Today our Synod commemorates St. Lucia (or Lucy). From our website:December 13
Lucia, Martyr
One of the victims of the great persecution under the Roman emperor Diocletian, Lucia met her death at Syracuse on the island of Sicily in the year A.D. 304, because of her Christian faith. Known for her charity, “Santa Lucia” (as she is called in Italy) gave away her dowry and remained a virgin until her execution by the sword. The name Lucia means “light,” and, because of that, festivals of light commemorating her became popular throughout Europe, especially in the Scandinavian countries. There her feast day corresponds with the time of year when there is the least amount of daylight. In artistic expression she is often portrayed in a white baptismal gown, wearing a wreath of candles on her head.
From the Brotherhood Prayer Book:
Jesus Christ is the same; Yesterday, today, and forever.
Let us pray. Almighty God, who didst give Thy servant Lucia boldness to confess the Name of our Saviour Jesus Christ before the rulers of this world, and courage to die for this faith: Grant that we likewise may ever be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us and to suffer gladly for His sake; through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
I'll be doing a spot on St. Lucy today on Issues, Etc. at 3:30 p.m., God willing.
11 comments:
It's nice to see the real Lucia, and not the ghost-broad-on-the-ship-Lucia.
I'm still not into the candles on the head thing, but that's my particular knowledge. ;-)
Keeping in mind that you are viewing an image on a traditional Roman Catholic holy card
:-)
Yup. It's one of the medieval themed ones. As the legends around St. Lucy grew, they came to include that weird thing with the eyes. That her eyes were torn out before her death, but she could still see. So she's often depicted with her eyes in her head AND on that plate in her hand.
She's also one of the saints traditionally commemorated in the Canon of the Mass by Roman Catholics, along with the Pope who was martyred during the same terrible persecution, Marcellinus.
Well, the "weird" thing with the eyes relates to Lucy being associated with the blind. Catholic art tends to be iconic and representational of something more than meets the eye.
The prayer in the Roman Calendar today reads:
Lord, give us courage through the prayers of Saint Lucy. As we celebrate her entrance into eternal glory, we ask to share her happiness in the life to come. Grant this through your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God forever.
Nothing too weird there, no? Focusing on her faithfulness as a disciple of Christ.
Oh, one more thing, Pastor -- if you were to attend the German Catholic parish of St. Stephen on Cleveland's west side I suppose one could consider the magnificent woodcarved statuary (from Germany) "medieval" in that it represents the same beautiful sculpture still found in Catholic Churchs in Germany to this day.
I have no problem with "medieval". The world could use more of that beauty.
Now Christine, if you know me at all, you know that I would not consider medieval to be derogatory. Heavens! Rather, I meant it only in the chronological sense - it was in those days that the story of Lucia expanded to include the eyes business, I believe. The earlier stories didn't have that.
so, did you get pastries again this year from a certain deaconness?
Now Christine, if you know me at all, you know that I would not consider medieval to be derogatory. Heavens! Rather, I meant it only in the chronological sense
I offer my mea culpa and sincerest apology, while once again pleading my deep affection for Lucy (the canine, not Santa Lucia) as reparation for my intransigence.
I should indeed have recognized the context of what you said.
Jimbo,
The Deaconess was conspicuously AWOL all day!
We have a Santa Lucia festival here in Omaha -- but it's not on 13 December but in the Summer.
Given how the weather usually is on 13 December here, this is one time when I say well done to a little liturgical revisionism. Actually, the Santa Lucia festival is held in Little Italy here, the one time neighbourhood for Italian immigrants, not connected to Germanic types, and I think a May festival was always the Italian practice -- am I right Lucciola?
On the last one Nancy and I attended, she won a little rubber dinosaur at a booth, and promptly named it Gwendolyn -- don't ask, no idea where the name came from.
It's interesting that her name is derived from the Latin lux for light, and her feast is on what in the pre-Gregorian calendar is the longest night of the year, the winter solstice in other words. The pre-Christian Germanic types right along with Yule had a foreboding associated with the long dark nights, and the Lussi will come to punish those whose work is not done. I suspect the eye thing and the whole Lucia thing was mainly to divert an existing practice to a Christian content associated with light, hope and truth.
Neither the pagan origins nor the Christian adaptations should be allowed to subtract from the witness of Saint Lucy's life to the faith of Christ -- and I believe she would be the first to say so.
BTW, this was my mother's saint's day, her name being Lucille, an English variation on the name. However from her cultural background saints' days -- the one you were named for -- was not a big deal at all, unlike other cultures, so it was no big deal growing up.
I don't have a saint's day at all. There ain't no St Terence. He was a Roman playwright -- actually a north African made a Roman citizen. Mom wanted to name me Stephen, and then I could have gone for an extra present, the proverbial feast of Stephen being 26 December, the day good king Wenceslaus looked out. She lost, but I don't know how dad got the kid named after a non saint, not the usual thing in pre-conciliar Catholicism.
What the heck, my birth name was Douglas anyway. And Pastor McCain thought asking my "real name" was an easy question!
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