by Kaye George
The Her origins
are lost in history, but a few things are known. Lucia, or Lucy, was born in
Syracuse on Sicily and martyred in 304 AD. Legends have sprung up, however.
Here’s one I
like. Lucia was said to be a beautiful girl, born into a rich and noble family
in 283. Her father, from Rome, died when she was 5, leaving her and her
(possibly) Greek mother without protection. The young girl wanted to consecrate
herself to God. Her mother, somehow unaware of this and being sickly, arranged
an engagement for her. Lucy, not wanting this of course, managed to cure her
mother and talk her into dispersing their wealth to the poor in thanks for her
health. (I’m thinking this happened a few years after she was 5 years old.) T
Another version
is that she foretold bad things for the present emperor and he, enraged, had
his guards carve out her eyes.
Another version
is that she gouged out her own eyes to discourage a persistent suitor. However,
at her burial, her eyes had miraculously been restored.
Icons show her
carrying her eyes in a goblet to give to her suitor who had admired them.
From there, she
became the patron saint of the blind and or martyrs, which makes sense.
Somehow, she has also become the patron saint of epidemics, salesmen, throat
infections, dysentery, and--TA DA--writers.
The gal got
around after her death. Her day, December 13th in most places, is celebrated in
Sweden. It used to coincide (or someone thought it coincided) with Winter
Solstice and the beginning of shorter nights is something to celebrate that far
north. Her day is also celebrated in Hungary and Omaha, Nebraska.
info from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Lucy,
http://jonmsweeney.wordpress.com/2010/12/13/st-lucia-the-patron-saint-of-writers/,
and http://www.express.co.uk/fun/top10facts/364319/Top-10-facts-about-Saint-Lucia
picture from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Lucy
7 comments:
Wow! Interesting. I'm sorry about her eyes.
Fascinating story! Thanks for sharing, Kaye :)
Isn't is fitting that writers should have such a weird saint? Don't worry, Marilyn, her eyes grew back.
Okay, your post made me remember the Santa Lucia song, so I Googled and found a beautiful version by Mario Lanza. Here's the link:
http://youtu.be/qpP7heFjr0g
Morgan Mandel
Love the link! Very nice. I noticed in the comments another story about St. Lucy: Sicilians pay tribute to a miracle performed by St Lucy during a famine in 1582. At that time, she brought a flotilla of grain-bearing ships to starving Sicily, whose citizens cooked and ate the wheat without taking time to grind it into flour. Thus, on St. Lucy's Day, Sicilians don't eat anything made with wheat flour. Instead they eat cooked wheat called cuccia. Posted by Rod Warczak.
Love all these interesting legends about St. Lucia. I have a grand-daughter in-law named Lucia. We all call her Lucy.
It's a beautiful name!
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