St. Cecilia (c. 225) : The Light to the Blind by Chris White

St. Cecilia is the patron saint of music.  In fact, when she is depicted in sacred art, she is always seen tickling the ivories of a pipe-organ and making melody to the Lord.  The only problem with this is that the pipe organ (or anything remotely like it) didn’t exist in her time and St. Cecilia is more known for being a preacher than a singer.  But to loosely quote Emerson here, consistency (even in historic details) is the hobgoblin of little minds.  There are even some who suggest that this most popular and beloved of Roman saints is a pious fiction because the earliest “Passion of St. Cecilia” comes to us in the form of a Greek religious romance which suggests the story is more legendary than factual.  But that said, one of the oldest places of worship in Rome is St. Cecilia’s Church in Trastevere and it is built over a home that stood in the 2^nd century and belonged to the Caecillii family.  The archeological evidence points to this house as having been used for Christian worship in later centuries.  While embellishments to the story are certain, there is no reason to doubt that Cecilia was a real person and that her life made an impact on the Christian community of Rome so many centuries ago.

St. Cecilia in Trastevere

According to Caxton’s Golden Legend the name “Cecilia” means either a light to the blind or a lily of heaven.  As often happens in ordinary life, Cecilia lives up to her name.  Cecilia came from a senatorial family and was said to be a Christian from a very early age.  She was given in marriage to a noble pagan youth by the name of Valerianus.  This may be an indicator that her parents were not Christians themselves as it seems a bit odd they would marry their godly daughter off to a pagan.  It may also be that because of the family’s social status there wasn’t a suitable man of her class in the church who was available.  Although the Christian faith does not teach the idea of social status and the church has done much to ameliorate class distinctions among believers, Roman society was extremely stratified and it is unlikely this idea didn’t have any coin among the faithful at this early date.

Cecilia sought holy chastity and didn’t want to be married but was required by her father to do so.  When the hour came for the couple to enter the nuptial bedchamber, Cecilia told her husband a secret that was unknown to all but her: Cecilia had an angel that watches and wards off any who would touch her that she may retain her virginity.

Valerianus wanted proof (as would any man in his situation) and Cecilia told him he must first believe in God.  He is sent to pope Urban who speaks with him and then baptizes him.  When Valerianus returns to Cecilia he sees her in her chamber praying and there is an angel standing by her with flaming wings.  The angel is holding a crown of lilies and roses which he places on both their heads and then vanishes.

Cecilia and Valerianus

Valerian’s brother Tiburtius drops by to see the happy couple and is so astonished by the floral crowns which were completely out of season that he believes their story and he too submits to Christian baptism.

After their conversions, Valerian and Tiburtius devote themselves to burying those Christians who were being martyred by the prefect of Rome.  Burying the dead with dignity was considered in this time a holy work of charity.  It was also quite risky if you were trying to avoid persecution yourself.  Eventually the brothers are hauled in and questioned about their dedication to burying Christians.  When asked to make a sacrifice to the pagan god Jupiter, the brothers refuse and suffer death in the Roman fashion of beheading.

Cecilia was apparently a stalwart evangelist and through her many contacts over 400 people reported to Pope Urban for baptism.  She too is eventually caught and is sentenced to death by suffocation in her bath.  Romans heated their baths with wood fires underneath.  Apparently Cecilia was to be locked in her bathroom and the water would be heated 7 times hotter than normal which was expected to steam her to death.  There are records of this form of execution being used by other Roman emperors and so it must have been a practice in her day.  When it was discovered that instead of being fully cooked Cecilia was unscathed and singing praise songs in her bathroom (the origins of singing in the shower?), the Prefect dispatched an executioner to put her to the sword.  Whether he didn’t have a heart to kill Cecilia or he had a very dull “gladus” (Roman sword), he was unable to succeed in removing Cecilia’s head.  Apparently if this wasn’t accomplished in three strokes the law required the executioner to stop.  Although alive, she was mortally wounded and lived 3 more days.  Many around Rome came to see her as she lay dying in her home.    Cecilia prayed for some and others she evangelized.

Cecilia being asked to sacrifice to Jupiter

One of those who came by to see her was Pope Urban.  Cecilia gave him her house and asked that it be made into a church.  When she eventually died she was buried by Urban and his deacons in the catacombs of Callistus.

