XXXIV.
NOVEMBER 22. PASSIO OF SAINT CECILIA,
VIRGIN.
Once, in old days, there was a noble maiden
called Caecilia, a Christian from childhood,
when the cruel persecution existed in the Roman Empire,
in the days of the emperors who cared not for Christ.
This holy woman had in her breast
so great love of the eternal life
that she, day and night, meditated concerning the Lord's gospel
and concerning God's lore, with true faith,
and busied herself in continual prayers.
She was nevertheless wedded, as her friends willed it,
to a noble youth, who was not yet a Christian,
called Valerian, who is now a holy saint.
So then Caecilia clothed herself
with hair-cloth on her body and frequently fasted,
praying with weeping that she might be shielded
from any stain or the company of man.
She cried to the saints and to the high angels,
praying their assistance with the Heavenly God,
that she might serve Christ in chastity.
It befell nevertheless that the honourable youth ao
provided the marriage-gift and fetched the maiden
with worldly dignity even as became their rank.
Then betwixt the songs and the continual rejoicings
sang Caecilia even thus to God,
Fiat cor meum et corpus meum immaculatum ut non confundar.
' Let my heart and my body be through God unstained
that I be not confounded.' And sang ever so.
They were then brought into bed together,
and Caecilia straitway, that prudent maiden,
spake to her bridegroom and thus allured him to God.
' Oh thou, my dear husband, I say to thee with love,
I have God's angel who holdeth me in love,
and if thou pollute me he will quickly turn to thee
and will slay thee in anger, that thou wilt soon cease to live.
If then thou lovest me, and without evil continuest
in pure virginity, then Christ will love thee,
and will manifest His grace to thyself even as to me.'
Then the youth was afraid, and said to the maiden,
'Cause that I myself see the angel,
if thou wilt that I should believe thy words concerning this;
and if another man is more familiar with thee than I,
him will I slay, and thee together with him.'
Then said Caecilia, 'If thou believest in Christ
and wilt be baptized from former sins,
thou mayest soon see the shining angel.'
Then again Valerian answered the maiden,
'Who might now baptize me thus suddenly,
that I might see the shining angel? '
The woman then instructed the youth so long a while
that at last he believed on the living God,
and went to the pope who was full nigh at hand,
called Urban, and besought baptism of him.
Then the pope rejoiced that he had bowed to God,
and prayed Almighty God, of His clemency,
to direct the youth that he might become a believer.
Lo then! suddenly before their sight
came God's angel with a golden writing,
and Valerian fell affrighted to the earth.
Then the angel raised him, and bade him read
the golden letters which God had sent to him.
In the writing were set these words,
Unus deus, una fides, unum baptisma:
' There is one Almighty God, and one Faith,
and one Baptism.' And he took and read.
Then said the angel: ' Believest thou this, or doth something else please thee?'
Valerian answered; ' What can ever be truer
or more to be believed in by any living man?'
And with that word the angel departed from him.
Then straitway afterward the pope baptized him,
and taught him his faith, and let him go home again
to Caecilia, the holy maiden.
Then the youth found the woman standing
at her prayers in her bower alone,
and God's angel standing with golden wings
with two crowns nigh to the maiden.
The crowns were shining in a wondrous way,
with the rose's redness and the lily's whiteness.
And thereupon he gave one to the noble maiden,
and the other to the youth, and said to them thus;
'Keep these crowns with a pure heart,
because I received them in the plains of paradise;
they shall never grow sere nor lose their sweetness,
nor shall their beauty turn to a worse hue,
nor shall any man see them save he who loveth chastity;
and thou, Valerian, because thou lovest chastity,
the Saviour biddeth thee ask whatsoever boon thou wilt.'
Then the youth kneeled and said to the angel:
- There is nothing so dear to me living in this life
as was my brother; and it is a grief to me
that I should be saved and he perish in torments.
This boon I ask, that my brother Tiburtius
be saved through God and turned to the faith,
and that He make us both His worshippers.'
Then said the angel to him again with gladness: 'because thou hast prayed for this,
God is the better pleased that thy brother Tiburtius
shall be begotten through thee to eternal life,
even as thou didst believe in God through Caecilia's lore,
and ye two shall both (thou and thy brother) be martyred together.'
And the angel therewith returned up to heaven.
Then they pondered with gladness and spake concerning God's will,
until his brother came blithely in the morning to them,
and kissed them both, and said with joy:
'I wonder exceedingly how now, on a winter's day,
here lily-blossom or rose's breath
smells so winsomely and so sweetly.
Though I had the blossoms in my hand
they could not make such a winsome perfume;
and I say in sooth that I am so filled
with the sweet breath as if I were made anew.'
Then said the brother: ' through my prayer
this winsome breath came to thee, that thou mayest know
henceforth
whose blood is red in likeness to a rose,
and whose body is white with a lily's fairness.
We (both) have holy crowns with us
shining like a rose and snow-white like a lily,
which thou mayest not see, though they be shining.'
