By Susan Ciancio
For a long time, I have had a special devotion to St. Lucy—the patron saint of eye diseases and blindness. She came to my aid when I encountered a very scary situation with my young daughter’s vision, and I regularly pray to her for her intercession with my own eye problems.
The story behind why she is the patron of eye problems may or may not be true, but we will get to that in a minute.
Lucy, whose name comes from the Latin word for light, was born in the late 200s to wealthy Italian parents. Her family was not Christian, but Lucy had heard about Christ and chose to convert, though she did not tell her parents right away. Unaware of her conversion, her parents promised her in marriage to a pagan man. Lucy refused to marry him, explaining that she had consecrated herself to Jesus and wished to remain a virgin. Angered, the man reported her to the local authorities as a Christian. At the time, Christians were mercilessly persecuted for their faith. And so in 304 Lucy was arrested and tried.
Here’s where some discrepancy lies. According to FaithND, “Some stories recount Lucy’s eyes being gouged out by part of her torture; some claim that she herself plucked them out before she was even brought to trial, in order to ward off her suitor. Her eyes were restored to her, however, and she was even more beautiful than before.”
Regardless of the actual events, Lucy was martyred, and the Church chooses to acknowledge her as the patron of eye diseases. And as her name means light, we cannot help but contemplate the fact that Christ’s light shined brightly through her to others and made her an example of steadfast faith.
Imagine how hard that must have been. She knew exactly what was in store for her when she was arrested and tried, yet she never denied God or her faith. She was so firm in her faith that she was willing to die for it. Are we that brave?
Thankfully, most of us will never have to find out, as we live in a country where that kind of religious persecution is nearly nonexistent. Yes, we may be ostracized and we may be ridiculed, but outright torture and death will likely not happen. For that, we are thankful.
However, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t pray to God and to St. Lucy for courage and then do our best to live that courage. And we can also use Lucy’s example to teach our children to have courage when it comes to morality.
Kids today face enormous pressure, as social media, TV, movies, and peers encourage and even make it easy to put everything else in life ahead of God. This makes it more and more difficult for them to speak up for their faith. They see “perfection” on social media and think they are less than. They see mockery of others, even by those in positions of authority—teachers, politicians, media personalities—and they think it’s normal. They begin to shape their views based on what the Internet tells them is right, ignoring what God and the Church say is right.
They forget that we are put here to care for others, to protect the vulnerable, and to befriend the lonely. They don’t realize that every day they have the unique opportunity to be a light to someone who is awash in darkness.
Jesus is that light to us, and so we must shine that light to others, just as Lucy did.
When we as parents live this example, our children will be more likely to live this way. But we must also have age-appropriate conversations with them about current events, about how to treat others, about dignity, about love, and about the importance of putting God before all else. This is why CLSP creates booklets for families and schools that help teach these lessons. We know it’s often difficult for parents and teachers to articulate their beliefs on their own, so we are here to stand in that gap and help. We are here to be the light to you so you can then be the light to your children and they, in turn, can be the light to their friends and peers.
St. Lucy was likely terrified when she was arrested and tried, but she had faith, and she allowed her faith to guide her. Nothing matters more than that. So as the days begin to stay lighter longer, let us think about the true light of the world—our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ—and let us resolve to shine His light to our children and to all those around us.