Today, we celebrate the memorial of St. Lucy. Born in Sicily, in the late 200’s, St. Lucy is the patron of the blind and those who suffer from eye disorders.
From the cradle, she was educated in the Catholic Faith under the care of her widowed mother. Her father died when she was an infant.
At a very young age, she secretly made a vow of virginity. Her mother, however, had different plans for Lucy, who wanted her to marry a young man, who was a pagan.
Her mother suffered from a hemorrhage for many years. Lucy and her mother decided to go to the tomb of St. Agatha to request a miracle. When they arrived, they prayed to the holy martyr, who granted their petition. And so, St. Lucy’s mother was miraculously cured at the tomb. After the miracle, she told her mother that she had made a vow of virginity at a very young age. She also said she wanted to devote herself to God, and give her money to the poor. In gratitude for her healing, St. Lucy’s mother, let her keep her vow, and avoid marriage.
The young nobleman, who had wanted to marry St. Lucy became enraged and told the authorities that Lucy was a Christian, which was forbidden at the time by the government. She was ordered by the pagan judge to be sent to a brothel to expose her to prostitution. But when the guards attempted to take her, God made her body immovable. They then placed her into prison. They attempted to burn her, but God protected her, and she was unharmed as well. Finally, they took a sword, and cut her throat, killing the young saint in the year 304. She is mentioned in Eucharistic Prayer I – The Roman Canon alongside Agatha, who had healed St. Lucy’s mother.
There is a legend, which suggests, Lucy willfully plucked her own eyes out, due to a young man, who was overwhelmed by her beauty. According to the legend, her eyes were miraculously restored, and were more beautiful then before. Today, she is depicted in statues and holy cards--- holding a dish with two eyeballs.
The first year I was ordained a priest, every week I would take Holy Communion to the homebound. And one elderly lady, who was in her 90’s was going blind. She told me she was praying a Novena to St. Lucy for a miracle. Today, many people would scoff at her praying to have her eyes sight restored. After all, she was past 90 years old, what should she expect at her age.
However, several weeks after she prayed her Novena, I came to her home to give her Communion and she told me her vision was getting better. She said on the 9th day of the Novena to St. Lucy, her doctor called her and wanted her to try a new experimental medicine. And so she went to visit her doctor and he gave her a medicine called “Lucere”. The root word for the medicine means “light” in which the name “Lucy” has as its derivative. The woman, past 90 years old, had great faith, and believed in the intercession of a saint. St. Lucy, through modern medicine heard her prayer. The woman told me she prayed to God everyday, she would not lose her eye sight before she died and He granted her desires, through St. Lucy.
St. Lucy gives us an example of being unconcerned with our appearance so as to avoid vanity and she can help all those who suffer from blindness, whether it’s physical or spiritual blindness. We can turn to her in prayer asking her to heal the eyesight of those we know who are unable to see as well as they ought.
As we continue through this Advent season, let us ask Jesus to help us to see—with the eyes of St. Lucy,--- what we need to do to prepare for His birth at Christmas.