dominican saints
St. Cecilia, V.M.
Patroness of the Dominican Order
Feast Day November 22nd
November 22nd is the feast of St. Cecilia, virgin and martyr. She has a very old connection with the Dominican Order stemming back to the time of St. Dominic Himself. As patron saint of music, St. Cecilia was invoked and depicted in the choirs of most medieval churches, and the Dominicans begged her intercession for their chanting of the Divine Office. St. Cecilia was a fitting intercessor for the Dominican Order in its infancy with its motto, “To praise, to bless, to preach.” St. Cecilia was also seen to accompany Our Lady in some of her apparitions to St. Dominic and the early brethren, most notably when Mary was seen blessing the friars’ cells. It should also be noted that the foundation of the first Dominican convent, the nuns in Prouilhe, France, was completed in early November and the nuns “took possession of their new abode” on November 22, the feast of St. Cecilia. (History of the Dominican Order, 1891.)
In the Lives of the Brethren, we read: “Once when St Dominic was passing the night in the church in prayer, about midnight he went out and entered the dormitory. After looking at his brethren he resumed his prayer at the entrance of the dormitory. While standing erect as he prayed, he chanced to glance to the other end of the dormitory and saw three very comely ladies advancing towards him, of whom the central figure seemed to be a lady more dignified and of higher rank than the others. One of the two attendants carried a beautiful and resplendent vessel of holy water, and the other a sprinkler, which she presented to the third who walked between them. This one sprinkled the brethren and blessed them, but as she passed along doing so there was one friar whom she neither blessed nor sprinkled. St Dominic observed this attentively, and noting whom it was, followed the lady as far as the lamp which hung in the middle of the dormitory: there he threw himself at her feet and began earnestly to beg her to say who she was, although he knew very well all the while. Now at that time the beautiful and devout anthem, the Salve Regina, was not sung in the convents of our brethren and sisters in Rome, but merely said kneeling. Then the lady addressed St Dominic and said: ‘I am she whom you greet every evening, and when you say “Turn then our Advocate,” I prostrate myself before my Son for the preservation of this Order.’ St Dominic then inquired who her companions might be, where unto she made answer: ‘One of them is Cecilia and the other Catherine.’ Upon this St Dominic made further inquiry touching the brother whom she had passed by, and why she had neither sprinkled nor blest him with the rest: at this she answered: ‘Simply because he was unworthy of it.’ Then she resumed sprinkling and blessing the remaining friars and went away.” (Lives of the Brethren, part 3, ch. 7)
The Catherine described above is St. Catherine of Alexandria, whose feast we celebrate on November 25th.
St. Cecilia, Virgin & Martyr
Taken from “Saints and Saintly Dominicans” (John Murphy Co., 1915)
In considering the attentions of which St. Cecilia was the object on the part of her angel guardian; listening to her heavenly converse with her spouse Valerian, and in seeing how, after having converted him to the faith she knew how to inspire him with the practice of virginity, we are struck with the beauty of her soul. But when we follow her before her persecutors it is the liveliness of her mind and the strength of character we then admire. “To die for Christ,” she said, “is not to sacrifice one’s youth, it is to renew it; it is to give a little clay and receive gold.” The very flames respected her, in the midst of which they hoped she would perish. It was necessary to have recourse to the sword; and although the executioner had struck three times, she remained in agony for three days after, occupied in praying for the Church and in fortifying the faithful.
She is venerated as the queen of harmony because of the spiritual canticles she addressed to the Lord whilst on her nuptial day the musicians celebrated her earthly union. Under this aspect her cultus keeps alive the religious sentiment in many persons in the world whose faith is unhappily as weak as their virtue. In the Order of St. Dominic, Cecilia is honored as a protectress, having accompanied St. Mary Magdalene in many apparitions accorded to the Holy Patriarch and his children.
Prayer—St. Cecilia, teach me to sing the praises of God, with the heart as much as with the voice.
Practice—Attract souls to God by showing by your conversation and example how sweet is His yoke.
St. Cecilia & Bl. Reginald of Orleans
Taken from “Bl. Reginald, O.P. Seventh Centenary” (Rev. Reginald Hughes, O.P., 1920)
Reginald’s close friend, Manasses, Bishop of Orleans, asked him about that time to accompany him on a journey to the Eternal City. He was not long in the Eternal City when he made the acquaintance of a distinguished Cardinal, to whom he confided his desire to leave all things to become an apostle of Christ among the people. The Cardinal said in reply: “Behold, even now an Order has been instituted which has for its end the union of poverty with the office of preaching. The Master of this new Order is at this moment in the city preaching the word of God.”
Straightway Reginald hastened to find Dominic, and was captivated by the preacher’s discourse and the close resemblance of their early careers. Dominic had left the cloister of the Canons to preach as a poor friar. Such also was Reginald’s burning desire. From that moment he resolved to enter Dominic’s Order. The great Founder thanked God for having given him such a son, while Reginald was supremely grateful for having found such a father.
But adversity, the test of all saintly projects, failed not to try that of Reginald. He was stricken with a violent fever which very shortly brought him to death’s door. Dominic grieved at the thought of losing prematurely this child of so many hopes, turned to prayer and besought Our Divine Lord and His Immaculate Mother, whom he had chosen as Protectress of his Order, not to take from him so suddenly this son, as yet hardly born. He implored that Reginald’s life be prolonged, if but for a short time, since he felt that the new friar would one day be a vessel of election.
Meanwhile Reginald, awaiting death’s advance, saw distinctly the Queen of Heaven appear before him, accompanied by two maidens of ravishing beauty. One of these, St. Cecilia, carried in her hands a vase of perfume; the other, St. Catherine, Martyr, held a white vestment on her arm. Our Blessed Lady, approaching the dying man, said sweetly: “Ask of me what thou wilt, and I will give it to thee.” Reginald, astonished at such an august apparition, deliberated within himself. Then one of the maiden companions of the Mother of God suggested that he ask nothing but leave himself entirely to the will of Mary. This he did. Then the Blessed Virgin, extending her hands, anointed with the oil carried by St. Cecilia, Reginald’s eyes, ears, nostrils, mouth, hands, reins and feet. Only the words relative to the unction of his reins and feet are known to us. While touching them she said: “Let thy reins be girt with the girdle of chastity, and thy feet be shod for the preaching of peace.” Taking the vestment from St. Catherine, she showed it to Reginald, saying: “Behold the habit of thy Order.” So speaking, she disappeared, and immediately the sick man felt himself completely cured. He later testified that never afterwards did he suffer from the sting of the flesh. In the meantime, Dominic, at prayer, had learned from God all that passed. The next day the two friars thanked God for the miraculous cure, while the doctors marveled at such a sudden and unexpected return to health. Three days later the vision was repeated in the presence of Dominic and another friar, as if to show that the consecration given to Reginald was conferred on the whole Order.