Today is the Feast Day of St. Lucy, Virgin and Martyr
Today is the Feast Day of St. Lucy, Virgin and Martyr
Collect
May the glorious intercession of the Virgin and Martyr Saint Lucy give us new heart, we pray, O Lord, so that we may celebrate her heavenly birthday in this present age and so behold things eternal. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.
The Life and Martyrdom of St. Lucy
Saint Lucy, also known as Lucia of Syracuse, was born in the late 3rd century in Syracuse, Sicily, Lucy was born into a wealthy Christian family. Her father died when she was young, leaving her in the care of her mother, Eutychia, who was of Greek origin. Despite her mother's desire for her to marry, Lucy, influenced by her deep Christian faith, vowed to remain a virgin and dedicate her life to God.
The story of her martyrdom begins when Lucy's mother, suffering from a hemorrhagic illness, was persuaded by Lucy to make a pilgrimage to the tomb of Saint Agatha in Catania, where miraculous healings were said to occur. Miraculously, Eutychia was cured, and in gratitude, Lucy asked her mother to allow her to distribute a great part of their riches among the poor.
Her betrothed, angered by her charitable acts and her vow of virginity, denounced her as a Christian to the Roman authorities. This occurred during the Diocletian Persecution, a time when Christians were subjected to torture and death. Lucy was arrested and subjected to cruel tortures. According to tradition, her eyes were gouged out, a story that led to her being regarded as the patroness of the blind. Despite these tortures, she remained steadfast in her faith.
Lucy's death is said to have occurred in 304 AD. The manner of her martyrdom varies in different accounts, with some stating she was beheaded and others claiming she died from her tortures.
Saint Lucy is widely revered as a symbol of light in the darkness, with her feast day often associated with festivals of light, particularly in Scandinavia. Her legacy lives on as a powerful example of faith, purity, and courage in the face of persecution.
A book on virginity, by St Ambrose
You light up your grace of body with the radiance of your mind
You are one of God’s people, of God’s family, a virgin among virgins; you light up your grace of body with your splendor of soul. More than others you can be compared to the Church. When you are in your room, then, at night, think always on Christ, and wait for his coming at every moment.
This is the person Christ has loved in loving you, the person he has chosen in choosing you. He enters by the open door; he has promised to come in, and he cannot deceive. Embrace him, the one you have sought; turn to him, and be enlightened; hold him fast, ask him not to go in haste, beg him not to leave you. The Word of God moves swiftly; he is not won by the lukewarm, nor held fast by the negligent. Let your soul be attentive to his word; follow carefully the path God tells you to take, for he is swift in his passing.
What does his bride say? I sought him, and did not find him; I called him, and he did not hear me. Do not imagine that you are displeasing to him despite having called him, asked him in, and opened the door to him; and that this is the reason why he has gone so quickly – no, for he allows us to be constantly tested. When the crowds pressed him to stay, what does he say in the Gospel? I must preach the word of God to other cities, because for that I have been sent. But even if it seems to you that he has left you, go out and seek him once more.
Who but holy Church is to teach you how to hold Christ fast? Indeed, she has already taught you, if you only understood her words in Scripture: How short a time it was when I left them before I found him whom my soul has loved. I held him fast, and I will not let him go.
How do we hold him fast? Not by restraining chains or knotted ropes but by bonds of love, by spiritual reins, by the longing of the soul.
If you also, like the bride, wish to hold him fast, seek him and be fearless of suffering. It is often easier to find him in the midst of bodily torments, in the very hands of persecutors.
His bride says: How short a time it was after I left them. In a little space, after a brief moment, when you have escaped from the hands of your persecutors without yielding to the powers of this world, Christ will come to you, and he will not allow you to be tested for long.
Whoever seeks Christ in this way, and finds him, can say: I held him fast, and I will not let him go before I bring him into my mother’s house, into the room of her who conceived me. What is this “house,” this “room,” but the deep and secret places of your heart?
Maintain this house, sweep out its secret recesses until it becomes immaculate and rises as a spiritual temple for a holy priesthood, firmly secured by Christ, the cornerstone, so that the Holy Spirit may dwell in it.
Whoever seeks Christ in this way, whoever prays to Christ in this way, is not abandoned by him; on the contrary, Christ comes again and again to visit such a person, for he is with us until the end of the world.
Let us pray
O God, who bestowed on blessed Lucy a crown among the Saints for her twofold triumph of virginity and martyrdom, grant, we pray, through the power of this Sacrament, that, bravely overcoming every evil, we may attain the glory of heaven. Through Christ our Lord.