Then said Tiburtius, ' tell me, brother mine, hear I this in sleep,
or sayest thou it in earnest ?' The other said to him,
'Until this we have lived as if we were asleep,
but now we are turned unto righteousness;
the gods which we worshipped are cruel devils.'
Then said the other; ' how became that known to thee?'
Valerian answered; 'God's angel taught me,
and him thou mayest see if indeed thou wilt be
washed in baptism from foul idolatry.'
So they spake long time until he turned to the faith,
and the brother desired to be baptized.
Then enquired Tiburtius who should baptize him.
The other said to him: ' Urban the pope.'
Then again Tiburtius answered him and said;
'he is outlawed, and lieth in concealment
for his Christianity, and if we come to him,
we shall be tortured if it be betrayed.
And whilst we are seeking, as it is said,
divinity in heaven, we shall find trouble
and loss of life on earth, if we follow his lore.'
Then said Caecilia straightway with boldness;
if this life were alone, and there were no other better,
then might we rightly have dread of death.'
Then asked Tiburtius: ' is there any other life?'
Caecilia said to him: ' known is it to every man
that this life is full of toil, and continueth in sweat;
this life is weakened by long sorrows,
and dried up by heat, and wearied by hunger,
filled with meats and proud in prosperity,
cast down in poverty and lifted up in youth,
bowed down by age, and broken by sickness,
consumed by sadness, and vexed by cares.
Then cometh death to him and putteth out of remembrance
all the bliss which he enjoyed in his life;
and in the eternal life which cometh after this
shall be given to the righteous rest and gladness,
and to the unrighteous eternal torments.'
Then said Tiburtius: ' who hath come thence hither,
who could tell us if it were so? '
Then Caecilia arose, and with steadfastness said:
' The Creator of all creatures begat a Son,
and sent forth of Himself the Comforting Spirit;
through the Son He created all creatures that exist,
and quickened them all through the living Spirit.'
Then answered Tiburtius: ' One God they preach,
and how namest thou three Gods as if known by name?'
Caecilia answered him: ' there is one God Almighty,
dwelling in His Majesty; Him we Christians worship
for ever in Trinity, and in very Unity,
because Father and Son and the Comforting Spirit
have one nature and one kingdom;
even as in one man are verily three things;
understanding, and will, and conscious memory,
which together ever belong to one man.'
Then fell Tiburtius, affrighted, at her knees,
and cried aloud and said with faith:
'it seemeth not to me that thou speakest with man's speech,
but as if God's angel himself spake through thee.
Nevertheless I ask concerning the other life,
who hath seen it and afterwards came hither?'
So then Caecilia wisely answered him,
and told how the Saviour came from heaven to us,
and what kind of many wonders He wrought in this world,
and how He raised the dead from death to life,
and how He Himself arose from death on the third day,
and said to him many things clearly concerning Christ.
Then wept Tiburtius, desiring earnestly
that he might be baptized by the aforesaid pope,
and his brother immediately went forth with him,
and told the pope what they had said.
Then Urban the pope rejoiced in God,
and straightway baptized the blessed youth,
and instructed him in the faith for seven days together,
until he, being perfected, went back again.
Then he obtained of God spiritual blessings,
so that he daily saw the Lord's angels,
and whatsoever he desired, God denied him not,
and frequently wrought miracles through him,
and through his brother, even as books tell.
There was in the city of Rome a certain cruel murderer
called Almachius, who was the prefect;
and he by many tortures martyred the Christians
when he could discover them; and no man might bury them.
Then Valerian and his aforesaid brother
buried the martyrs whom the wicked man slew,
and daily distributed alms to the needy,
until the impious persecutor heard of their deeds.
Thereupon Almachius bade summon the men,
and asked them instantly with fierce threatening
why they buried those who despised his commands
and lay slain because of their guilt,
or why they secretly distributed their possessions
to mean men by unwise counsel?
Then Tiburtius answered the wicked man and said:
' Oh! that the saints, whom thou hast bidden men to slay
and whom we have buried, would at least
have us as slaves in their service! '
Thus they discoursed a long time until the wicked man
commanded men to beat the second brother with clubs;
and a certain counsellor spake thus to the cruel one:
'bid them, master, be put to death, since they are Christians;
for if thou delayest, they will deal their goods
to the poor and needy; and thou wilt punish them afterwards,
and yet wilt not have the goods because of thy delay.'
Then Almachius bade his wicked torturers
bring the brothers in bonds together
to the heathen temple, and bade them sacrifice;
or they should be straightway slain by the sword.
So Maximus with other torturers led them,
as the wicked man had commanded, to the place of execution.
Then wept Maximus because they were going to die,
and asked the brothers why they went so blithely
to their own execution as if to a banquet.
Then said the elder brother; ' we should not hasten to death
with such great bliss, if we were not verily going
to a better life, after we are slain;
even to the eternal life, as we have learned of a truth.'
Amongst these exhortations, whilst they were hurried forward,
this Maximus spake to the martyrs thus:
'I would also despise this world's sweetness,
if I knew of a surety that your words were true.
