ST. LUCY, Virgin and Martyr December 13 –Patroness of the blind.

ST. LUCY, Virgin and Martyr

December 13 –Patroness of the blind.

ST. LUCY, a native of Syracuse in Sicily, was from the cradle educated in the faith of Christ under the care of her widowed mother, Eutychia. At an early age she secretly made a vow of virginity and declined to enter the marriage state. She accompanied her long-suffering mother to the tomb of St. Agatha, and there her mother was cured of her disease. St Lucy then disclosed to her mother the vow she had taken, and her mother, in gratitude for her recovery, left her free to follow her pious inclinations.

The young nobleman who had sought her in marriage, with the encouragement of her mother, was so enraged that he accused St. Lucy of being a Christian. The infamous judge ordered her to be exposed in a house of prostitution, but God miraculously intervened to save her virginity. He also gave her grace to overcome the tortures she was made to endure while in prison. About the year 304, during the fierce war waged against the christians under Diocletian, St. Lucy met her death by the sword.