December 13 Saint Lucy of Syracuse.
orlandileonordove49 St. Lucy Virgin and Martyr († 303) Saint Lucy was a young Christian maiden of Syracuse in Sicily. She had already offered her virginity to God and refused to marry, when her mother pressed her to accept the offer of a young pagan. The mother was afflicted afterwards for several years by an issue of blood, and all human remedies were ineffectual. Lucy reminded her mother that a woman in the Gospel, suffering from the same disorder, had been healed by the divine power. They determined to make a journey to Catania, a port of Sicily, where the tomb of Saint Agatha, martyred in 251, was already a site of pilgrimage. Saint Agatha, Lucy said, stands ever in the sight of Him for whom she died. Only touch her sepulchre with faith, and you will be healed. The Saint of Catania had already saved that city, when Mount Etna had erupted the year after her martyrdom: some frightened pagans, seeing a course of lava descending directly toward the …More
Saint Lucy of Syracuse - December 13
Also known as
Lucia
Lucie
Memorial
13 December
Profile
Rich, young Christian of Greek ancestry. Raised in a pious family, she vowed her life to Christ. Her Roman father died when she was young. Her mother, Eutychia, arranged a marriage for her. For three years she managed to keep the marriage on hold. To change the mother‘s mind about the girl‘s new faith, Lucy prayed at the tomb of Saint Agatha, and her mother‘s long haemorrhagic illness was cured. Her mother agreed with Lucy’s desire to live for God, and Lucy became known as a patron of 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 guards went to fetch her, they could not move her even when they hitched her to a team of oxen. The governor ordered her killed instead. After torture that included having her eyes torn out, she was surrounded by bundles of wood which were set afire; they went out. She prophesied against her persecutors, and was executed by being stabbed to death with a dagger. Her name is listed in the prayer “Nobis quoque peccatoribus” in the Canon of the Mass.
Legend says her eyesight was restored before her death. This and the meaning of her name led to her connection with eyes, the blind, eye trouble, etc.
Born
c.283 at Syracuse, Sicily
Died
stabbed in the throat c.304 at Syracuse, Sicily
her relics are honoured in churches throughout Europe
Canonized
Pre-Congregation
Name Meaning
light; bringer of light (= Lucy)
Patronage
against blindness
against dysentery
against epidemics
against eye disease
against eye problems
against hemorraghes
against sore eyes
against sore throats
against throat infections
against fire
against poverty
against spiritual blindness
blind people
martyrs
peasants
penitent prostitutes
poor people
sick children
authors
cutlers
electricians
eyes
farmers
glass blowers
glass makers
glaziers
gondoliers
laborers
lamp lighters
lawyers
maid servants
notaries
ophthalmologists
opticians
porters
printers
saddlers
sailors
salesmen
scribes
seamstresses
stained glass workers
tailors
travelling merchants
upholsterers
weavers
writers
—
Santa Lucia
Saint Lucy, Barbados
Begijnendijk, Flemish Brabant, Belgium
in Brazil
Carangola
Mathias Lobato
Rio Manso
Santa Luzia
in Italy
Belpasso
Campigo, Castelfranco Veneto
Carlentini
Conzano
Saint Lucia del Mela
Mantua
Montecchio, Peccioli
Nogaredo
Perugia
Santa Lucia di Piave
Syracuse, Sicily, archdiocese of
Syracuse, Sicily, city of
Tavarnelle Val di Pesa
Venice
Villa Santa Lucia, Latium
Mtarfa, Malta
Santa Lucía, Nicaragua
Toledo, Spain
Paz Castillo, Venezuela
Representation
cord
eyes
eyes on a dish
lamp
swords
woman hitched to a yoke of oxen
woman in the company of Saint Agatha, Saint Agnes of Rome, Barbara, Catherine of Alexandria, and Saint Thecla
woman kneeling before the tomb of Saint Agath
Other Saints of the Day:
Antiochus of Sulci
Aristone
Arsenius of Latro
Aubert of Arras
Bartholomew of Tuscany
Costanza Starace
Edburgh of Lyminge
Einhildis of Hohenburg
Elizabeth Rose
Jodocus
John Marinoni
Lucy of Syracuse
Martino de Pomar
Odilia of Alsace
Peter Cho Hwa-so
Roswinda
Tassio of Bavaria
Wifred
—
Blessed Mercedarian Knights - (7 beati)
Martyrs of Jeongju - (6 saints)
Martyrs of Sebaste - (5 saints)
—
Anthony Grassi
Cormac of Killala
Herman of Alaska
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