Lucy of Syracuse, Martyr

Today the Church commemorates Lucy of Syracuse, a young Christian whose witness in martyrdom has carried the light of Christ through centuries of winter darkness.

Lucy lived in Syracuse in Sicily and died during the persecution ordered by the Emperor Diocletian in 303 and 304. Christians remembered Lucy at her tomb in Syracuse. By the early fifth century, an inscription in the city’s catacombs bore witness to the keeping of her feast. Her commemoration spread through both East and West, and the Church of Rome named her among the women martyrs remembered at the altar.

According to the ancient account of her martyrdom, Lucy was the daughter of a wealthy Christian household. Her mother suffered from a long illness, and Lucy accompanied her to the shrine of Agatha of Catania. There her mother was healed. Lucy then disclosed the purpose she had carried quietly: she wished to give her inheritance to people in need and to devote her life wholly to Christ.

The man to whom her family had promised her saw the estate being distributed and denounced Lucy as a Christian. She was brought before the governor and commanded to sacrifice to the Roman gods. Lucy refused. When officials tried to carry her away, they could not move her. They attempted to burn her, but the fire did not consume her. At last, she was killed by the sword.

The Church’s memory of Lucy took root far beyond Sicily. Greek and Latin Christians kept her feast. In seventh-century England, Aldhelm praised her among the consecrated virgins. Churches bore her name, and those who suffered diseases of the eyes sought her prayers.

Her name, Lucia, was associated with the Latin lux, meaning light. Under the old Julian calendar, her feast fell near the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. In northern lands, where December darkness lasts through much of the day, Christians greeted Lucy’s feast as a promise that light would return. Scandinavian households still clothe a daughter in white and crown her with candles. She bears food through the darkened house, and for that morning she is called Lucy.

The candles bear witness to the martyr they remember. They confess the light for which Lucy gave her life: Jesus Christ, whom darkness could neither compel her to deny nor finally overcome. With Lucy, may we receive that light, carry it to others, and remain faithful when obedience to Christ becomes costly.