Yesterday was the feast day of St. Lucy. This coming Tuesday evening for our Faith and Family night we are going to have our first ever St. Lucy Procession. I’m excited about it and when I talked to the St. Louis Review they were excited too! You might check the paper for the next few weeks to see if they write a story about it.

Most of us know Lucy as one of the mysterious names that comes up in the Roman Canon when the priest is praying at the altar. Perhaps you remember it? It goes like this:

To us, also, your servants, who, though sinners, hope in your abundant mercies, graciously grant some share and fellowship with your holy Apostles and Martyrs: with John the Baptist, Stephen, Matthias, Barnabas, Ignatius, Alexander, Marcellinus, Peter, Felicity, Perpetua, Agatha, Lucy, Agnes, Cecilia, Anastasia and all your Saints; admit us, we beseech you, into their company, not weighing our merits, but granting us your pardon, through Christ our Lord.

Who is Lucy that she her name has permanently written into the most important prayer in the Catholic Church? She was a young girl who lived in southern Italy in the late 3 ^rd century. She wished from a young age to dedicate herself to God, but her mother arranged for her to marry a non-Catholic man. Her mother meanwhile came down with a deadly illness that was miraculously cured by God. This changed the mother’s tune about Lucy’s desire to serve God and not be married to a non-Christian. The wedding was called off. Well, the husband to be did not take this very well. He went to the governor and denounced Lucy as a Christian.


The persecution of Christians was at its height during this time, and when Lucy refused to give up her faith, she was sentenced to slavery in a brothel as punishment. God did a strange miracle for her; he made her immovable on the spot and when they tried to forcibly take her out of the court and to the brothel many men could not move her! Well, evil never gives up so they decided to burn her alive instead but the fire would not burn her. It said also that they gouged her eyes out sometime during her tortures. It is for this reason that you will often see her depicted in artwork holding her eyes in her hand or on a platter. Finally, she was put to death by the sword. At the time of her death, she was but a young woman, because marriage happened much earlier then she was probably just a girl.

Lucy was honored by the Church among the other virgin martyrs and her name was inscribed into the Canon of the Mass. The name “Lucy” means “Light”. It is appropriate that we celebrate her feast day as the darkness of winter closes in around us. She lived in a dark age when young girls had very little freedom and monsters murdered Christians simply for their faith. There was recently a story in the news about little children who were murdered for their faith in Iraq. Critics of Christianity used to claim that the Church was making up stories about these young martyrs like Lucy because no child could possibly have such a strong faith. Well, these children in Iraq when told to convert to Islam or die replied that they love Jesus. We make a mistake to consider that the only good Christians are the strong ones, the brave missionaries, the educated scholars and priests.

Where we are weak God is strong, and he shines through all of his little ones and in all of us who lead seemingly ordinary lives. There is darkness all about, a world of sin and suffering, but St. Lucy shines brightly and you shine brightly, for it is Jesus Christ the light of the world who has made his home in the heart of each one who loves him.