This is the wise bridesmaid, whom the Lord found waiting at his coming, she went in with him to the wedding feast. The Church honors today the memory of St. Cecilia, a virgin who was martyred in the third century because of her unwillingness to sacrifice to the pagan gods. She was of noble birth and is among the seven martyred women mentioned in the Roman Canon (Eucharistic Prayer I). She has been honored in Rome since the 5 ^thcentury AD and is the patroness of sacred music. 
Cecilia joins a long list of the early Church martyrs who never thought twice about giving their lives for Christ and the faith. As someone of noble background, St. Cecilia’s choice to embrace the Christian faith must have not been made without a fight. Members of noble families were generally expected to be sympathetic to the (pagan) religion of the empire. Cecilia’s decision to be a Christian must have therefore come at a cost, which in her case was twofold: being denounced by the family, and suffering martyrdom.
St. Cecilia refusal to sacrifice to the pagan gods was predicated on her conviction that she had come to know and espouse herself to the Lord God. As the Lord’s bride, she was fully committed to serving him in a faithful manner. No threat of persecution or even death was going to make her change her mind. She had found in the Lord everything that she needed. She was not afraid of giving her life for the Lord because she knew that her name would endure from generation to generation. This is what we are doing today as we honor her memory.