So that’s the story of St. Cecilia as it comes to us.  Like many of the ancient Christian martyrs, her story is filled with elements of the supernatural and this is where I would expect you to say “yes, but you did say at the start that there embellishments and those things like the angel with flaming wings are one of them.”  But the funny thing is, the harder part to believe is the historical context not the spiritual details.  Why wouldn’t a sincere Christian have a guardian angel?  But consider the prominent place of  Pope Urban I in the story.  His reign as pope was early in the 3^rd century (222-230 AD).  What is problematic is that the Christian church was not under any persecution at the time.  In fact, the Roman emperor Alexander Severus was quite positive in his treatment of the Christians.

The Emperor Alexander gave Christians the right to have houses of worship in Rome.  There was a protest by tavern owners over this, but the emperor felt that any kind of worship of God was preferable to tavern keeping.  This trend continued and built momentum until the persecution of Diocletian when he started confiscating and razing church buildings.

Cecilia before executioner

This makes it difficult to understand how Cecilia, Valerianus, and Tiburtius could be martyred for their faith when there wasn’t any oppression of Christians.  Two possible solutions to this dilemma is Urban was not the pope but a church leader assumed to be pope because of his name.  This then allows the story room to be in the 2^nd Century when there was persecution under Marcus Aurelius.  The other solution which is embedded in the Golden Legend, is this was a localized persecution in Rome done by lower level government officials without the knowledge of the emperor.  I know this could never happen today (my tongue is thoroughly embedded in my cheek) but back then governments didn’t always know what everybody was doing.

Another problem with the story is that St. Cecilia is unknown in literature until 496 AD when Pope Gelasius introduced her name into his sacramentary (a book of Christian liturgy).  That seems long after the fact to get your first mention, but where did he get the idea to mention her?  It could be that Cecilia was known but places of her mention in literature simply did not survive.  This is not unusual especially when the total number of books were few prior to the printing press.

In  821 there is a record of an old church in Rome dedicated to St. Cecilia that is being restored by Pope Paschal.  Pope Paschal made a search for grave in the catacombs and when he couldn’t find it assumed it (like other relics of saints) had been stolen by the Lombards.  One night, St. Cecilia appears to him in a dream and tells him he was close to her resting place in the catacombs of Callistus and to make another try.  The pope did so and had her body moved from the catacombs along with her husband, brother-in-law, and Pope Urban to the church in Trastevere when its restoration was complete.

Mosaic of St. Cecilia and Pope Urban

Just an aside, if you ever visit the Catacombs in Rome (and you should if you ever visit Rome), you will find most of them are empty especially of anyone who was famous.  This is because many Europeans in the early Middle Ages wanted to take a souvenir bone of a saint home with them from their trip and were robbing the graves.  This led the Church of Rome to begin moving the graves of saints into the churches and out of the catacombs as a means of protection.

Watch a short video on Life of St. Cecilia here

In 1599 the church of St. Cecila was refurbished a second time.  This time the sarcophagus of Cecilia was opened to inspect the contents.  Her body was found to be incorrupt.  A sketch was made and sent to the pope who came to see the body for himself.  He commissioned the sculptor Stephano Maderno to see the body and sculpt what he saw.  In front of the sculpture in the church is an oath sworn by the artist that we are looking at in stone what he actually saw with his own eyes.

Maderno's St. Cecilia

So if Cecilia is legendary, she is certainly a persistent imaginary person.  As the patron saint of music many poems and songs are written about her or for her feast day known as St. Cecilia’s Day.  But Cecilia should be remembered as a woman so completely given over to Christ that when people came into contact with her, they too were convinced the gospel is true.  And that is a legacy we should all aspire to ourselves.

Listen to a beautiful song about St. Cecilia as patron of Music here

Catacomb where Cecilia was found

Sources:

Caxton, William.  The Golden Legend.  http://sites.fas.harvard.edu/~chaucer/canttales/secnun/cecilia.html  Mar. 4, 2015

“Cecilia, martyr”  Encyclopedia of Ancient Christianity.  Angelo Di Berardino gen. ed.  (Downers Grove : Intervarsity, 2014)

“Incorrupt Bodies”  Mar. 5, 2015  http://www.marypages.com/IncorruptBodies.htm

“St. Cecilia”  Catholic Encyclopedia.  Feb. 20, 2015. 

“St. Cecilia”  Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature.  McClintock and Strong eds.  (Grand Rapids : Baker Books, 1981

“Saint Cecilia”  Mar. 5, 2015

 

“St. Cecilia of Rome”  Dictionary of Christian Biography. Michael Walsh ed.  (Collegeville : The Liturgical Press, 2001).