Then said the younger brother to him, out of his bonds,
'Our Lord Christ will cause that thou shalt see,
when we are slain, how our souls depart
with glory to Him, if thou wilt now promise
that thou with all thy mind wilt repent of thy wickedness.'
Then Maximus said to the martyrs thus:
' may fire consume me if I bow not to Christ
after I see how your souls depart
to the other life whereof ye speak.'
Then said the holy brothers whom he was leading in bonds;
' command these executioners to keep us alive
in thine own house now for this one night,
until thou be baptized from former sins,
that thou mayest, by God's help, see that vision.'
Then they were brought in bonds to his house,
and the blessed Caecilia with venerable priests
soon came thither, and they sat that night,
speaking concerning Christ until the executioners believed,
and were baptized by the aforesaid priests.
Lo then! in the early dawn the precious maiden,
Caecilia, cried, and said to them all:
'Now, oh ye soldiers of God, cast away from you boldly
the works of darkness, and be ye now clothed
with the armour of light for this conflict.
Ye have fought a very goodly fight;
ye have fulfilled your course, and have kept the faith;
go to the crown of glory of the winsome life
which the righteous judge will give you as reward.
Then they were led for their faith to death,
and beheaded with the sword. Then Maximus beheld,
and said with an oath to the bystanders:
'I saw verily, as they were slain,
God's angels, shining in the likeness of the sun,
flying to them, and they received their souls;
and I saw the souls, very beautiful, go
forth with the angels on their wings to heaven.'
While Maximus spake so surely these words
with weeping eyes, many of the heathen turned
to the true faith from their false gods.
When Almachius learnt that the venerable Maximus
with all his house believed in the Saviour,
and were baptized, then he became angry,
and bade men scourge him with leaden whips
until he departed from the world to Christ.
Then anon Caecilia buried the saint
in a stone coffin in the place where lay
the two brothers who were buried before.
Then afterward she secretly dealt to the poor
her bridegroom's possessions and his brother's things;
and Almachius desired to know about the goods
as she was a widow, and she was then brought by compulsion
that she might sacrifice to the wicked gods.
Then wept the heathen that a maiden so beautiful
and a woman so nobly born, filled with wisdom,
should suffer death in torments, so young.
Then spake Caecilia and said to them all:
'he is not forlorn who lieth slain for God;
he shall be thus changed from death to glory,
as if a man should give away loam and himself get gold,
as if he should give a mean house and receive a glorious one;
give the perishable and receive the imperishable;
give a mean stone and receive a precious gem.'
She long thus exhorted the unbelieving heathen
until they all spake thus with one voice;
' We believe that Christ, God's Son, is truly God
who hath in this way received thee as His handmaid in the world.'
Then were baptized four hundred men
in Caecilia's house to the praise of the Saviour,
and the pope said mass for the men frequently
in the same house, and heathenism waned.
Then the wicked Almachius bade quickly fetch
the blessed Caecilia, and at once asked her
of what family she was, and they disputed long
until her boldness vexed the judge,
and he said arrogantly again to the maiden;
' knowest thou not my might?' And the maiden said to him:
' I will say, if thou biddest me, what sort of might thou hast.
Every man's might who walketh in pride
is verily like as if a man should sew up
a bladder, and blow it full of wind,
and afterward make a hole, when it is puffed out,
then, in its greatness, the might departeth.'
Almachius said to her as they strove with words:
'Oh thou, unhappy one! knowest thou not that power
is given to me to slay and to make alive again.
And thou speakest so proudly, scorning my might.'
The maiden said to him: 'pride is one thing;
steadfastness is another, and I spake steadfastly,
not at all proudly, because we altogether
abhor pride.' And again she said to him:
' thou saidest that thou hadst power to kill .
and to make alive again; but I say that thou canst
destroy the living, but thou canst not give life
again to the dead; but thou liest openly.'
Almachius answered her: 'cast away thy presumption,
and offer to the gods reverent sacrifice.'
Caecilia said to him: ' test by grasping
whether they are stones, and stony images,
those which thou callest gods, being firmly fixed in lead,
and so thou may est certainly ascertain by feeling (them),
if thou canst not see that they are stones.
They would quickly become lime if one put them on a burning pile;
now can they not profit themselves, nor, verily, men;
and they would become lime if one laid them on fire.'
Then the wicked judge became fiendishly angry,
and bade men take her straightway, and seethe her in water
in her own house for the Saviour's name.
So the heathen did as Almachius commanded them;
and she lay in the bath over a burning fire
the whole day and night with uninjured body
as if in cold water, and she did not even sweat.
Then they told Almachius how the maiden continued
in the hot bath with sound body,
and even without sweat. Then sent he an executioner to her,
and commanded him to behead her in the hot water.
So the executioner struck her with his sword
once and again and a third time, but her neck was not pierced;
and anon he left her lying half alive,
because the senate had decreed that no executioner should
strike four times, when he slew a criminal.
Then she lived three days and instructed the faithful,
and committed her handmaidens to the illustrious pope,
and her house was consecrated as a holy church,
where, by the help of God, miracles were often wrought.
And Urban the pope buried her honourably
to the glory of the Almighty who reigneth in eternity. Amen.