Hail Holy Cecilia!
Today is the Feast of Saint Cecilia patron saint of music and musicians. The story goes that she sang on her way to her martyrdom. Her name is listed among the early martyrs of the Church of Rome and she is included the list of martyrs (the martyrology) in Roman Canon, referred to now as the First Eucharistic Prayer of the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church -- that's your regular RC's to most people.
Composers like Henry Purcell wrote musical odes to St. Cecilia. It provides the opportunity for a little holy revelry. While it is not a name commonly heard these days, at least in the circle of my Irish relatives it was certainly in use a hundred years ago.
Her feast is a chance to appreciate the gift of music. It is a talent, like so many in our world, that we actually know very little about. It is part of the intelligence of our species. While practice and technique are important as in any sport or discipline, talent occupies the greater place. Music flows out of us once we are able to release it. And for those of us who lack one or another critical element like pitch, fine motor skills and inerrant rhythm, we still receive these things with joy and wonder.
We can love to listen and I imagine my synapses being marvellously rearranged by what I am hearing. What little we know of Cecilia's story is enough to tell us of the way that even under the most dire circumstances music has the capacity to support in our humanity what is most elevated and good.
Composers like Henry Purcell wrote musical odes to St. Cecilia. It provides the opportunity for a little holy revelry. While it is not a name commonly heard these days, at least in the circle of my Irish relatives it was certainly in use a hundred years ago. Her feast is a chance to appreciate the gift of music. It is a talent, like so many in our world, that we actually know very little about. It is part of the intelligence of our species. While practice and technique are important as in any sport or discipline, talent occupies the greater place. Music flows out of us once we are able to release it. And for those of us who lack one or another critical element like pitch, fine motor skills and inerrant rhythm, we still receive these things with joy and wonder.
We can love to listen and I imagine my synapses being marvellously rearranged by what I am hearing. What little we know of Cecilia's story is enough to tell us of the way that even under the most dire circumstances music has the capacity to support in our humanity what is most elevated and good.