Day, Malcolm  A Treasury of Saints : Their Lives and Times  (New York : Chartwell Books, 2004)

Saint of the Day : Lives, Lessons, and Feasts.  Foley and McCloskey O.F.M. ed. & rev.  (Cincinnati : St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2001)

Schaff, Philip.  History of the Christian Church Vol. 2  (Grand Rapids : Eerdmanns, 1910)

The Basilica of Santa Cecilia Rome.  (Genova : Edizioni D’Arte Marconi, 2010)

Ignatius of Antioch (ca. 30-107 AD) : Brilliant Light in the Winter Sky by Chris White

Ignatius of Antioch being eaten by beasts

It was late in the fall when the emperor Trajan and his army arrived in Antioch.  It was time to resupply and rest for in two days they would be continuing their march east to battle the Parthians (ancient Persia) who had been encroaching upon the Roman frontiers.  Antioch Syria (now part of present-day Turkey) had a very large Christian community which had once been taught by both the Apostles Peter and Paul and was actually the place where people were first called “Christians” (Acts 11:19).  The Church of Antioch was born out of Roman persecution and had suffered from it sporadically for many years.  Ignatius of Antioch was the beloved bishop of the city and gave loving oversight to the church much like a father would his children.  

Antioch is in present-day Turkey

Antioch was a long ways from Rome and Trajan saw that this distance had provided the freedom for the Christian “disorder” as he called it, to take root there like an aggressive weed.  The citizens of Antioch were among those he and his army had come and would possibly give up their lives to defend but to his thinking they were hardly loyal to him.  Like other Roman emperors before and after, Trajan decided to make a stand against this movement.  Through the torture of several citizens, he learned who the Christians were and where they could be found and many in the Christian community were rounded up to be publicly “reconverted” to the gods of Rome (which among them was often the emperor himself) or be executed for treason.

Ancient "enhanced interrogation"

As a crowd assembled in the amphitheater to see what was going on, an elderly gentleman made his way through the streets to the gathering.  He was on a mission.  Trajan was seated on his portable throne to look upon the proceedings.  Church members were going to be brought forward and be asked if Caesar was lord.  If they said yes, they would be asked to fully apostasize by offering incense to the genius of the emperor.  If they denied Caesar and continued to only acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord, they would be tortured and then put to death before Trajan left town.  But something entirely different happened that day.

A computer generated model of the ancient city

That same elderly gentleman seen on the streets was well-known to everyone in Antioch as bishop Ignatius.  Quite fearlessly Ignatius entered the theatre and walked directly towards Trajan.  Trajan’s guard tried to stop the meeting, but Trajan recognized that Ignatius must be a key person in town and wanted to hear what he had to say and so the two men met face to face.

“You have no call to harass these people!” said Ignatius.  “I am their spiritual leader and it is I who have taught them to give all their allegiance to the Lord Jesus.  The blame for this should fall upon me, and me alone.”

“And who are you old man?” replied Trajan.  “My given name is Ignatius, but my true name is Theophorus (meaning “God-bearer”) because as the bishop of this town, I bear the truth of God and the sacred meal of our religion which is the body and blood of our Lord and God Jesus of Nazareth.”

Most all of this was incomprehensible to Trajan, but as a skilled politician, senator, and military man, he had long ago learned to identify the strategic moment in most situations and this was certainly one of them.  Ignatius was the head of this subversive movement in Antioch and once he was disposed of, this whole Christian craze will likely die for lack of leadership or splinter apart with in-fighting about who will be his successor.

And with that thought in mind, Trajan had Ignatius the bishop of Antioch arrested and placed in chains and sent to Rome with a detachment of ten soldiers.  Normally the death sentence would have been executed then and there, but as I mentioned before, Trajan was a strategic thinker.  The people of Rome loved watching execution by wild animals as part of the entertainment program at the Circus Maximus.  Why not let them watch a great religious leader be torn apart in front of them at the very least, or, in a best case scenario, watch him cower in fear at the sight of the lions and renounce his faith in Christ and find his new found allegiance to Caesar in the capitol of the Empire?

Trajan a man skilled in war and politics

Normally the trans-shipment of a prisoner was done by sea, but with winter closing in the sea route was not going to work.  And so, even as Trajan’s army marched east towards Persia, Ignatius of Antioch, his Roman guard detail, and a few friends who were allowed to attend to him began the march west moving first though Anatolia (Asia Minor) and then joining the via Egnatia in Macedonia which would take them overland to Rome.  All along the way to Rome, in something providentially akin to the book of Acts, local Christians come to meet Ignatius, most likely feeding him and his traveling companions, and then staying to hear a brief homily (short sermon).  Ignatius also takes time to dictate letters to Christian communities and friends such as bishop Polycarp of Smyrna along the way.  These letters are the primary source of information we have about Ignatius as a person but also what he believed.  Because he is a person who lived during the apostolic age and just into the sub-apostolic age, his writings give us a picture of the pattern of life and theology of the earliest church.

