do unto us?" The two
brothers were then thrown into a dungeon, and committed to the charge
of a centurion named Maximus, whom they converted, and all three,
refusing to join in the sacrifice to Jupiter, were put to death. And
Cecilia, having washed their bodies with her tears, and wrapped them in
her robes, buried them together in the cemetery of Calixtus. Then the
wicked Almachius, covetous of the wealth which Cecilia had inherited,
sent for her, and commanded her to sacrifice to the gods, threatening
her with horrible tortures in case of refusal. She only smiled in
scorn, and those who stood by wept to see one so young and so beautiful
persisting in what they termed obstinacy and rashness, and entreated
her to yield; but she refused, and by her eloquent appeal so touched
their hearts that forty persons declared themselves Christians, and
ready to die with her. Then Almachius, struck with terror and rage,
exclaimed, "What art thou, woman?" and she answered, "I am a Roman of
noble race." He said, "I ask of thy religion;" and she said, "Thou
blind one, thou art already answered!" Almachius, more and more
enraged, commanded that they should carry her back to her own house,
and fill her bath with boiling water, and cast her into it; but it had
no more effect on her body than if she had bathed in a fresh spring.
Then Almachius sent an executioner to put her to death with the sword;
but his hand trembled, so that, after having given her three wounds in
the neck and breast, he went his way, leaving her bleeding and half
dead. She lived, however, for the space of three days, which she spent
in prayers and exhortation to the converts, distributing to the poor
all she possessed; and she called to her St. Urban, and desired that
her house, in which she then lay dying, should be converted into a
place of worship for the Christians. Thus, full of faith and charity,
and singing with her sweet voice praises and hymns to the last moment,
she died at the end of three days. The Christians embalmed her body,
and she was buried by Urban in the same cemetery with her husband.

As the saint had wished, her house was consecrated as a church, and the
chamber in which she had suffered martyrdom was regarded as a place
especially sacred. In after years, the edifice fell into ruins, but
was rebuilt by Pope Paschal I. in the ninth century. While this pious
work was in progress, it is told that Paschal had a dream, in which St.
Cecili