Appear and Inspire

Blessed Cecilia, appear in visions
To all musicians, appear and inspire:
Translated Daughter, come down and startle
Composing mortals with immortal fire. W. H. Auden (1907-73)

November 22 is the annual day to honor Saint Cecilia, patron saint of musicians and sacred music. Unfortunately, this will not be celebrated liturgically this year, but we can still remember and feast in honor of this holy saint!

Saint Cecilia lived in the second or third century in Rome. As with many early Christian saints there is relatively little known about her life. It is thought that she came from a noble Roman family and that she was given in marriage, against her will, to a non-Christian named Valerian. After evangelizing Valerian and his brother, the two were baptized and were soon martyred. While trying to bury their bodies, Cecilia was captured and condemned to death. According to legend, her persecutors first tried to kill her by suffocating her with steam, but that failed. They eventually cut her throat with an axe. Legends say that she still sang a hymn of praise to God as she lingered on for three days.

Devotion to St. Cecilia began quickly thereafter (she is one of the women mentioned in the Roman Canon). She had founded a house-church, and Pope Paschal I erected a church above her house in the Trastevere region of Rome in the ninth century. Her body, along with her husband and his brother and another man martyred with them were exhumed from the catecombs and were buried in the church.

The photo above is of one of my favorite pieces of art. Stefano Maderno (1576-1636) carved this emotional portrayal of the saint after her body was moved in 1599 to its current place under the main altar. This is how her incorrupt body was found lying before it was moved. The axe marks were visible in her neck and her arm was outstretched with three fingers extended (which was, of course, explained as a testimony to her faith in the Triune God). While at first glance the statue is graceful and flowing, a longer examination reveals the awkwardness of her position. Carved into the floor in front of the altar is this statement:

Behold the body of the most holy virgin Cecilia,
whom I myself saw lying incorrupt in the tomb.
I have in this marble expressed for you the same saint
in the very same posture.

A nice description of the church is available by clicking here.

While there is absolutely no evidence supporting it, legend claims that St. Cecilia invented the organ. In honor of the Saint I thought that you might appreciate the clip below--the last two movements of Handel's Ode for Saint Cecilia's Day, HWV 76, led by the great Baroque interpreter Ton Koopman.

But bright Cecilia raised the wonder higher:
When to her Organ vocal breath was given
An Angel heard, and straight appeared
–Mistaking Earth for Heaven.

A Cheerful Giver

Today (August 10) is the feast of one of the Church's most well-known martyrs, Saint Lawrence.

Lawrence was a deacon of the Church in Rome serving Pope Sixtus II. As with many early saints, the circumstances of his life and martyrdom contain few details which can be proven, but what has been passed down through the tradition is truly legendary!

The legend contends that in August of the year 258, during the persecution of the emperor Valerian, Pope Sixtus II was beheaded. His young deacon, Lawrence, met Sixtus on the way to his execution and asked to accompany him, to which Sixtus replied that he would...in three days.

As a deacon, Lawrence maintained many of the temporal goods of the Church, including vessels of precious metals and other riches. The Roman prefect demanded that Lawrence surrender these riches to the emperor. The deacon slyly asked for a few days to gather the vast riches. During that time, he sold the Church's goods and gave the money to those in need. At the appointed time he appeared before the prefect with the poor, the sick, widows and orphans, proclaiming these as the "treasures of the Church."

That, of course, was not well received so Lawrence was executed. They placed him on a gridiron (which he is holding in the picture above) and placed him over hot coals. He is said to have joked at one point, "This side is done. Turn me over." Thus, he became a cheerful giver.

Whether or not every (or any) detail of the legend is true, it is clear that St. Lawrence embodied the Lord's call to follow him, even through suffering and death. In an excerpt from one of St. Augustine's sermons (from today's Office of Readings), he says, "We too must imitate Christ if we truly love him. We shall not be able to render better return on that love than by modeling our lives on his."