Possible routes that could have been taken

The question I ask when I read these letters is why these receiving congregations thought these letters valuable enough to collect them long after the fact (which they did) and why Ignatius, in the absence of there existing anything remotely akin to a monarchial bishop in the day, felt the freedom to exhort these congregations who had their own bishop?

Read the full text of the Ignatian Epistles

If there is any truth to some of the later accounts that come to us through the historian Eusebius and other church fathers, Ignatius, though not an apostle, was an eyewitness of Jesus himself but also knew personally the Apostles Peter and Paul, and was later taught, along with Polycarp, by the Apostle John in Ephesus.  The Martyrium of Ignatius says that when Jesus took a child into his arms and said let the children come to me (Mk. 9:36) the actual child he held was Ignatius at possible 4 years of age.  This is very possible if Ignatius lived to be in his 80s.  The bulk of his letters are to congregations in Asia Minor with the exception of the final one directed to the Church of Rome.  It could be that Ignatius was simply well-known in that part of the world because he was one of the last living eyewitnesses at the time or just as plausible, he actually knew many of the congregational leaders because of his strong connection to Ephesus and the Apostle John.  Whatever the reasons, the letters of Ignatius were valuable at the time they were written and are of greater importance today as the only testimony from an era in Christian history we know so little about.

So what do we learn from the epistles of Ignatius?  In all of them there are three principle concerns: Christian unity, remaining steadfast in sound doctrine, and finally that Ignatius himself would bravely face his martyrdom.  Ignatius considered being killed by the Romans for his testimony of Christ to be the ultimate form of discipleship, laying down his life for his church, even as Christ did at the cross.

Christian unity is a theme that must be understood in the context of the schismatic churches and teaching that were in blossom during this time.  Ignatius is the first Christian to actually use the term “catholic church” in his writing.  For him, this church went beyond local congregation to a world wide body of true Christians walking faithfully with the Lord and in unity with one another.  The basis for that unity was walking in fellowship and concord with your local bishop.  The bishop was the spiritual father of the area who was in charge of all instruction and celebration of the Eucharist.  Churches had a divinely charged threefold ministry of bishop, elders, and deacons and these correspond to the Father, Son, and the Apostles.

Two of the controversies that Ignatius dealt with in his day was those who believed Jesus was God but didn’t have a true human body but rather only appeared to have one as a concession to our weakness as humans.  The other was the age-old issue of whether Christians should keep the Sabbath day or not.  To these issues we find Ignatius quite direct and unequivocal.  He directly states that Jesus is God and that Jesus is God incarnate.  I would guess that even as a young lad, Ignatius would have noticed or not if Jesus didn’t have a real physical body when he held him.  This is important as Ignatius shows us the earliest theology is very much that of the later ecumenical councils.  To the Sabbath, Ignatius points out that Christians have always worshipped on Sunday because this is the day of the resurrection of Christ and it is the new day of God’s choosing for worship.  Once again, something Christians believed long before the day of Constantine and his legislation of Sunday as a day of rest for all.

Christ and Apostles Mosaic in Antioch

Most important is the theme of martyrdom as a sacrifice and offering in the letters.  It has a benefit for the faith of the entire church.  The mood of his correspondence on this topic is exaltation bordering on mania. Martyrdom is following Christ in his passion.  This was the highest form of discipleship.  Ignatius sets his face like flint to Rome in this matter.  This may have been partly out of an internal fear that he apostasize to save his own life or that a rumor get started that he did.  

Hear a dramatic reading of Ignatius' epistle to Rome 

Ignatius writes “Near the sword is near to God.” And elsewhere “I am the wheat of Christ, and am ground by the teeth of wild beasts, that I may be found the pure bread of God.”  This echoes the teaching of Jesus about God’s judgment being a separation of the wheat and the chaff (Mt. 3:12).  As he sends a letter forward to the Christians in Rome he writes: do not show inopportune kindness to me but let me meet my doom as a witness and martyr.  He asks several times in the letter for their non-intervention.  This request to me is quite intriguing.  Does it suggest that they did have some power to save him?  Were there powerful people in the Roman church or did they have people on the inside of the military who could arrange for a timely escape?

Cave church of St. Peter in Antioch today

Traditionally it is believed that Ignatius was fed to the lions during the Saturnalia festival in December at the Circus Maximus.  Although grueling and violent, the lions were apparently quick and thorough leaving only a few bones behind at the end of their meal.  Schaff writes, “His faithful friends who accompanied him to Rome dreamed that night that they saw him standing next to Christ covered in sweat as if he had just come from great labor.”  This dream gave them the joyful confidence their bishop  was with the Lord and they carried his remains (or should I say leftovers) home for burial in Antioch.

