Bartholomew, pray for us. 

St. Matthew, pray for us. 

St. Simon, pray for us. 

St. Thaddeus, pray for us. 

St. Matthias, pray for us. 

St. Barnabas, pray for us. 

St. Luke, pray for us. 

St. Mark, pray for us. 

All you holy Apostles and Evangelists, pray for us.... 

 For the complete litany, click here.

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There are few better ways to enhance and encourage our own faith than by reading of the great words and works of those saints of Jesus Christ who have gone before us. A great collection of over three dozen historical novels on the lives of the saints may be found at the Young Catholic's Bookshelf site here.

If all those books are too overwhelming for you, check out I Am A Christian: Authentic Accounts of Christian Martyrdom and Persecution from the Ancient Sources. This book provides the most ancient accounts of Christian martyrdom to have survived antiquity and, as such, offers a glimpse into how the earliest followers of Christ put their faith into action.