Tuesday, May 8, 2012

May 9, St. Lucy




Saint Lucy
By Lucille Connolly


St. Lucy was born in Syracuse, Sicily in the year 283 A.D. to a Greek mother and Roman father.  They raised her Christian in a pious but wealthy family.  Her father died very young and her mother arranged a marriage for her, even though Lucy had vowed her life to Christ.  For three years she managed to keep the marriage on hold.  After Lucy’s mother Eutychia had suffered from a hemorrhage and Lucy had prayed successfully for a cure at the tomb of Saint Agatha, Lucy’s mother had a change of heart and agreed with her desire to live for God.  St. Lucy became known as a patroness for those with maladies like her mother’s.


Her rejected pagan bridegroom, Paschasius, denounced Lucy as a Christian to the Governor of Sicily.  The Governor sentenced her to forced prostitution, but when the guards went to seize her, they could not move her even when they hitched her to a team of oxen.  The governor ordered her killed instead. After torture, which included having her eyes torn out, she was surrounded by piles of wood that were set afire. But they were miraculously extinguished.  She was finally stabbed to death with a dagger.


She was only 21 years old when she died a Christian virgin and martyr.


Legend says her eyesight was restored before her death. This and the meaning of her name (light) led to the connection with eyes, blindness or eye trouble. 


Her feast day is December 13.  Her name is mentioned every day in the canon of the Mass and always in the Litany of Saints.


Saint Lucy was dedicated to her faith in God.  She sets a very good example of devotion to the Christian way of living and I have prayed to her for continued help with vision though the years.

No comments:

Post a Comment