PLEASE  NOTE:  The window depicting St. Cecilia, as well as the window of Christ Blessing the Children, are in the Divine Mercy Chapel.  This chapel is reserved for Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.  Out of respect for Jesus’ Presence in the Sacrament, as well as for those present in adoration, please do not enter this chapel for the sole purpose of viewing these windows.  They may be viewed through the windows in the doors to the chapel.

St. Cecilia was born to a wealthy Roman aristocratic family in the 2nd century. She became a Christian at an early age, and she consecrated her virginity to the Lord. Against her will, her family arranged for her marriage to a young pagan named Valerian in the year 177. On their wedding night, the beautiful and noble maiden told her husband, "Pure be my heart and undefiled my flesh, for I have a Spouse that you know not of." She also told him that she had a guardian angel in perpetual attendance. When Valerian asked to see this angel, Cecilia replied that he first had to be baptized. This was during a period of persecution of Christians, and so Valerian secretly received this sacrament from the hands of Pope St. Urban. His eyes were then opened to the presence of Cecilia's angel, who crowned the newly married couple with crowns of roses and lilies. Valerian's brother, Tiburtius, also became a Christian. 

A short time later the brothers, along with a converted Roman officer named Maximus, were executed for the offense of being Christians. Cecilia was arrested, and the prefect demanded that she renounce her faith. She replied, "Do you not know that I am the bride of my Lord Jesus Christ?", and refused to reject her heavenly Spouse. She was sentenced to death, and an attempt was made to suffocate her. This failing, an executioner made three blows to her neck with a sword. Yet, Cecilia still clung to life. With her head half-severed, she lay on the floor joyfully awaiting her Groom. On the third day after her injuries, the virgin martyr (from the Greek martus - "witness") gave back her pure spirit to Christ. Legend says that she left her house to Pope Urban, and he converted it into a church which he named in her honor. 

Cecilia, like Gregory the Great, has been declared a saint (from the Latin word sanctus - "holy") by the Church. The saints are those faithful departed whose souls are in Heaven. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, they enjoy the Beatific Vision - that is, they see God, and "are in glory, contemplating in full light God Himself, Triune and One, exactly as He is." The saints are worthy of imitation, because they themselves lived in imitation of Christ. They are our brothers and sisters, united to us through Baptism as members of the Body of Christ, the Church. In the same way we on Earth can pray for each other, the saints can intercede for us. As those closest to God, they hold much favor with Him. The canonized saints are those souls whom the Church has declared with a great degree of certainty to be in Heaven, and has officially approved of their veneration and invocation by the faithful. 

Tradition says that at her wedding to Valerian, while the musicians were playing, Cecilia sang to the Lord in her heart. For this reason, she is invoked as the patron saint of musicians. In this window, as in most traditional art of her, she is depicted playing an organ. Her white headress and the lilies in the vase beside the organ are symbols of her virginity and her consecration as a bride of Christ, while her red cloak reminds us of the blood she shed for her Groom. The garland on her head calls to mind the legend of her crowning by the angel after Valerian's baptism. 

The saint is seen here wearing beautiful and elaborate clothing, befitting a woman raised in a wealthy family. Another reminder of her earthly wealth is the gold jewelry with a blue gem and pearl, hanging from a blue ribbon around her neck. It was on this neck that the martyr received the wounds that sent her to God. 

She is surrounded by angels, which like all of the angelic beings in the windows of St. Martin's Church, may be easily identified by the presence of wings. Angels have been depicted in this fashion since the 4th century. Until that time, such portrayals had been avoided in Christian art in an effort to avoid confusion with certain pagan gods and goddesses which the Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians depicted with wings. 

At Cecilia's feet sits a cherub (from a Hebrew adaptation of the Assyrian word kirubu - "to be near"), holding sheet music and singing to her accompaniment. This spiritual creature is depicted as a winged child, as became traditional in art during the Renaissance. The cherubim in the Bible, however, are described quite differently. In the Book of Genesis, after man's fall, God placed cherubim with a fiery sword to guard the Tree of Life in Eden. They were depicted in sculptures, engravings, and embroidery on the furnishings and ornamentation of the Temple in Jerusalem. They bear God's throne and keep Him veiled from man, and were thus portrayed on the Ark of the Covenant's lid (God's "seat" on earth), and on the veil before the Holy of Holies. The prophet Ezekiel saw cherubim with four faces: those of a man, an ox, an eagle, and a lion {see Ezekiel 1:4-12}. St. John the Evangelist had a similar vision {see Revelation 4:7}. The Church Fathers, especially St. Jerome {lived: 342-420; feast: September 30}, saw in these faces representations of the four Evangelists: Matthew (winged man), Mark (lion), Luke (ox), and John (eagle). These authors of the Gospels may be seen with their respective symbolic creatures flanking an enthroned Christ on the pulpit of St. Martin's. 

Two larger angels hover above Cecilia, holding a scroll and raising their voices to the glory of God. These may just be generic representations of angels, or they may be seraphim, the Heavenly attendants of Yahweh's court. In the Bible, the seraphim sang out: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts! All the Earth is full of His glory!" {Isaiah 6:3} These words are repeated by Catholics before the consecration of the Eucharist at Mass. The seraphim seen by Isaiah, however, actually had three pairs of wings {see 6:2}. Six-winged seraphim may be seen in this church in the diamond-shaped panels at the bottom of windows 2N, 2S, 3N, and 3S. With the cherubim, the seraphim ("fiery ones") rank highest among the 9 ranks of angels. 

The angel on the left holds a palm branch. In pre-Christian times, the palm was a symbol of victory over earthly enemies. To Christians, it became a symbol of victory over the flesh and enemies of the soul. It was thus especially associated with martyrs, those saints who preserved the faith and purity of their souls at the expense of their flesh. Palms may also be seen with the relics of the martyrs Sts. Magnus and Bonosa, beneath the two side altars at the front of this church. 

Three smaller depictions of angels, referred to in Italian art as putti, are in the clouds above Cecilia. Putti are cherubs represented by disembodied winged heads, and have appeared in art since the 12th century.

The feast of St. Cecilia is celebrated by the Catholic Church on November 22.  Her husband and brother-in-law, Sts. Valerian and Tiburtius, and their fellow martyr,  St. Maximus, are honored on April 14.  St. Urban, the Pope who baptized Valerian, was also martyred, and his feast is May 25.

- Joachim Neander (1650-1680) 
                           translated by Catherine Winkworth (1827-1878) 

- Rowland Hill (1744-1833)