Cecilia
Saint Cecilia is the patroness of musicians, singers, and church music because of a single line in her ancient legend: on her wedding day, as the instruments played, she “sang in her heart to the Lord alone” (cantantibus organis, Caecilia virgo in corde suo soli Domino decantabat). From this phrase, repeated in her feast-day liturgy, medieval tradition crowned her the saint of music, and from the Renaissance onward composers and academies of music adopted her as their heavenly patron. The link is by long tradition rather than by anything she is recorded to have composed or played, but it is among the most beloved and well-established patronages in the Church.
Saint Cecilia is a revered early Christian martyr who lived in the 2nd or 3rd century. According to tradition, she was a Roman noblewoman who consecrated her virginity to God. She is celebrated as the patroness of musicians because she reportedly sang to God in her heart during her wedding.
