The Diocese of Allentown marked the Feast Day of Saint Cecilia Nov. 22 with a prayer to the martyr posted to social media.

“Saint Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr, help us to be faithful in our love for Jesus, that, in the communion of the saints, we may praise Him twice in our song of rejoicing for the Blood that He shed which gave us the grace to accomplish His will on earth.  Pray for us!” the diocese posted on Facebook Monday. 

According to her biograhy on Brittanica, Cecilia lived in third-century Rome to a wealthy family. As a child, Cecilia pledged her virginity to God but was given in marriage to Valerian, a pagan who also became a saint. Cecilia, on her wedding night, told Valerian that an angel of God asked her to remain a virgin. Valerian said he would honor her vow if he could see the angel. Cecilia told him that he could see it if he were baptized. Following his baptism, Valerian and his brother Tiburtius both saw Cecilia conversing with the angel and converted to Christianity, according to Britannica. 

Valerian and Tibertius dedicated the remainder of their lives to burying Christians executed by the prefect of the city, according to Catholic Online. The brothers were arrested then killed for refusing to renounce their faith and make sacrifices to pagan gods. Cecilia was arrested for burying their bodies and was given the same choice: renounce her faith with a sacrifice to pagan gods or be sentenced to death. She was condemned to die by suffocation in her home's "vapor bath," according to Roman Catholic Saints, "but Cecilia did not even sweat."

Cecilia was then condemned to death by beheading but after three attempts by the executioner, Cecilia survived. She lived for three more days after the attempted beheading, preaching and praying to all who came and collected her blood. After her death, Pope Urban and his deacons gave her a Christina burial, according to Catholic.org.

Centuries later, in 1599, Saint Cecilia’s body was exhumed by the church and found to be "incorrupt," (preserved), with many considering her to be the first saint whose body experienced incorruption according to Roman Catholic Saints. St. Cecilia is the patron saint of musicians.