The legend also causes one to reflect on how we view the Church's treasures today. We still lock up our gold and silver chalices in the sacristy safe even while we lock the church doors from unwanted visitors. One of the "Fruits of Holy Communion" named in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (no. 1391 and following) is a commitment to the poor: "To receive in truth the Body and Blood of Christ given up for us, we must recognize Christ in the poorest, his brethren" (no. 1397).

Perhaps the best way to celebrate this feast is to ask ourselves how we recognize Christ in his treasured poor.

Father,
you called Saint Lawrence to serve you by love
and crowned his life with glorious martyrdom.
Help us to be like him
in loving you and doing your work.
Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
--Roman Missal, Prayer of the Day

Apostle of the Apostles

Tomorrow (July 22) we celebrate the memorial of one of the great saints, Mary Magdalene. She was honored to be the first witness of the resurrection and the first to announce the Good News to the other disciples--thus she often is called "The Apostle of the Apostles."

Confusion and legend obscure the facts of her life. We know that she was a faithful follower of Jesus and we think that Jesus drove seven demons from her (Lk 8:2). She, along with other women, supported the ministry of Jesus "out of their resources" (Lk 8:3). With others she went to Jerusalem with Jesus where she remained at the foot of the cross with Jesus' mother and Mary, the wife of Clopas (Jn 19:25).

Early in the morning on the first Easter Sunday, Mary Magdalene discovered that Jesus' tomb was empty. She eventually encountered a man that she thought was a gardener, but when he said her name she recognized him as the Lord. Embracing Jesus, he said "Stop holding on to me...go to my brothers" (Jn 20:17, New American Bible). Scholars are uncertain as to what happened to Mary Magdalene after the Lord ascended, but there is a tradition that she moved to Ephesus where she lived with Jesus' mother Mary.

There are so many things that I find interesting and inspiring about Saint Mary Magdalene. First, she is one of the few saints that doesn't have a word or two describing her in the calendar (one often sees, for example, "priest and martyr," "virgin," etc. after the name of a saint in the calendar). Perhaps she doesn't need any further clarification. Perhaps we just don't know what to call her!

Secondly, she saw the Risen Lord but did not recognize him until he said her name. Once again, a mystery of Communion is revealed. You'd think she would have recognized him immediately and fallen down to worship in silence...but his voice, inflection, or the familiarity with which he spoke was how the Lord revealed himself to her. And then she went to hug him. Her love was personal, real, intimate. He wasn't a far-off God, but one who knew her name. He was one whom she and others had probably hugged before.

The Risen Lord's response to the hug? The Gospel of John says that he told her to go and tell people about what she saw. This reminds us of the unique relationship Christians have with the Lord...we want to stay and worship, but he calls us to go and proclaim. While Mary Magdalene saw the glorified Lord and proclaimed the Good News, our job is just the opposite: We proclaim with confidence that, as faithful servants, we will see the glorified Lord in his heavenly kingdom.

Father,
your Son first entrusted to Mary Magdalene
the joyful news of his resurrection.
By her prayers and example
may we proclaim Christ as our living Lord
and one day see him in glory.
(Opening Prayer, Memorial of Saint Mary Magdalene)

Assumption 2009

Saturday, August 15, 2009 (The Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary) is a not a holy day of obligation in 2009 since it falls on a Saturday.

In 1992, the Holy See approved a general decree by the United States Bishops declaring days to be observed as holy days of obligation in the Latin Rite dioceses of the United States in conformity with canon 1246. It was also determined that whenever January 1 (the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God), August 15 (the Solemnity of the Assumption) or November 1 (the Solemnity of All Saints) fall on a Saturday or on a Monday, the precept to attend Mass is abrogated (the faithful are not obliged to attend and participate in the Mass).

The day retains the rank of solemnity and is best celebrated in a festive way.

For those who love to plan ahead, next year the Assumption will fall on a Sunday and will be celebrated instead of the Ordinary Time Sunday.