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December 13
St. Lucy
(d. 304)
Every little girl named Lucy must bite
her tongue in disappointment when she first tries to find out what there is to
know about her patron saint. The older books will have a lengthy paragraph
detailing a small number of traditions. Newer books will have a lengthy
paragraph showing that there is little basis in history for these traditions.
The single fact survives that a disappointed suitor accused Lucy of being a
Christian and she was executed in
Syracuse (Sicily) in the year 304. But it is also true that her name is mentioned in the First
Eucharistic Prayer, geographical places are named after her, a popular song has
her name as its title and down through the centuries many thousands of little
girls have been proud of the name Lucy.
One can easily imagine what a young
Christian woman had to contend with in pagan Sicily in the year 300. If you have trouble imagining, just
glance at today’s pleasure-at-all-costs world and the barriers it presents
against leading a good Christian life.
Her friends must have wondered aloud
about this hero of Lucy’s, an obscure itinerant preacher in a far-off captive
nation that had been destroyed more than 200 years before. Once a carpenter, he
had been crucified by the Roman soldiers after his own people turned him over
to the Roman authorities. Lucy believed with her whole soul that this man had
risen from the dead. Heaven had put a stamp on all he said and did. To give
witness to her faith she had made a vow of virginity.
What a hubbub this caused among her
pagan friends! The kindlier ones just thought her a little strange. To be pure
before marriage was an ancient Roman ideal, rarely found but not to be
condemned. To exclude marriage altogether, however, was too much. She must have
something sinister to hide, the tongues wagged.
Lucy knew of the heroism of earlier
virgin martyrs. She remained faithful to their example and to the example of
the carpenter, whom she knew to be the Son of God. She is the patroness of
eyesight.
Comment:
If you are a little girl named Lucy, you need not
bite your tongue in disappointment. Your patron is a genuine, authentic
heroine, first class, an abiding inspiration for you and for all Christians.
The moral courage of the young Sicilian martyr shines forth as a guiding light,
just as bright for today’s youth as it was in A.D.
304.
Quote:
“The Gospel tells us of all that Jesus suffered, of
the insults that fell upon him. But, from Bethlehem to Calvary, the brilliance
that radiates from his divine purity spread more and more and won over the
crowds. So great was the austerity and the enchantment of his
conduct.”
“So may it be with you, beloved
daughters. Blessed be the discretion, the mortifications and the renouncements with which you seek to render this virtue more
brilliant.... May your conduct prove to all that chastity is not only a
possible virtue but a social virtue, which must be strongly defended through
prayer, vigilance and the mortification of the senses” (Blessed Pope John
XXIII, Letter to Women Religious).
Patron Saint of:
Blind
Eye disorders
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