Lucy's Lights

Thanks to GG I now know that the 13th of December marks the feast of St. Lucy. I remember as a child that I used to love to read my book about the lives of the saints and I also enjoyed the small celebrations we would have on certain feast days during religion class at Sacred Heart. Generally speaking, the stories of the saints all tended to be dramatic and terribly tragic, and why not, they likely wouldn't be saints at all but for the drama and tragedy.

Apparently we don't know much about St. Lucy, other than that she is the patroness of the eyes, which explains the rather gorey statue in St. Patrick's of St. Lucy holding a platter with two eyeballs on it. She was martyred at the begining of the 4th century and became a saint soon thereafter. During Emperor Diocletian's rule Lucy distributed her dowry to the poor and was a suspected Christian. The guy that was essentially Lucy's fiance turned her in to the authorities when he learned of her generosity.

The name Lucy comes from the Latin word "lux" or "light" and to celebrate the feast of St. Lucy young girls wear crowns of light. On the 12th and 13th of December you can see meteors that come from the constellation Gemini and these are known as "Lucy's Lights".

I wish that I had crown of light for La Luz to wear tomorrow or that it was clearer outside so I could stand on the balcony and look for Lucy's Lights. Maybe next year. Instead I will just remember the martyrdom of St. Lucy and say my thanks for the light La Luz brings to me.