Recently Pope Benedict XVI wrote that Ignatius is a ‘doctor of unity’ because he teaches the church that unity comes by common faith in Christ but also our devoted efforts to one another because we are part of a common body.  To this I add the summation of Michael Holmes:  “Just as we become aware of a meteor only when, after traveling silently through space for untold millions of miles, it blazes briefly through the atmosphere before dying in a shower of fire, so it is with Ignatius, bishop of Antioch in Syria.” As we recall the brave witness of this early Christian bishop, truly a brilliant light is still seen by all in the skies of winter.

Circus Maximus in Rome today where Ignatius was killed

 

 

 

Sources

Ferguson, Everett.  Church History vol. 1 : From Christ to the Pre-Reformation.  (Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 2013).

Frend, W. H. C.  Martyrdom and Persecution in the Early Church.  (Cambridge : James Clarke and Co. Ltd., 2008)

Ignatius.  Letter to the Ephesians, Letter to the Romans.  The Early Christian Fathers.  Bettenson, ed.  (Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1984)

“Ignatius of Antioch”  Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiological Literature.  McClintock and Strong eds.  (Grand Rapids : Baker, 1981)

“Ignatius of Antioch”  Encyclopedia of Ancient Christianity.  Angelo di Berardino ed.  (Downers Grove : Intervarsity, 2008)

Jefford, Clayton N.  The Apostolic Fathers : An Essential Guide.  (Nashville : Abingdon Press, 2005)

Pope Benedict XVI.  The Fathers.  (Huntington : Our Sunday Visitor Publishing, 2008)

Saint of the Day: Lives, Lessons, and Feasts.  Foley and McCloskey O.F.M. eds., rev.  (Cincinnati : St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2001)

Schaff, Philip.  History of the Christian Church Vol. 2.  (Grand Rapids :  Eerdmans, 1994)

The Apostolic Fathers in English.  Michael W. Holmes, translator and ed.  ( Grand Rapids : Baker Academic, 2006)

Pope Leo I (The Great) by Chris White

Leo I

      Leo reigned as the pope of Rome in the middle of the 5^th century.  For better and for worse, his impact on the faith and shape of the church is still felt today.  During his lifetime the church at large was wrestling with a very important question: How are we to understand the human nature and divine nature of Christ and what does this mean about His person?  Many parts of the church were thinking about this question and some teachings that were emerging were either contradictory to the record of the Bible or emphasized his humanity or divinity to the exclusion of the other. Since Jesus is at the heart of Christianity, thinking rightly about Him is of great importance to every believer.  Because of this, hundreds of church leaders gathered together for a council near modern day Istanbul to discuss the matter and to seek a unity in thinking and a uniformity in teaching this doctrine. 

    To this event, Leo sent a short essay known today as the Tome which spelled out that Christ Jesus was fully God and fully man in one person and that he had a divine/human nature in which he bore the characteristics of God the Father and that of Mary with the exception of not having a sin-nature.  The Tome was so well received that it pretty much ended all discussion on the matter and there was a sense by all who participated that God had spoken to the council through Leo.  This resulted in what is known as the Chalcedonian Definition of Christ which has been the teaching of the Church ever since (you can read this in full at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chalcedonian_Definition).

    Leo was also the person who fully developed the idea that the pope of Rome (pope meaning ‘father of the faith’) was the actual successor of St. Peter.  This belief, known as the Petrine Idea, takes the words of Jesus to Peter in Matthew 16:18 to mean that the future church will be built upon Peter the apostle.  Protestants have always taken this verse to mean the church will be built upon Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Christ for good reason, but for Leo and many others the Petrine Idea was an indisputable fact.  One part of this could literally be true as St. Peter’s Basilica is built over a first century graveyard and at the center is the place believed to be where Peter was buried after he was martyred by the Romans.  But Leo took this to mean that the Apostleship of Peter would be passed down to each Pope of the church of Rome and that when they wrote, taught, or spoke it was actually Peter who was speaking through them.  This also meant that since Peter was the appointed foundation, that his successors would be kept from errors in doctrine.

While Leo was a bit overly enthusiastic about the apostle Peter and his own relationship to him as bishop of Rome, Leo was completely right in his thinking about Christ and has helped the church through most of its history to have a sound theology of Jesus of Nazareth.  With both ideas alive and well after 1600 years, Pope Leo I was truly one of the shapers of the Christian faith.