a appeared to him and disclosed the spot where she had been
buried. On a search being made, her body was found in the cemetery of
St. Calixtus, together with the remains of Valerian, Tiburtius, and
Maximus, and all were deposited in the same edifice, which has since
been twice rebuilt and is now known as the church of St. Cecilia in
Trastevere. At the end of the sixteenth century, the sarcophagus which
held the remains of the saint was solemnly opened in the presence of
several dignitaries of the Church, among whom was Cardinal Baronius,
who left an account of the appearance of the body. "She was lying,"
says Baronius, "within a coffin of cypress-wood, enclosed in a marble
sarcophagus; not in the manner of one dead and buried, that is, on her
back, but on her right side, as one asleep, and in a very modest
attitude; covered with a simple stuff of taffety, having her head bound
with cloth, and at her feet the remains of the cloth of gold and silk
which Pope Paschal had found in her tomb." The reigning Pope, Clement
VIII., ordered that the relics should be kept inviolate, and the coffin
was enclosed in a silver shrine and replaced under the high altar, with
great solemnity. A talented sculptor, Stefano Maderno, was
commissioned to execute a marble statue of the saint lying dead, and
this celebrated work, which fully corresponds with the description of
Baronius, is now beneath the high altar of the church, where ninety-six
silver lamps burn constantly to the memory of Cecilia. The
accompanying inscription reads, "Behold the image of the most holy
virgin Cecilia, whom I myself saw lying incorruptible in her tomb. I
have in this marble expressed for thee the same saint in the very same
posture of body."

It seems hardly possible now to say when St. Cecilia came to be
considered as music's patron saint,--probably it was not until
centuries after her death. We know that in 1502 a musical society was
instituted in Belgium, at Louvain, which was placed under the patronage
of St. Cecilia. We know, also, that the custom of praising music by
giving special musical performances on St. Cecilia's Day (November 22)
is an old one. The earliest known celebration of this nature took
place at Evreux, in Normandy, in 1571, when some of the best composers
of the day, including Orlando Lasso, competed for the prizes which were
offered. It is recorded that the first of these festivals to be held
in England was in 1683. For these oc