Santa Lucia – Lucía de Siracusa
Santa Lucia (Syracuse, 283–ibid., 304) was a Christian martyr who suffered martyrdom during the persecution of Diocletian. She is venerated in the Catholic Church.
Life of Santa Lucia
Born in Syracuse, a city in the Roman province of Sicily, according to tradition Lucia came from noble, wealthy parents, the daughter of Eutychia; her father is said to have died when Lucia was young. She was probably called Lucius, given the Roman custom of naming daughters after their father. According to some, it is inspired by the Pauline text, «the children of light». Lucia certainly means «Light» or «she who brings light«. She was raised in the Christian faith. She consecrated her life to God and took a vow of virginity. Her mother, who was ill, arranged for her to marry a young pagan man, and Lucia, in order to be freed from this arrangement, persuaded her to go and pray at the tomb of Águeda de Catania to cure her illness. When her mother recovered, Lucia asked her to release her from the engagement, allow her to consecrate her life to God, and donate her fortune to the poorest. Her mother agreed. But her suitor accused her before the proconsul Paschasius of being a Christian, in the time of the emperor Diocletian.
Martyrdom and Death of Santa Lucia
Lucia’s martyrdom is not attested by contemporary sources or sources immediately following the persecution of Diocletian, but rather by hagiographic accounts. The oldest of these accounts is a Greek martyrion (BHG 995), and its corresponding Latin version (BHL 4992) is at least a century later.
When Lucia was arrested on the charge of being a Christian, Paschasius ordered her to make sacrifices to the gods. Lucia then said:
«Pure sacrifice before God is to visit the widows, the orphans and the pilgrims who suffer in anguish and need, and it is now the third year that I have offered sacrifices to God in Jesus Christ by giving away all my possessions.«
Enraged, Paschasius ordered his soldiers to take her to a brothel to be violated, and then turned to Lucia and said: «I will take you to a place of perdition so that the Holy Spirit will depart from you». The soldiers took hold of her to carry her away, tying her hands and feet with ropes, but no matter how hard they tried they could not move her: the girl remained rigid as a rock. Upon learning of this, Paschasius ordered that she be subjected to torment with oil and boiling pitch, but he still could not make her yield. Condemned to be martyred, before dying she prophesied her canonisation and her patronage as protector of Syracuse, along with the fall of Diocletian and Maximian.
The Greek account —dating from the 5th century— and the Latin account —dated to the 6th–7th centuries— are essentially identical, though they differ in some final details: according to the Greek martyrion Lucia was beheaded, whereas according to the Latin passio, she was martyred by one or more sword blows.
She was buried in the same place where, in the year 313, a sanctuary dedicated to her was built, which became a destination for pilgrimages in her honour. According to tradition, her story spread throughout Sicily: “she consecrated her virginity with martyrdom, for your purity and holiness are pleasing to God”.
Patronage of Santa Lucia
- She is the patron saint of eyesight. The connection between Lucia and eyes, which makes this saint the protector of sight, is made explicit in the iconography of the Middle Ages and perhaps derives from the etymological closeness of the Greek name «Lucia» to the Latin term lux (light). Legend has it that it was the beauty of Lucia’s eyes that gave one of her suitors no rest, so she tore them out and sent them to him. Filled with remorse and struck by Lucia’s courage, the suitor converted to Christianity. A medieval legend said that when Lucia was in court, even without eyes, she could still see. Another version claims that the proconsul Paschasius ordered his soldiers to tear out Lucia’s eyes, but after they did so, God granted her new eyes even more beautiful than the ones she had before.
- She is the patron saint of the poor, the blind, sick children and cities.
- She is the patron saint of farmers, electricians, dressmakers, drivers, photographers, knife-sharpeners, cutters, glaziers, tailors, plumbers and writers.
- She is the patron saint of a number of towns, namely:
- San Miguel del Camino, en la Provincia de León, en el Camino de Santiago Francés.
- Syracuse in Italy.
- Santa Lucía, Provincia de Coclé, en Panamá.
- Venice in Italy.
- Zacatecoluca in El Salvador.
- El Divisadero in the department of Morazán, El Salvador.
- Barrio Santa Lucía Chacalzingo (primer establecimiento de la Ciudad), Ciudad de Santa Ana en El Salvador.
- Santalla de Rey en España.
- Ferreñafe (Lambayeque) in Peru.
- Moche in Peru. Founded in 1534 as Santa Lucia de Moche.
- Mossoró in Brazil.
- Santa Lucía del Tuy, estado Miranda,
- Santa Lucia, state of Jalisco, Mexico.
- Santa Lucia, in the department of Canelones, Uruguay. It is also the seat of the municipality of the same name.
- Santa Lucia Utatlán, Sololá; Santa Lucia Cotzumalguapa (Escuintla); and Santa Lucia Milpas Altas (Sacatepéquez), in Guatemala.
- Santa Lucia in the department of the same name, San Juan Province, Argentina. The National Feast of Santa Lucia is celebrated there.
- Santa Lucia de Tirajana (Gran Canaria), Canary Islands, Spain.
- Hacinas, in the province of Burgos, Spain.
- Hermosa, Cantabria, Spain.
- Roales de Campos, Valladolid, Spain.
- As Teixugueiras, Concello de Cartelle, province of Orense, Galicia, Spain.
- Santa Lucía (Nicaragua), Nicaragua.
- Suchitoto, El Salvador.
- Cantón Santa Lucia , Guayas Province – Ecuador, a celebration known as the feast of the «PATRON SAINT of eyesight SANTA LUCIA «
In Spain, 13 December is celebrated as the day of dressmakers and tailors, at the hermitage of Santa Lucia in the city of Valencia.
Santa Lucia
See also:
