Today the Church celebrates the feast of St. Lucy, a third-century Sicilian girl who pledged her virginity to Christ and endured a martyr’s death when she refused to renounce her faith.
Like many of the early martyrs, little is known about Lucy. She was born in Sicily and died during the persecution of Diocletian. The fact that she is still mentioned in the first Eucharistic Prayer of the Mass shows the great respect that the Church has for her.
One story about Lucy is that she is said to have made a vow to remain unmarried. When the man to whom she was engaged found out, he turned her in as a Christian. She was tortured but remained faithful to Jesus Christ…Lucy, whose name means “light” kept the light of her loyal faith burning through the experience of death. Now she is enjoying the eternal wedding banquet.
Prayer to St. Lucy
O God, our Creator and Redeemer, Mercifully hear our prayers that as we venerate Thy servant, St. Lucy, for the light of faith Thou bestowed upon her, Thou would vouchsafe to increase and to preserve this same light in our souls, that we may be able to avoid evil, to do good and to abhor nothing so much as the blindness and the darkness of evil and of sin.
Relying on Thy goodness, O God, we humbly ask Thee, by the intercession of Thy servant, St. Lucy that Thou would give perfect vision to our eyes, that they may serve for Thy greater honor and glory, and for the salvation of our souls in this world, that we may come to the enjoyment of the unfailing light of the Lamb of God in paradise.
St. Lucy, virgin and martyr, hear our prayer and obtain our petitions.
source:loyolapress.com and CatholicCulture.org
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