Memorial of Saint Lucy, Virgin and Martyr
Wednesday of the Second Week of Advent
December 13, 2023
Today’s Readings:
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121323.cfm
St. Lucy – Giovanni Ricca (1603-56)
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we venerate St. Lucy, beloved and popular martyr of the 3rd century. Here is an encapsulation of her story from Wikipedia:
The oldest record of her story comes from the fifth-century Acts of the Martyrs. The single fact upon which various accounts agree is that a disappointed suitor accused Lucy of being a Christian, and she was executed in Syracuse, Sicily, in the year 304 during the Diocletianic Persecution. Her veneration spread to Rome, and by the sixth century to the whole Church. (Wiki)
The suitor was disappointed because Lucy chose to give her dowry to the poor - apparently the only reason he was marrying her. Tradition maintains that, at her martyrdom, Lucy's eyes were gouged out, an added violence of Diocletian who was angered at her prophecy of his impending downfall.
Isn’t it a bit amazing that an ordinary human story, as dramatic as it might have been, can endure for 2000 years?
We human beings treasure the witness of those whose courage and goodness we wish to imitate. They give us hope and wisdom. They light life’s way that is sometimes overshadowed by our worries. And we pass our confidences down to the generations we love hoping to strengthen them in faith.
The name “Lucy” comes from the Latin word “lux” which means “light”. St. Lucy’s life has inspired and illuminated the path for countless generations of believers, particularly those whose physical or spiritual sight or insight has been darkened or violated.
The same God who fired Lucy’s heart summons us today in the words of Isaiah. How fitting that we are called to lift up our eyes – to see, as Lucy did, beyond mere physical appearances, that our eternal Creator sustains us.
To whom can you liken me as an equal?
Isaiah 40:24-41, excerpts
says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes on high
and see who has created these things:…
… Do you not know
or have you not heard?
The LORD is the eternal God,
creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint nor grow weary,
and his knowledge is beyond scrutiny.
He gives strength to the fainting;
for the weak he makes vigor abound.
Though young men faint and grow weary,
and youths stagger and fall,
They that hope in the LORD will renew their strength,
they will soar as with eagles’ wings;
They will run and not grow weary,
walk and not grow faint.
Poetry: Saint Lucie’s Day by Thomas Merton
Lucy, whose day is in our darkest season,
(Although your name is full of light,)
We walkers in the murk and rain and flesh and sense,
Lost in the midnight of our dead world's winter solstice
Look for the fogs to open on your friendly star.
We have long since cut down the summer of our history;
Our cheerful towns have all gone out like fireflies in October.
The fields are flooded and the vines are bare:
How have our long days dwindled, and now the world is frozen!
Locked in the cold jails of our stubborn will,
Oh, hear the shovels growling in the gravel.
This is the way they'll make our beds forever,
Ours, whose Decembers have put out the sun:
Doors of whose souls are shut against the summertime!
Martyr, whose short day sees our winter and our Calvary,
Show us some light, who seem forsaken by the sky;
We have so dwelt in darkness that our eyes are screened
and dim,
And all but blinded by the weakest ray.
Hallow the vespers and December of our life,
O martyred Lucy:
Console our solstice with your friendly day.
Music: Candlelight Carol – John Rutter
St. Lucy’s inextinguishable faith was fired by the Light Whom we await this Advent. As we kindle our Advent candles, our hearts sing in renewed hope.
Lavish Mercy 