Feast of Santa Lucia di Siracusa

Santa Lucia by Antonio Gagni (1552),
Chiesa di Santa Lucia, Mistretta, Messina
Photo courtesy of Anthony Scillia

December 13th is the feast of Santa Lucia di Siracusa, Virgin and Martyr. According to the old Julian calendar this day marked the longest night of the year, or winter solstice. Patroness of the blind, her name derives from the Latin lux, which means light. Santa Lucia is also associated with the harvest and Sicilians customarily celebrate her feast day with cuccia, a hearty porridge made with wheat berries.

According to tradition, Lucia was born about 283 AD in Siracusa, the seat of the Roman government on the island of Sicily. She was the daughter of a wealthy Roman nobleman who died when she was very young. Her ailing mother, Eutychia, may have been of Greek stock.

The Martyrdom of Sant'Agata,

Maschio Angioino, Napoli

Photo by New York Scugnizzo

Inspired by the martyrdom of Saint Agatha, who perished in 251 AD during the persecution of Christians by Emperor Decius, Lucia devoted herself to a life of Christian piety. However, when she came of age Eutychia arranged for her to marry a pagan suitor. Lucia implored her mother to allow her to remain chaste and distribute her dowry to the poor.

Suffering (perhaps from dysentery), Eutychia was persuaded by Lucia to make a pilgrimage to nearby Catania and visit Saint Agatha's relics, which were famed for their miraculous healing properties. Day and night, mother and daughter prayed for help at the martyr's shrine until they collapsed from exhaustion. Saint Agatha appeared before Lucia as a radiant vision, healing her mother and foretelling the young maid’s future glory. Miraculously cured, Eutychia granted her daughter's request and they began to distribute alms.

The rejected bridegroom denounced Lucia as a Christian during the height of Emperor Diocletian's persecutions. Brought before the Prefect of Siracusa, the defiant Lucia refused to denounce her faith. In order to make an example out of the young virgin he condemned her to the brothels. However, she proved to be unmovable. Soldiers and a team of oxen could not make her budge. Furious, the Prefect ordered her to be burned alive on the spot, but no matter how hard the legionaries tried, the pyre would not burn. Finally, he had her eyes gouged out, but they were miraculously restored. Alternate versions of the story say that Lucia tore them out herself and presented them to her tormentors; hence her depictions with a pair of eyes resting on a platter.

Santa Lucia, Duomo di Siracusa
Photo by Niccolò Graffio

Prepared for martyrdom, she began prophesying the end of the persecutions and the downfall of the Emperor. In order to silence her, the apoplectic Prefect had one of his guards plunge his gladius, the famous Roman short sword, into Lucia's neck. She died on December 13, 304 AD.

Fearing of Moslem desecration, in 1038 her relics were removed Sicily and brought to Constantinople by the Byzantine general, George Maniaces. During the ill-advised Fourth Crusade the Venetians made off with her remains and interred them in the Chiesa di Santa Lucia then later in the Chiesa di San Geremia. In 1513 her head was given to Louis XII of France and deposited in the Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Bourges. Over the years fragments of the relics have made their way to various shrines across Europe, but pieces have since been returned to the Duomo di Siracusa, which remains an important site for pilgrims in Sicily.

Santa Lucia, Savoca, Sicily

Photo by Niccolò Graffio

Lutherans, Anglicans and Orthodox Christians also revere Santa Lucia. In Sweden her veneration is a delightful celebration where children dress in white, bear candles and sing songs in her honor. Sweetbreads are served in remembrance of a terrible famine in which she appeared in the harbor with boatloads of food to save the starving. A near identical legend takes place in Siracusa hinting that Norse pilgrims may have brought this story home with them from Sicily.

To us faithful she serves as a beacon of light in dark times.

In celebration, I’m posting a Prayer to St. Lucy:

O St. Lucy, you preferred to let your eyes be torn out instead of denying the faith and defiling your soul; and God, through an extraordinary miracle, replaced them with another pair of sound and perfect eyes to reward your virtue and faith, appointing you as the protector against eye diseases. I come to you for you to protect my eyesight and to heal the illness in my eyes.

O St. Lucy, preserve the light of my eyes so that I may see the beauties of creation, the glow of the sun, the color of the flowers and the smile of children.

Preserve also the eyes of my soul, the faith, through which I can know my God, understand His teachings, recognize His love for me and never miss the road that leads me to where you, St Lucy, can be found in the company of the angels and saints.

St. Lucy, protect my eyes and preserve my faith. Amen.