St. Lucy Defied Rome for the Eucharist

St. Lucy of Syracuse lived in 3rd-century Sicily during the Roman persecutions of Christians. When ordered to sacrifice to pagan gods, she refused. Ancient Christian tradition recounts that soldiers attempted to drag her away, yet she stood unmoved. Her body could be bound, but her will remained free.

Transcript

They tried to drag her. One man couldn't, then two, then many. Ropes were tied, oxen were brought, the order was given. She did not move. A young woman, unarmed, condemned by Rome. Not resisting, not struggling, simply refusing to move. Her name was Lucy, and Rome had no answer for her will. Welcome to episode 3 of Lent Daily, where we're sharing stories from our Catholic tradition marked by sign and wonder of God that call us to conversion. Today's story leads us to consider who we belong to when the world demands we bow.

Lucy was born in Sicily in the city of Syracuse to a noble family. Her name meant light and from the beginning her life reflected it. She was known for charity, modesty, and devotion to Christ. But her faith was tested not in comfort. It was tested in suffering. Her mother, Uthysica, had been sick for 4 years, afflicted with a wasting illness no physician could heal. Remedies failed. Hope thinned. When Lucy heard of a virgin martyr named Agatha, who had suffered and died for Christ, she brought her mother to Agatha's tomb. At the tomb during mass, the gospel was read about the woman who reached out and touched the hem of Jesus's garment and was healed. Lucy turned to her mother and said, "If this gospel is true, and if Agatha lives with Christ, then if you believe, you will be healed." After mass, when the people had departed, they knelt, they prayed, they wept, and Lucy fell asleep. In a vision, Agatha appeared, radiant, surrounded by angels, and she said, "Lucy, why do you ask me what you yourself can grant? Because of your faith, your mother is healed." Lucy awoke trembling. Her mother rose completely restored. And Lucy spoke at once. "Mother, you are healed. I ask only this. Never speak to me of taking a husband or a spouse. All that you have given me in marriage, give it instead to the poor, that I may come to my savior Jesus Christ. Lucy did not delay. What had been promised in marriage is now given away in arms. Jewels were sold. Property was liquidated. Their goods were distributed daily to the poor. Her mother hesitated at first. She urged Lucy to wait, to keep the inheritance until death. But Lucy answered her plainly, "God is not honored by gifts. We give only when they cost us nothing. If you want God's mercy," she said, "give while you still have something to give." And so they did. Each day, Lucy would remind her mother of this, and they continued to give her inheritance away. But Lucy was promised to marriage. And when the intended husband heard about all the wealth disappearing, he demanded an explanation. Lucy's nurse answered cautiously. She told him that Lucy had found a greater and nobler inheritance than his and that they were selling their goods to prepare for it. The one thing to remember is that back then wealth only moved one way, from a woman to the man she married. So he understood it in the only way he could, as another man wealthier than himself. He believed her and so he helped them sell whatever remained. But when he learned the truth that Lucy was giving everything away for God, his favor turned to fury. She had not chosen another man. She had chosen no man at all. He had been publicly renounced. Humiliated and enraged, he went to the authorities and he accused Lucy of defying the law of the emperor by calling herself a Christian. Lucy was summoned and for the first time Rome enters her story. Lucy was brought before the governor of Syracuse. His name was Pastacasius. He did not ask her what she believed. He told her what to do. Sacrifice to the gods. Lucy answered calmly. The sacrifice pleasing to God is to serve the poor. For 3 years I have offered him this sacrifice. Now I offer him myself. Let him do with his offering as he wills. Aacius dismissed her words. You speak like this because you have wasted your inheritance. Lucy replied, "I have placed it where it cannot be lost. I have never consented to corruption of heart or body." Anger rose. Pachesius threatened her openly. "I will send you to the brothel. You will lose your chastity and then your god will leave you." Lucy did not flinch. The body cannot be corrupted unless the will consents. If you force my body against my will, my chastity is not destroyed. It is crowned. The handmade of Christ is harmed only where she consents. Pachesia scoffed, "Your words will end when your pain begins." Lucy answered, "The words of God do not end." The governor pressed her further. You speak as if God himself speaks through you. Lucy replied, "For it is written, for it will not be you speaking, but the spirit of your father speaking through you." Pathacius grew furious. I will prove you wrong. I will show you who has power. Pacius gave the order to take her. So men stepped forward and they seized her arms. They pulled. She did not move. More men joined them. They strained. They shouted. Still, she did not move. Ropes were tied around her hands and feet. They pulled together. Nothing. Pastius ordered more servants forward. They dragged. They heaved. Lucy stood firm as if rooted to the earth. The governor watched in disbelief, saying, "How can a fragile girl resist so many men? This is the work of God. Add 10,000 more. They will not move me. Achesius then called for the enchanters. They muttered spells. They worked their arts. But nothing changed. Then the governor ordered oxen to be yolked to her body. The crowd watched as the animal strained. The ropes tightened. The ground shook. Lucy did not move. She turned to Petacius and said, "If your own efforts have proven that I am the temple of God, then believe. And if they have not, then you do not yet know how to test the truth. The crowds murmured. The governor burned with rage. Aius had had enough. If her body could not be moved, well, then it would be broken. He ordered a great fire built around her. Burning tar was brought. Resin was poured. Boiling oil was thrown upon the flames. Lucy stood in the midst of it all, unharmed. The fire did not touch her. And Lucy prayed aloud. I have asked Christ that this fire have no power over me so that believers may lose their fear and unbelievers lose their pride. The crowd watched in silence. The governor's authority had collapsed in full view. Then at Chesius gave a final order. A sword was driven through her throat. Still, she did not die. Lucy spoke to the people one last time. The church shall soon have peace. Those who rule by fear are already losing their power. And as Agatha guards Catineia, so I shall guard Syracuse. Rome could wound her body. It could not decide how her story ended. Lucy did not leave the place where she had been struck. She waited, not for mercy, not for rescue, but for a priest to arrive. He brought the body of Christ and Lucy received the Eucharist. And only then, when nothing else was left to be taken, did she surrender her soul to God.

