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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20231122
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DTSTAMP:20260420T003312
CREATED:20231118T155138Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20231118T155138Z
UID:11319-1700611200-1700697599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:St. Cecilia
DESCRIPTION:THE GRACE OF BEING A MARTYR\nFrom “Story of a Soul” by St Thérèse of Lisieux 4\n◊◊◊\nIt was night when we arrived and as we were all asleep we were awakened\nby the shouts of the porters crying: “Rome! Rome!” It was not a dream\, I was in\nRome!… One of my sweetest memories was the one that filled me with delight\nwhen I saw the Colosseum. I was finally gazing upon that arena where so many\nmartyrs had shed their blood for Jesus… One thought raced through my mind: get\ndown into the arena!… I cried to Céline: “Come quick! We can get through!” We\ncrossed the barrier where there was an opening\, the fallen masonry hardly\nreaching up to the barrier\, and we were climbing down over the ruins that\nrumbled under our feet… We…threw ourselves on our knees on this sacred soil\,\nand our souls were united in the same prayer. My heart was beating hard when\nmy lips touched the dust stained with the blood of the first Christians. I asked for\nthe grace of being a martyr for Jesus and felt that my prayer was answered!… Papa\,\nseeing us so happy\, didn’t have the heart to scold us and I could easily see he was\nproud of our courage… \nThe Catacombs\, too\, left a deep impression on me. They were exactly as I\nhad imagined them when reading the lives of the martyrs. After having spent part\nof the afternoon in them\, it seemed to me we were there for only a few moments\,\nso sacred did the atmosphere appear to me. We had to carry off some souvenir\nfrom the Catacombs; having allowed the procession to pass on a little\, Céline and\nThérèse slipped down together to the bottom of the ancient tomb of St. Cecilia and\ntook some earth which was sanctified by her presence. \nBefore my trip to Rome I didn’t have any special devotion to this saint\, but\nwhen I visited her house transformed into a church\, the site of her martyrdom\,\nwhen learning that she was proclaimed patroness of music not because of her\nbeautiful voice or her talent for music\, but in memory of the virginal song she sang\nto her heavenly Spouse hidden in the depths of her heart\, I felt more than devotion\nfor her; it was the real tenderness of a friend. She became my saint of predilection\,\nmy intimate confidante. Everything in her thrilled me\, especially her\nabandonment\, her limitless confidence that made her capable of virginizing souls\nwho had never desired any other joys but those of the present life. St. Cecilia is like\nthe bride in the Canticle; in her I see “a choir in an armed camp.” Her life was\nnothing else but a melodious song in the midst of the greatest trials\, and this does\nnot surprise me because “the Gospel rested on her heart\,” and in her heart reposed\nthe Spouse of Virgins!… \nMartyrdom was the dream of my youth and this dream has grown with me\nwithin Carmel’s cloisters. But here again\, I feel that my dream is a folly\, for I cannot\nconfine myself to desiring one kind of martyrdom. To satisfy me I need all. Like\nYou\, my Adorable Spouse\, I would be scourged and crucified. I would die flayed\nlike St. Bartholomew. I would be plunged into boiling oil like St. John; I would\nundergo all the tortures inflicted upon the martyrs. With St. Agnes and St. Cecilia\,\nI would present my neck to the sword\, and like Joan of Arc\, my dear sister\, I would\nwhisper at the stake Your Name\, O JESUS. When thinking of the torments which\nwill be the lot of Christians at the time of Anti-Christ\, I feel my heart leap with joy\nand I would that these torments be reserved for me. Jesus\, Jesus\, if I wanted to\nwrite all my desires\, I would have to borrow Your Book of Life\, for in it are reported\nall the actions of all the saints\, and I would accomplish all of them for You. \n4\nStory of A Soul: The Autobiography of St Thérèse of Lisieux. Trans. John Clarke\, O.C.D. Washington\, DC: ICS Publications\,\n1996. 163-165\, 222-223. PDF ONLINE VERSION.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/st-cecilia/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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