Career
According to the same fifth-century Acts, she was a patrician of Rome and was brought up a Christian. Her father gave her in marriage to a patrician named Valerian, but she had determined to remain a virgin, dedicated to God, and told Valerian that she had an angel of God as her spouse; Valerian, upon believing and being baptized, saw the angel at her side and respected her virginity. The story ends with the martyrdom of Cecilia and Valerian.
Of Cecilia and Valerian, nothing is certain beyond their martyrdom and their burial in Rome. Cecilia was buried in the crypt of the Cecilia at the catacomb of St. Callistus, and Valerian in the cemetery of Praetextatus. St. Cecilia's Feast is November 22.
