13th December is the saint’s day for St Lucy, a 4th century
martyr under the persecutions of Emperor Diocletian.
Lucy lived in Syracuse on the Italian island of Sicily. She
was a dedicated Christian who had no intention of marrying. However, she had a suitor
who was angered by her refusal to accept him. He took his revenge by betraying
Lucy to the governor of Syracuse, who was a pagan.
Lucy’s initial punishment was to be consigned to a brothel
but, according to legend, she could not be moved from where she stood, even
when a team of oxen came to drag her away. The governor then ordered that she
be burned to death on the spot. However, this did not work because the wood that
was piled around her would not burn. She was then killed by a sword thrust to
the throat.
Various stories grew up around Lucy in later years, one
being that her eyes were gouged out but later miraculously restored. The reason
for the eye-gouging varies between accounts, one being that she did this
herself so that she would not be attractive to men.
Whatever the truth of these stories, and there must always
be a huge element of doubt in medieval “lives of the saints”, St Lucy came to
be regarded as having special care for the blind, and also for people suffering
from throat infections.
© John Welford
No comments:
Post a Comment