So this is a story of St. Lucy that I found in a 7 volume work called The Golden Legend, which was written in the 1200s. So it's an an older volume, right? And the source goes back even further, but it gets put in this book. Uh Janelle, what stands out to you? Well, I love the little discussion between her and the governor and how she just goes on to say like, "You can't do anything to me without my consent. Like, you will not take my purity. You will not um defile me in any way because I need to consent for that to happen." Yeah. I just thought it was just beautiful. That's a great point. Like, for sin to be sin, we need to consent to it. And uh she's like, "I'm not consenting. Mhm. I'm not losing anything. Whether you send me to a brothel, whatever happens to me, I my my chastity is not defiled." I thought of this uh story and thought of the virtue of perseverance. Uh because um this was really not easy. And so I I thought maybe of you who are watching, are you struggling right now to persevere? Uh we're still near at the beginning of Lent, but maybe you came into Lent already kind of feeling depleted. Maybe you've been struggling with a relationship uh a loved one that it's a kind of a strain relationship. Uh maybe it's financial difficulty. Maybe you feel depleted in your physical body. You're going through some some sickness, some sickness. Um maybe it's your mind and you just have no rest up here or in here. And so you're you're feeling depleted and it's hard to persevere when you feel this way. So I wanted to share with you some wisdom from St. Alphonsus regarding this. St. Alonsus quoting St. Jerome says that many begin well but few persevere. My brother at present you have renounced sin and justly hope that you have been pardoned. You are then the friend of God. But remember that you are not yet saved. And when will you be saved? When you will have persevered to the end. So maybe you need a little bit of encouragement to keep on going because I I do feel like even though Lent is just at the beginning, um I feel like I'm at the end. So So I'm looking I'm preaching to myself, friends here. I was like looking for something to to hang on to to help me through. And this is something else I found. St. St. Alphonsus says, "In such temptations, then we must instantly have recourse to Jesus Christ and to his holy mother, frequently invoking the most holy names of Jesus and Mary. He who does this will conquer. He who neglects it will be lost." And here's some practical advice from St. Alonsus. He's just saying, "Call out to Jesus. Call out to Mary." And earlier in an episode, we said, you know, the most a best Marian devotion is the one that is most consistent. And so, here's something that we can do when we do feel depleted. Um, in those positions, we sometimes don't have the fortitude to maybe say the whole rosary that might happen or a great lengthy prayer. But you can breathe, right? And you can get out a single breath saying, "Jesus, help me." Or, "Mary, pray for me." You could also when you go to Mary in those times when you feel depleted, use her title in the area where she has overcome something you've struggled with. So you feel defeated, Our Lady of Victory, pray for me. Uh you feel attacked with impurity. Virgin most pure, pray for me. I made a reference to peace. There's no peace up here. In here, you're in turmoil. Queen of peace. Pray for me. And so, you can go to our lady under the title that she's victorious in the thing that you feel defeated in. And it doesn't take long. It's a quick short little prayer and our lady comes. So, with that, I look at St. Lucy. And uh the lesson here is I think um she persevered. A role could not end her story and the world cannot end yours. Share with us below what stood out to you and why. Uh we love learning from you and we'll see you tomorrow.