ON the evening of her wedding-day, with the music of the marriage-hymn ringing in her cars, Cecilia, a rich, beautiful and noble Roman maiden, renewed the vow by which she had consecrated her virginity to God “Pure be my heart and undefiled my flesh; for I have a spouse you know not of—an angel of my Lord.” The heart of her young husband Valerian was moved by her words; he received baptism, and within a few days he and his brother Tiburtius, who had been brought by him to a knowledge of the faith, sealed their confession with their blood. Cecilia only remained. “Do you not know,” was her answer to the threats of the prefect, “that I am the bride of my Lord Jesus Christ?” The death appointed for her was suffocation, and she remained a day and a night in a hot-air bath, heated seven times its wont. But “the flames had no power over her body, neither was a hair of her head singed.” The lictor sent to dispatch her struck with trembling hand the three blows which the law allowed, and left her still alive. For two days and nights Cecilia lay with her head half severed on the pavement of her bath, fully sensible, and joyfully awaiting her crown; on the third the agony was over, and A.D. 177, the virgin Saint gave back her pure spirit to Christ.
REFLECTION: St. Cecilia teaches us to rejoice in every sacrifice as a pledge of our love of Christ, and to welcome sufferings and death as hastening our union with Him.
WORD OF THE DAY
HOLY ALLIANCE. A declaration, originally signed in 1815 by Russia, Austria, and Prussia and eventually by all the rulers of Europe except the Prince Regent of England, the Pope and the Sultan of Turkey. Its basic principle was that henceforth the civil powers would be guided in their relations by “the sublime truths which the Holy Religion of our Savior teaches.” Originated by the Czar and sincerely intended to foster friendship among the nations, it was never effective as a diplomatic instrument. In 1899, however, it inspired Czar Nicholas II to call the first international peace conference at The Hague.
Modern Catholic Dictionary, Fr. John Hardon SJ (Get the real one at Eternal Life — don’t accept an abridged or edited version of this masterpiece!)
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