Saint Cecilia

Saint Cecilia () is the patroness of musicians. At her wedding she "sang in her heart to the Lord". Her feast day is celebrated in the Latin Catholic, Eastern Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches and in the Anglican Communion on November 22.  She is one of seven women, excluding the Blessed Virgin, commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass.

While the details of her story appear to be fictional, her existence and martyrdom are considered a historical fact. She is said to have been beheaded with a sword. An early Roman Christian church, Santa Cecilia, was founded in the fourth century in the Trastevere section of Rome, reputedly on the site of the house in which she lived. A number of musical compositions are dedicated to her, and her feast day has become the occasion for concerts and musical festivals.

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Category:170s deaths
Category:180s deaths
Category:People executed by decapitation
Category:Italian musicians
Category:Christian saints