Note: On Fridays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.
You know what today is: December 13. The feast day of St. Lucy of Syracuse. You remember her.
I grew up in an area of the country where most people’s ancestors hailed from Scandinavia. And at this time of year, I was sorry not to be Swedish with blond braids crossed at the top of my head. That seemed to be a prerequisite for making or distributing the delicious St. Lucy’s bread, encrusted with raisins.
Sigh. Now where was I?
Oh yes, St. Lucy. When I was a bit older, I felt St. Lucy had let me down, what with her being the patron saint of eyesight, her eyes being torn out and all and me being legally blind. I wondered if it was retribution for all that envy of my Swedish childhood friends. When we were both quite a bit older, my sister was St. Lucy, “eyes” on a plate and all, for Halloween.
It was shocking to learn not so long ago that almost everything I and perhaps you believed about St. Lucy is legend. We don’t know whether she actually lost her eyes, either in torture or because she tore them out herself. We don’t know if she was sent to a brothel.
What we do know, however, is important. She was about twenty when she died in Sicily in 303. She was martyred for her faith, possibly because a rejected love interest told authorities she was a Christian. We know that little girls all over the world for centuries and centuries have loved to hear the legends and dress up like her and talk about her. And we know that contemplating a martyr’s devotion to God, no matter whether all the precise details of her death were accurately captured, can only deepen our own faith.
The burial of St. Lucy –Caravaggio
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I happened across this article actually because I was searching Syracuse (which is where I live, in NY) but ended up reading farther than just the first couple sentences, and finished it before I even realized how much I had read! 🙂
Melanie, challenges and growth is something that each and everyone faces, different sizes and different portions though, for sure. Reading your post when you mentioned that you are legally blind must be one huge hurdle you have overcome. You sound like you have gained a lot and grown a lot as a person since you were a wee one. Keep living and facing your challenges face to face… I heard one time that God wouldn’t put you up against something he didn’t think you could handle, and that obviously speaks a lot about your character. God bless, and keep up the good work writing. 🙂
Jacob
Thanks, Jacob! I’m fortunate in that I could be corrected with glasses… the whole eye thing in general has been a journey. Thanks for taking the time to comment, and God bless!