Santa Lucia - the saint of the Light

Today is the feast of St Lucy (or in Italian, Santa Lucia). The stories of her martyrdom tell of her being blinded during torture but how she never betrayed Christ, the Light of the World. She is the patroness of those suffering from eye disease or blindess because of the martyrdom stories, and she is particularly honored in Sicily, her home, but in Rome itself. Her name was entered early among the martyrs venerated during the liturgy.

The name Lucy name comes from the root word lux/lucis, which means light. Saint Lucy is the saint of light, and in some countries in northern Europe, such as Sweeden, this is the day when children receive their gifts. It was true also in the ancient and most serene republic of Venice.

It makes sense. Before Pope Gregory XIII revised the faulty Julian calendar, and the winter was slipping forward, the day of Santa Lucia, 13 December, was the day when the days began to lengthen again… In antiquity, the day after the solstice that showed the lengthening of days was 25 December, but by 1500, it was, as I say, 13 December. So, Saint Lucia was associated with the Light of Christ, not only in her name, but also in the workings of nature.

Think about it. The Virgin appears in Tepayac between 9 and 12 December 1531 to the Aztec elder Cuahtlatoatzin (Juan Diego). She appears in the last stages of pregnancy… and by the sun (center of the Aztec culture and calculations), Mary (la virgencita… la morenita) works her wonders on the last dark morning of the year at dawn. The next day would be the first day of the growth of the sun and the light, and this is the day that she would bring forth the her firstborn son (cf. Lk 2:7), the True Light who enlightens every person coming into the World (cf. Jn 1:9).

Thus, before the calendar revision took place so recently (in 1582), this was the day of Holy Light… Santa Luce… Santa Lucia… With this in mind, we can understand what awaits un in 12 more days.

In the meantime, today there is a clear sky and bright sunlight. Santa Lucia has come through for us, sending the clouds and the rains elsewhere… counteracting the influence of Santa Bibiana (quaranta giorni e una settimana). I hope the good weather holds up.

Finally, today we learned of the death of Cardinal Avery Dulles in the USA, who died yesterday morning, and Giacomo Domínguez, a Salesian of the Madrid province who worked at the UPS from 1966 to 2002. Giacomo was among the first to welcome me to the Don Rua community when I came as a licentiate student in 1990. May they both rest in peace!