HOMILY FOR THE MEMORIAL OF ST. LUCY. (3)

HOMILY FOR THE MEMORIAL OF ST. LUCY.

THEME: PERSEVERE TO THE END.

BY: Fr. Eugene Sixtus

HOMILY FOR DECEMBER 13.

St Lucy, the Patroness of those with eyes illness. Lucy means -light. The palms she holds always in her hands, is a depiction of victory over evil. Today being 13th of Dec, I have taken to reflect on the martyrdom of St Lucy whose feast we celebrate in the Universal church. Her name is mentioned in Canon 1 as one those Christians who suffered martyrdom for the sake of Christ. We celebrate a lady who remained steadfast in her faith and died as a martyr because of the faith she professed in Christ. Her rejection in accepting the prepositions of Paschasius, who ordered her to burn a sacrifice to the emperor’s image. Upon her insistence, Paschasius sentenced her to be defiled in a brothel.
The Christian tradition states that when the guards came to take her away, they could not move her even when they hitched her to a team of oxen. Bundles of wood were then heaped about her and set on fire, but would not burn. Finally, she met her death by the sword thrust into her throat.

It is also important we highlight this essential aspect of St Lucy’s life. Lucy made a visit at Catania Shrine as built by St Agatha who died 52years before the Diocletian persecution with the intention for Her mother to be healed of her sickness.While there, St. Agatha came to Lucy in a dream and told her that because of her faith her mother would be cured and that Lucy would be the glory of Syracuse, as she was of Catania. With her mother cured, Lucy took the opportunity to persuade her mother to allow her to distribute a great part of her riches among the poor. These were her very words,
“whatever you give away at death for the Lord’s sake you give because you cannot take it with you. Give now to the true Savior, while you are healthy, whatever you intended to give away at your death.
She devoted herself squarely to the work of God as she uses the money she has for the help of the poor.

Absent in the early narratives and traditions, at least until the fifteenth century, is the story of Lucia tortured by eye-gouging. According to later accounts, before she died she foretold the punishment of Paschasius and the speedy end of the persecution, adding that Diocletian would reign no more, and Maximian would meet his end.This so angered Paschasius that he ordered the guards to remove her eyes.
When her body was prepared for burial in the family mausoleum it was discovered that her eyes had been miraculously restored. This is one of the reasons that Lucy is the patron saint of those with eye illnesses.

We pray today that God gives us the spirit of Perseverance just Like St. Lucy amidst the trials and temptations of this world. Amen. Fadasharp prays for u.

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