Santa Lucia, Patroness of the Blind
The martyr Lucy (AD 283-304) was one of hundreds of Christian young women who consecrated their lives to Christ in the third century of the early Church in Rome. Her protests against being forced to marry a pagan man led to her betrayal to the Roman authorities by her betrothed husband; Lucy was tortured to death, as tradition holds, by the gouging of her eyes.
Her feast day is celebrated especially in Sweden, where elements of light and sight, as well as the martyr's crown, are combined in a beautiful family custom appropriate for Advent celebration; the eldest daughter of the household, wearing a white dress with a sash of crimson and a crown of branches set with lighted candles, rises early to serve breakfast to her family...
Relying on your goodness, O God, we humbly ask You, to give perfect vision to our eyes, and to enlighten the souls of your children, that we may serve for Your greater honour and glory. Increase and preserve this light in our souls so that I may avoid evil, be zealous in the performance of good works, and abhor nothing so much as the blindness and the darkness of evil and of sin.
posted by MM at 8:12 AM
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