[Rank]
S. Caeciliae Virginis et Martyris;;Duplex;;3;;vide C6b

[Rank1570]
S. Caeciliae Virginis et Martyris;;Semiduplex;;2;;vide C6b

[Rule]
vide C6b;
9 lectiones
Psalmi Dominica
Antiphonas horas

[Ant Vespera]
The musicians played, and Cecilia sang unto the Lord, * saying: Let my heart be undefiled, that I be not ashamed.;;109
Valerian found Cecilia praying in her chamber, * and with her the Angel.;;112
Busy like a bee, * O Lord, did thine handmaiden Cecilia serve thee.;;121
I bless thee, O Father of my Lord Jesus Christ, * that through thy Son the fire is gone out round about me.;;126
I have asked the Lord for three days, * that I may consecrate my house as a Church.;;147

[Ant 1]
Valerian! there is a secret * which I wish to tell thee. I have an Angel of God for a lover, and he is very jealous to keep my body.

[Oratio]
O God, Who year by year dost gladden thy people by the solemn feast of thy blessed Virgin and Martyr Cecilia, grant unto us, we beseech thee, not only devoutly to observe the same, but also to follow after the pattern of her godly conversation.
$Per Dominum

[Ant Matutinum]
The Maiden Cecilia * overcame Almachius, and called Tiburtius and Valerian to crowns.;;8
She spread forth her hands * and prayed unto the Lord, that He would deliver her from her enemies.;;18
Cecilia subdued her body with haircloth, * and besought God with loud crying.;;23
V. In thy comeliness and thy beauty.
R. Go forward, fare prosperously, and reign.
O Lord Jesus Christ, * Who hast said of abstaining from marriage: He that is able to receive it, let him receive it, accept now the fruits from this seed, which Thou didst sow in the heart of Cecilia.;;44
Blessed Cecilia * said unto Tiburtius: Today I call thee my brother, for the love of God hath made thee to cast away idols.;;45
Lord, let my heart * and my body be undefiled, that I be not ashamed.;;47
V. God shall help her with His countenance.
R. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved.
Christ, the Son of God, * Who hath chosen unto Himself such an handmaiden, Him we believe to be the true God.;;95
We that have known * His Holy Name can by no means deny Him.;;96
Then Valerian * went his way, and found the holy Urban, by the sign which had been given him.;;97
V. God hath chosen her, and fore-chosen her.
R. He hath made her to dwell in His tabernacle.

[Responsory1]
R. The musicians played, and the maiden Cecilia sang in her heart unto the Lord alone, saying:
* Lord, let my heart and my body be undefiled, that I be not ashamed.
V. She fasted and prayed for two days and three days together, committing the cause of her fear unto the Lord.
R. Lord, let my heart and my body be undefiled, that I be not ashamed.

[Responsory2]
R. O Blessed Cecilia, thou didst convert the two brethren, but thou didst overcome Almachius the judge;
* Thou didst point out Urban the Bishop, by this, that his face was as the face of an Angel.
V. Busy like a bee, thou didst serve the Lord.
R. Thou didst point out Urban the Bishop, by this, that his face was as the face of an Angel.

[Responsory3]
R. The glorious maiden carried the Gospel of Christ always in her breast, and meditated therein day and night,
* Talking with God and praying.
V. She spread forth her hands and prayed unto the Lord, and her heart was enkindled with fire from heaven.
R. Talking with God and praying.
&Gloria
R. Talking with God and praying.

[Lectio4]
Cecilia was a Roman maiden of noble birth, trained up from her earliest years in the teaching of the Christian faith, and who by vow consecrated her virginity to God. She was afterwards given in marriage, against her will, to Valerian. On the first night she said to him Valerian! I am under the wardship of an Angel, who keepeth me always a maiden. Therefore do nothing unto me, lest the anger of God should be aroused against thee. Valerian was moved at her words, and dared not to touch her. Also he added even this, that he would believe in Christ, if he could see the Angel. Cecilia answered him that that could not be unless he were first baptized, and for the sake of seeing the Angel he was willing. So she bade him go unto Pope Urban, who was hiding in the sepulchre of the Martyrs on the Appian Way on account of the persecution. And he went unto him and was baptized.

[Responsory4]
R. Cecilia brought her body under with haircloth, and besought God with loud crying;
* And called Tiburtius and Valerian to crowns.
V. This is one of the wise virgins, one chosen out of the number of the prudent.
R. And called Tiburtius and Valerian to crowns.

[Lectio5]
Whence he came back to Cecilia, and found her praying, and the Angel with her, shining from the glory of God. As soon as he had recovered from the shock of wonder and fear, he brought his brother Tiburtius, and Cecilia taught him Christ, and he was baptized by the same Pope Urban, and he also was vouchsafed to see the Angel whom his brother had seen. A little while after, both of them bravely suffered martyrdom under the Praefect Almachius, who then caused Cecilia to be taken, and asked of her, first of all, where was the property of Tiburtius and Valerian?

[Responsory5]
R. He found Cecilia praying in her chamber, and standing by her the Angel of the Lord.
* And when Valerian saw him, he feared with a great fear.
V. The Angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and a light shone in all the house.
R. And when Valerian saw him, he feared with a great fear.

