Today the Catholic Church celebrates the memorial of St. Cecelia. The day would probably have passed me by except that my daughter (a singer and pianist) just picked Cecelia as her confirmation name, having learned that St. Ceceila is the patron saint of musicians. She is also one of only seven women (apart from Mary) commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass.
I have heard two different explanations of Cecelia becoming the patron saint of musicians. One says that while the music of her forced wedding was being played (she vowed her virginity to God, but her parents married her off anyway), “Cecilia was singing in her heart a hymn of love for Jesus, her true spouse.” The other is that she was heard to sing songs of praise to God as she suffered her death as a martyr.
Apart from her connection to music, the most striking thing about Cecila for me is her name, which translated literally from Latin means, “The way for the blind.” So today I will pray to St. Cecelia, not only to watch over my musical daughter, but to help remove those things that blind us…to help show us the way toward deeper union with our God.
