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.
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