ST. CECILIA'S DAY IS CELEBRATED IN MUSIC TOMORROW

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 66, 21 November 1949, Page 5

ST. CECILIA'S DAY IS CELEBRATED IN MUSIC TOMORROW

Tomorrow,,. November 22, lovers of music will celebrate the festival day of St. % Cecilia, the patroness of music, especially church music, and who is said to have suffered martrydom in 230 A.D. The early life of Cecilia has been -lost in history and even the fact of how sh^e 1 became Patron Saint of music is an obscure point, that has puzzled historians for centuries. . B.ut despite all this St. Cecilia is now accepted as the Saint of Music to whom poems, odes, hymns and other compositions have been dedicated.

Cecilia was the daughter, of a noble Roman family but her parents were heathens. Just after she had been secretly converted to Christianity she was bethrothed to a heathen youth named Valerian, who was also soon converted. He and his brother together suffered martyrdom later for turning to Christianity. -

The sentence of death was passed on Cecilia when she was commanded |to sacrifice to idols. This she firmly refused and as a result was thrown into a boiling bath. From this the condemned girl emerged unhurt and was then sent to the execution block. While receiving the execution something is believed to have happened, which caused the executioner to flee in horror after he had struck his victim three times on the back of the neck with a sword. Three days later Cecilia died and received the martyr's crown. She was buried by Pope Urban in the catacombs of Callistus.

Her bones were later deposited in the church of St. Cecilia in Rome in 821, by order of the Pope ! of Paschal.

In some obscure way Saint Cecilia became associated with church music, especially the organ, of which she is supposed to be the inventor. When s the Academy of Music was founded in Rome in 1584 she was adopted as the patroness of church music. Her story is told in Chaucer's "Second Nun's Tale."

"All Of A Twist" Latest and one of the brightest of Mr A. R. Chapman's stunts in the theatre showmanship drive now nearing conclusion was put over in connection with the Dickens film, "Oliver Twist". At the championship road hill-climb on Hillcrest Road on Saturday spectators' attention was.drawn to large black on yellow signs on successive bends up the'hill: "Caution", "Slow", "Be Careful", "This Road Is", "All Of a Twist". Though seme might dub the pun a bit laboured, nearly everybody got the point.