When St. John Paul II beatified Canadian visionary Bl. Dina Bélanger in 1993, he related the connection she had to St. Cecilia.
He explained in his homily how she was providentially given the name of St. Cecilia when she took her religious vows:
When she received the name of Mary of St. Cecilia of Rome, she was happy because she was thus linked to the patroness of musicians and, at the same time, she became a disciple of a martyr of the faith.
He also added that it was her musical talent that predisposed her to God:
For her part, Dina Bélanger left us the luminous testimony of the intimate dialogue with Christ that she pursued with all the finesse of her sensitivity; she possessed musical gifts that undoubtedly predisposed her to welcome the divine presence and to a praise that goes beyond words.
Bl. Dina the Musician
Jacques Gauthierexplains in an article for Aleteia that, “In 1914, Dina asked to enter religious life, but without success. At the beginning of World War I, she offered herself to Jesus in the spirit of love and reparation in order to console Jesus and to save souls. She lived with her parents until 1916, then she went to the Conservatory in New York to study two years of piano. However, she experienced an inner turmoil of spiritual aridity that would last six years. A young woman with an upright and sensitive character, she became an elegant concert pianist at the age of 24.“
Yet, she continued to feel the pull of religious life and abandoned her musical career:
Breaking away from a potential artistic career, Dina chose the hidden path of prayer by entering the novitiate of the Religious of Jesus and Mary in Sillery. On February 15, 1922, she received the name of Marie Sainte-Cécile de Rome. This congregation suited her well, as it was centered around the Eucharist, the effusion of love where Jesus gives Himself totally to satiate us. Jesus called Dina: “My little Me.” Dina understood that, as the Son is united with the Father by love, as the heart of Mary is also united with the heart of Jesus, Christ is united to each of us in the Eucharist, where he offers himself, with us, to the Father.
Bl. Dina Bélanger remains a powerful example and intercessor for all musicians, showing how the most important part of being human is making a symphony with one’s life that glorifies God.
And today we celebrate...