Lucia, virgin and m.
| December 13, commemoration | |
| Position: | virgin and martyr |
| Death: | but 304-305 |
Patron: |
Syracuse and Venice; the blind and those with eye diseases, glassmakers, glaziers, seamstresses; in some places she is also said to be the patroness of more than 15 professions, but the question of justification arises; she is also considered the patroness of fireflies in scout troops; she is invoked by the poor and can also be the patroness of those who spread the light of truth |
| Attributes: |
cauldron, neck with stab wound, lamp, sword or dagger, bowl with eyes on it, palm branch, ox team |
CURRICULUM VITAE
She came from Syracuse. Against her will, her parents promised her to a rich young pagan. Her mother, only after her recovery through the intercession of St. Agatha, reconciled with Lucia’s wish to live a celibate life dedicated to Christ. However, her fiancé disagreed. During Diocletian’s persecution, he denounced her as a Christian. She was sentenced to forced prostitution, and because she was saved from it by miraculous power, she was allegedly blinded and her throat was pierced.
Her veneration spread throughout the Church by the end of the 6th century, with her name included in the Roman canon of the Mass. Her tomb was discovered during the exploration of the catacombs in Syracuse.
CV FOR MEDITATION
“SVETLANA” FROM SICILY
She is one of the saints included in the first Eucharistic Prayer of the Holy Mass. Pope Gregory the Great included her in the canon around the end of the 6th century.
Biographies are based on traditional accounts, the oldest documents about her worship, archaeological finds in the catacombs of St. Lucy and St. John in Syracuse, and biographical records dating back to the 6th century. Today’s biographies of St. Lucy often incorporate elements from various legends, necessitating careful consideration.
She was born in Syracuse, Sicily, probably before 290 AD, into a better-off family. Perhaps as a child, as a Christian girl, she made a vow of virginal purity out of love for Christ, to which she remained faithful under all circumstances.
Her mother, Eutychia, either did not know about the promise or did not take it seriously. She wanted to marry her to a suitor from an equally noble family, and the problem she would rather not see was in the world. Lucy put everything into prayer, but her mother’s conversion in that direction did not come. Lucy probably hoped for the help of the revered martyr Agatha. She convinced her sick mother, suffering from a flow of blood, to make a pilgrimage to the tomb of this saint, from whom she expected help. According to tradition, their joint pilgrimage and the help from St. Agatha took place. Legends tell of a vision or dream of Lucy, in which Agatha let her know that both her mother’s recovery and her martyrdom would occur.
After the mother’s sudden recovery, the only problem left was the unwanted fiancé. He was understandably interested in why he was rejected, and the legends here are distorted. The true reason for the rejection ultimately resulted in Lucia being brought before a judge, perhaps because the fiancé could not bear the truth. The judge’s task was to break her loyalty to God and punish her according to the circumstances.
Legends state the topics of the judge Paschasius’s questions and Lucy’s answers, first leading to the matter of the dowry, which Lucy allegedly managed to distribute to the poor. She is also said to have convinced her mother to take a similar step, although she wanted to keep her property until her death. The decisive sentence is: “He who gives God only what he cannot take with him to eternity when he dies has no merit from it, but if you want to make a sacrifice pleasing to God, give (his poor) what you can enjoy now.” It is the topic of a catechetical teaching, similar to Lucy’s emphatic stance on the issue of obedience to imperial decrees. Here, Lucy declares that she is first and foremost obedient to God’s commandments. And she reminds the judge that he fears mortal rulers, while she fears (the insult) of the eternal God.
At the end of Lucy’s defense, she is partly asked to repeat the words of the Apostle Paul about the purity of the soul, the body in which the Holy Spirit dwells and is therefore the temple of God. (Cf. 1 Cor 6:19). All this is recalled to create an image of Lucy’s attitude that led to her torture. This determination is captured in the words with which she replied to her executioner: “You will not force me by anything to consent to the sin of impurity. I am ready for any suffering.” (see G. Pettinati, I Santi canonizzati, XII)
Lucy was sentenced to be forcibly deprived of her virginity by visitors to a brothel. However, her rape did not occur because all attempts to transport Lucy there failed. Even the oxen, which later became associated with her, did not provide any assistance. Subsequently, legends describe various tortures that she had to undergo. The reliability of these data is questionable; what is certain is that she suffered a martyr’s death, and it is believed that she was stabbed with a sword or dagger, according to tradition, in the neck.
Her eyes on a bowl are a distinctive attribute of St. Lucy, which is why we give them special attention here. Later legends may have influenced the inclusion of this personal attribute. However, they are inconsistent. They say that Lucy herself plucked them out and sent them to her fiancé. Here, the reasons for the implausible act differ: so that he would renounce her, after which the eyes were returned to her by the Mother of God; elsewhere, the plucking out of her eyes is listed just before Lucy’s death and their donation to her fiancé because he admired them on her, with thanks for helping her to heaven. Contrary to the claims of other scholars, Msgr. Prof. Dr. Jaroslav Němec, who studies saints, writes about Lucy in his work New Profiles of Saints (2005), stating that she was eventually blinded and pierced.
Her name is derived from the Latin word “lux—lucis,” meaning “light,” and is translated as “Svetlana.” It is also the name of the youngest members of scouting—fireflies, who see her as their patron saint and want to strive to be a light and role model for others like her.
Lucia’s remains were first moved to Constantinople in 1039 (due to fears of Muslim attacks) and then to the Church of St. Jeremiah and Lucia in Venice in 1204. Parts of them were transferred to Syracuse. The reliquary with her eyes is kept in Naples.
(*More information about St. Lucia’s Day in the note.)
RESOLUTION, PRAYER
