Ode to St. Cecelia

by Paul McCusker, Tim Gray

The story of a holy muse.

She dedicated her mind to beauty and truth. She offered her heart to her faith. She sacrificed her body to Christ.

Ode to Saint Cecilia tells the dramatic story of a modest young woman from Rome whose life has transcended time to influence poets, composers, sculptors, and painters. A patron saint to some, a muse to others, Cecilia has inspired George F. Handel, John Dryden, Henry Purcell, Stefan Maderno, John Waterhouse, Paul Simon, and scores of other artists over the past 20 centuries. Augustine Institute Radio Theatre's Ode to Saint Cecilia includes cinematic sound, original music, and the award-winning talents of highly-acclaimed British actors, including: Hayley Atwell, Sir Derek Jacobi, Brian Blessed, and Dame Siân Phillips.

Set against the backdrop of the great sacrifice of her martyrdom, Ode to Saint Cecilia is ultimately a celebration of the important role of the arts in showing us the love of God through profound beauty.

The cast includes: Hayley Atwell, Sir Derek Jacobi, Brian Blessed, Dame Siân Phillips, Ben Lloyd-Hughes, Christian Vit, Chris Larkin, Gwilym Lee, Harry Lloyd, Jeremy Clyde, Justin Butcher, Jamie Parker, Peter Moreton, and Tamsin Greig


PART ONE: Out Of Time
John Dryden from the 17th century, George F. Handel from the 18th century, Stefano Maderno from the 16th century, and Benjamin Fisk from the 21st century meet in a mysterious place because of their common interest in St. Cecilia. From there, they witness the story of Cecilia s life as the daughter of a Roman dignitary and a life-threatening secret she keeps.

PART TWO: The Chord Is Struck
Cecilia s vow to Christ is threatened by pressure from her parents to marry the Roman Senator Valerian. Prefect Almachius pushes Maximus to intensify his search for the Christians.

PART THREE: Tragically Poetic
Valerian and Tibertius go on a quest to confirm Cecilia s claims. Maximus is in conflict between his friends and the demands of Almachius.

PART FOUR: A Great Mystery
The persecution of the Christians takes a tragic turn as Almachius fulfills his threats.

PART FIVE: Arise
Almachius puts a life-or-death choice to Cecilia and her friends and Maximus has to decide where to place his loyalties.

PART SIX: Untune The Sky
The life and influence of Cecilia continues even after her death in the works of Pope Paschal, Stefano Maderno, John Dryden, George F. Handel, and newcomer Benjamin Fisk.

Genres: Catholic, Biography

60 pages, Audio CD

First published January 1, 2017

About the author

Paul McCusker is a writer of many different kinds of things. You may know him from Adventures In Odyssey and Focus On The Family Radio Theatre. Or the Father Gilbert Mysteries. Or the Augustine Institute audio dramas Brother Francis: The Barefoot Saint of Assisi and The Trials of Saint Patrick. Or plays like The First Church of Pete's Garage and Catacombs. Or C.S. Lewis projects like The Chronicles of Narnia audio dramas or The Annotated Screwtape Letters. Or the film Beyond The Mask. Or lots of other dramas, novels, scripts and lyrics. He simply can't make up his mind what he likes to write.

Reviews

[Andrea Zuvich · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully-made dramatisation of Saint Cecilia's life and the composers, authors, and artists who have been inspired by her story. I'm so glad I bought this book.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good enough to hold interest. The opening dragged out longer than necessary and was fairly campy. I do find it ironic that the Roman augur's prophecy was true, though--that would imply their gods and rites are real and accurate. Since this is written from a perspective of Christian theology that's an embarrassing detail to overlook. The writing isn't winning any prizes and it's rather shallow but it's a cute, sweet little story.

[Kim Padan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to this story on Formed.org

St. Cecilia is my Confirmation Saint, and her Feast day is later this week. I knew some aspects of her life, including her martyrdom.

The premise of musicians from different centuries coming together to compose something inspired by St Cecilia didn't work for me, but it might the historic account was beautifully portrayed.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to this on Audible.

It was the story of a modest young woman from Rome whose life and martyrdom has influenced poets, composers, sculptors, and painters. The audio drama included the voices of: Hayley Atwell, Sir Derek Jacobi, Brian Blessed, Dame Siân Phillips, Ben Lloyd-Hughes, and Christian Vit.

[Cristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a wonderful audio drama! The intersection of the story of st Cecilia with the poetry of Dryden, the music of Handel and the sculpture of Moderno was both surprising and intriguing. I found myself contemplating this story for days afterwards.

[Molly K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this and am glad I listened to it. The story leading in to and out of St. Cecilia's story was a bit confusing.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth it.

[ShepherdsDelight · Rating 5 out of 5]

85/100 (= 5.0/6) ≈ 5 Stars

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Amazing production value. Cool use of time travel to tell the story. This guy does such great work. Nice to have him on the Catholic side of things now! Looking forward to his future projects.