Santa Lucía, Series: Saints and Virgins (2023) Pintura por José Gislero

St. Lucy of Syracuse was a Christian martyr who suffered martyrdom during the persecution of Diocletian.

Lucia was born to rich and noble parents around 283; her father Lucius was of Roman origin, and her mother Eutychia seems to be of Greek origin. Her father died when she was five years old and she was left in the care of her mother who educated her in the Christian faith. Like many of the early martyrs, Lucia had consecrated her virginity to God, and hoped to be able to dedicate all her material goods to the service of the poor. However, she had not obtained her mother's authorization to do so, and had even been betrothed to a young pagan.

Eutychia was suffering from a hemorrhage that would not heal, and Lucia persuaded her to undertake together a pilgrimage to Catania, about 50 miles from Syracuse, where there was the tomb of St. Agatha of Catania, virgin and martyr of the persecution of Decius, some 50 years earlier, where many miracles were worked. St. Agatha appeared to Lucia in a dream and prophesied that, because of her faith, her mother would be cured and she would be the glory of Syracuse, as Agatha herself was of Catania. Lucia's mother was cured there, and Lucia was able to persuade her to allow her to realize her projects of consecration and charity by distributing a large part of her wealth among the poor. But her betrothed, disappointed to learn of the distribution of the wealth, denounced her to Pascasius, the governor of Sicily, in 303, during the fierce persecution of Diocletian.

When Lucia was arrested under the accusation of being a Christian, Pascasius ordered her to make sacrifices to the gods. Then Lucia said, "Pure sacrifice before God is to visit widows, orphans and pilgrims who pay in distress and need, and it is already the third year that I am offered sacrifices to God in Jesus Christ by giving all my goods."

Paschasius condemned her to be delivered to a brothel to be raped, but with the strength of God she was immobile and the guards could not carry her away; they tied her with ropes on her hands and feet, but no matter how hard they tried they could not move her even when they harnessed her to a yoke of oxen.

Upon learning of what had happened, Pascasius ordered her to be subjected to torture with boiling oil and fish, but did not succeed in making her desist. Her eyes were gouged out, but she could still see; some legends say that she herself removed them to give them to a young woman who envied her beauty. Finally, she was condemned to die by the sword and pierced her neck with it. Before she died she predicted her canonization and her patronage as protector of Syracuse, the punishment of Paschasius and the soon end of the persecution, adding that Diocletian would no longer reign and Maximian would meet his end.

When her body was ready for burial in the family mausoleum, it was discovered that her eyes had been miraculously restored. She was buried in the family mausoleum.

Temas relacionados

SaintMiraclePortraitWomanBlue