St. Lucy - Patroness of Those With Eye Trouble - December 13th
This beloved Saint lived in Syracuse in Sicily. She was the daughter of very noble and rich parents. Her father died while she was still young, and Lucy secretly promised Jesus that she would never marry so that she could be His alone.
Now Lucy was a lovely girl, with beautiful eyes. More than one young noble set his heart on her, and her mother urged her to marry one whom she had chosen for Lucy. But the Christian maiden would not consent. Then she formed a plan to win her mother. She knew her mother was suffering from hemorrages, so she convinced her to go to the shrine of St. Agatha and pray for her recovery. Lucy went along with her and together they prayed. When God heard their prayers and cured her mother, Lucy told her of her vow to be Christ’s bride. Her mother left her free to follow her vocation, out of gratitude for her cure.
But the young pagan to whom she had promised Lucy was furious at losing out. In his bitter anger, he accused her of being a Christian and threatened her with torture, but she was even willing to lose both her eyes rather than belong to anyone but Jesus. Many statues show us St. Lucy holding her lovely eyes in the palm of her hand. To reward her for her heroic love, Jesus worked a miracle and gave her back her eyes, more beautiful than ever.
The pagan judge tried to send the Saint to a house of sinful women in the hope that she might be tempted to give up Christ. But when they tried to carry her away, God made her body so heavy that they could not budge her! In the end, she became a martyr for Jesus, being killed by a knife blow.
Today I will conquer every temptation with a little prayer.
