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Saint Lucy of Syracuse, also known as Saint Lucia, (traditional dates 283- 304) was a rich young Christian martyr who is venerated as a Saint by Catholic and Orthodox Christians. Her feast day in the West is December 13; she is the patron saint of blindness. Lucy is the only saint celebrated by the Lutheran Swedes and Norwegians, in celebrations that retain many pre-Christian elements of a midwinter light festival.
Lucy means "light", with the same Latin root, lux, as "lucid," which means "clear, radiant, understandable." "In 'Lucy' is said, the way of light" Jacobus de Voragine stated at the beginning of his vita of the Blessed Virgin Lucy, in Legenda Aurea, the most widely-read version of the Lucy legend in the Middle Ages. St Lucy's history is shrouded in darkness: all that is really known for certain is that she was a martyr in Syracuse in DiocletianGaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletian ( 245- 313), born Diocles was Roman Emperor from November 20, 284 to May 1, 305. An Illyrian of low birth, Diocles rose through the ranks to the consulship. He was chosen by the Army on November 20, 284 to replace Numeri's persecutions of 303 A.D.. Her veneration spread to Rome, so that by the sixth century the whole Church recognized her courage in defense of the faith.
Because people wanted to shed light on Lucy's bravery, legends grew up, reported in the Acta that are associated with her name. All the details are conventional ones also associated with other female martyrs of the early 4th century. Her Roman father died when she was young, leaving her and her mother without a protecting guardian. Her mother, Eutychia, had suffered four years with a "bloody flux" but Lucy having heard the renown of Saint Agatha the patroness of CataniaCatania is the second largest city of Sicily with 306,464 inhabitants, has the second highest population density on the island and is the capital of the province which bears its name. It is located at 37° 31'N 15° 04'E on the east coast of the island, hal, "and when they were at a mass, one read a gospel which made mention of a woman which was healed of the bloody flux by touching of the hem of the coat of Jesu Christ," which, according to Legenda Aurea, convinced her mother to pray together at Saint Agatha's tomb, and Eutychia was cured.
Now Eutychia had arranged a marriage for Lucy with a pagan bridegroom, but Lucy urged that the dowry be spent on alms that she might retain her virginity. Euthychia suggested that the sums would make a good bequest, but Lucy countered, "That which thou givest when thou shalt die, thou givest it because thou mayest not bear it with thee. Give then for God's sake whiles thou livest." News that the patrimony and jewels were being distributed came to the ears of Lucy's betrothedBetrothal is a formal state of engagement to be married. Historically betrothal was a formal contract, blessed or officiated by a religious authority. Betrothal is no longer common beyond some Arabic cultures, and both Orthodox and Messianic Jews. Typical, who heard from a chattering nurse that Lucy had found a nobler Bridegroom.
Her rejected pagan bridegroom denounced Lucy as a Christian to the magistrate Paschasius, who ordered her to burn a sacrifice to the Emperor's image. Lucy replied that she had given all that she had: "I offer to him myself, let him do with his offering as it pleaseth him." Sentenced to be defiled in a brothel, Lucy asserted:
The guards who came to take her way found her so filled with the Holy SpiritThe Holy Spirit, from the Christian viewpoint,has a distinct function in the Trinity which, while related to God's will, is not God's will personified. The Christian and Jewish views of the Holy Spirit vary greatly. In the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) the that she was stiff and heavy as a mountain; they could not move her even when they hitched her to a team of oxen. Even with a dagger through her throat she prophesied against her persecutors.
Jacobus de Voragine did not include the episode of Lucy's passio that was most vivid to her devotés in the Middle Ages and since: having her eyes torn out. Lucy was represented in Gothic art holding a dish with two eyes on it (illustration above). The legend concludes with God restoring Lucy's eyes.
Lucy's name also played a large part in naming Lucy as a patron saint of the blind and those with eye-trouble. She was the patroness of Syracuse.
In SwedenThe Kingdom of Sweden Konungariket Sverige in Swedish) is a Nordic country in Scandinavia, in Northern Europe. It is bordered by Norway on the west, Finland on the northeast, the Skagerrak and the Kattegat on the southwest, and the Baltic Sea and the Gulf Lucy (called Lucia) is venerated each year on December 13, in a ceremony where a woman portraying Lucy, candles attached to her head, leads a procession of other women holding candles. The candles symbolize the fire that refused to take her life. The women usually sing christmasChristmas (literally, the Mass of Christ) is a traditional holiday in the Christian calendar which takes place on the twenty-fifth day of December and celebrates the nativity of Jesus Christ. Christmas is also celebrated as a secular holiday throughout mu-carols during the procession.