[Lectio6]
To him the Virgin answered that all their goods had been given to the poor. Thereupon he was filled with fury, and commanded her to be taken home, and burnt in the bath. She was in that place a day and a night, but the fire had not harmed her. Then was sent the executioner, who gave her three strokes of the axe, and, as he could not cut off her head, left her half-dead. Three days thereafter, upon the 22nd day of November, in the reign of the Emperor Alexander Severus, she winged her flight for heaven, glorified with the two palms of virginity and martyrdom. Her body was buried in the cemetery of Callistus by the aforenamed Pope Urban, who also consecrated a Church in her name in her own house. Her relics were brought into the city by Pope Paschal I, along with those of Tiburtius, Valerian, and Maximus, and all laid together in the said Church of St Cecilia.

[Responsory6]
R. O Lord Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, Who hast said of abstaining from marriage: He that is able to receive it, let him receive it, accept now the fruits from this seed, which Thou didst sow in the heart of Cecilia.
* Busy like a bee, thine handmaiden Cecilia served thee.
V. For her husband, who was like a raging lion when she took him, she sent unto thee meek as the meekest of lambs.
R. Busy like a bee, thine handmaiden Cecilia served thee.
&Gloria
R. Busy like a bee, thine handmaiden Cecilia served thee.

[Lectio94]
Cecilia, a Roman virgin of noble birth, vowed her virginity to God at a very early age. Given in marriage against her will to Valerian, she persuaded him to leave her untouched and go to blessed Urban, the Pope, that when he had been baptized he might be worthy to see Cecilia's angelic protector. When Valerian had obtained this favor, he converted his brother Tiburtius to Christ, and a little later both were martyred under the prefect Almachius. But Cecilia was seized by the same prefect because she had distributed the two brothers' wealth to the poor, and orders were given to have her suffocated in a bath. When the heat dared not harm her, she was struck three times with an axe, and left half dead. After three days she received the palm of virginity and of martyrdom, and was buried in the cemetery of Callistus. Her body and those of Popes Urban and Lucius, and of Tiburtius, Valerian and Maximus were transferred by Pope Paschal I to the church in the City dedicated to St. Cecilia.
&teDeum

[Lectio7]
From the Holy Gospel according to Matthew
!Matt 25:1-13
In that time, Jesus said to his disciples: Then shall the kingdom of heaven be like to ten virgins, who taking their lamps went out to meet the bridegroom and the bride. And so on.
_
Homily by St. John Chrysostom, Patriarch (of Constantinople.)
!Hom 79 on Matth.
Wherefore doth the Lord set forth this parable under the figure of virgins, and not make it of acceptation for all men? He had spoken great things touching virginity, saying There be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it. ~(Matth. xix. 12.) He knew also that virginity is a thing which is held in great honour among men, being indeed a thing higher than nature, as is plain from this, that under the Old Testament even the Patriarchs and Saints did not practice it, and that under the New Testament it is not enjoined by any commandment of necessity; for the Lord did not make it binding, but left it open to the free choice of the faithful. Whence also Paul saith Concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord; yet I give my judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful. I suppose therefore that this is good for the present distress, that it is good for a man so to be. But and if thou marry, thou hast not sinned, and if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned. (1 Cor. vii. 25, 26, 28.)

[Responsory7]
R. Blessed Cecilia said unto Tiburtius: Today I call thee my brother, for the love of God hath made thee
* To cast away idols.
V. For even as the love of God hath made thy brother to be my husband, so the same hath made thee to be my brother, (and)
R. To cast away idols.

[Lectio8]
Virginity then, being a thing in itself so great and so much esteemed among many, lest any man having attained unto it, and kept it undefiled, should think that he hath done all, and so leave the rest undone, the Lord putteth forth this parable, in order to show that if virginity, though it have all else, lack mercy, its owner will but have his portion without among the fornicators, among whom Christ doth justly place the heartless and pitiless celibate. The fornicator is entangled in lust after bodies, the other in lust after money. The lust for bodies and the lust for money are two very different things, whereof the fleshly is by far the keener and the stubborner appetite. They that strive with the weaker enemy are therefore much less excusable if they fall. Wherefore the Lord hath called such virgins foolish, for having first won the stern battle, and then been destroyed in the light one.

[Responsory8]
R. Cecilia hath sent me unto you, that ye may show me the holy Bishop;
* For unto him I have a secret message to deliver.
V. Then Valerian went his way, and found the holy Urban by the sign which had been given him.
R. For unto him I have a secret message to deliver.
&Gloria
R. For unto him I have a secret message to deliver.

[Lectio9]
Why the lamps spoken of in this parable, the Lord signifieth the actual gift of virginity and holy continency, and by the oil gentleness, almsgiving, and helpfulness toward the needy. While the Bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. His disciples hoped that His kingdom was to come forthwith. To call them away from this hope, to lead them away from this thought, He showeth them the time of waiting for the Bridegroom to be no very short one. They all slumbered and slept. He calleth death a sleep. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the Bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet Him. This at midnight is either a continuation of the parable (and so signifieth the awaking of the dead,) or else meaneth that the again-rising to come will actually take place in the night. Of the cry Paul also maketh mention, where he saith The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God. (1 Thess. iv. 16.)
&teDeum

[Ant Laudes]
The musicians played, and Cecilia sang unto the Lord, * saying: Let my heart be undefiled, that I be not ashamed.
Valerian found Cecilia praying in her chamber, * and with her the Angel.
Busy like a bee, * O Lord, did thine handmaiden Cecilia serve thee.
I bless thee, O Father of my Lord Jesus Christ, * that through thy Son the fire is gone out round about me.
I have asked the Lord for three days, * that I may consecrate my house as a Church.

[Ant 2]
As dawn was fading * into day, Cecilia cried and said: Arise, O soldiers of Christ, cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armour of light.

[Ant 3]
The glorious maiden * carried the Gospel of Christ always in her breast, and meditated therein day and night talking with God and praying.