History and curiosity of Saint Lucia

On December 13th Siracusa celebrates its patron saint: Saint Lucia. Do you know her history and why December 13th is the shortest day of the year? We tell you about it and we take you to discover the stops of the party.

History of Saint Lucia

Lucia was born in Siracusa in 283, daughter of extraordinary beauty of a nobleman of the city. She was promised in marriage to a rich pretender, but from an early age she consecrated herself intimately to God and, despite full paganism, she converted to Christianity without her parents’ knowledge. When her mother became seriously ill, Lucia went on a pilgrimage to Catania to pray on the sepulcher of St. Agatha where she promised to remain faithful to her vow of love for Jesus. And so she did. She renounced all her wealth to donate to the poor, dedicated herself to the weakest, orphans, widows and the sick, but her pretender, feeling rejected, denounced Lucia to the court of the Roman Empire on charges of being a Christian. She did not bow: she was tried and underwent atrocious torture. It was December 13 of the year 304 when the miracle happened: Lucia thanks to the Holy Spirit became immovable and miraculously remained unharmed, before dying with a sword stroke in her throat.

Five things you didn’t know about Saint Lucia

Why is her body not in Siracusa?

Her body was devoutly buried in the great Christian Catacombs of Siracusa, her homeland. But in 1204 the Venetians disembarked in Siracusa took possession of the relics and transported them to Venice, where she was named co-patron of the city. Today the body of the virgin and martyr is located in the Church of Saints Jeremiah and Lucia of Venice.

Is December 13th the shortest day of the year?

The feast of Saint Lucia falls near the winter solstice hence the proverb “Saint Lucia the shortest day there is“. Although the popular saying indicates precisely December 13th as the shortest of the year, in reality it is not so. The longest night of the year generally falls around December 21st-23rd, but until the medieval era the Julian calendar was used, on the basis of the calculations of which the shortest day actually fell on December 13th. In 1582 Pope Gregory XIII started the calendar reform and as a consequence the longest night of the year “moved” further.

What does the name Lucia originate from?

Her name Lucia derives from the Latin Lux which means Light, for this reason the saint is invoked as the protector of the eyes and she is represented with her eyes on the plate and the look at the sky.

Why is Saint Lucia the protector of the eyes?

It is said during the torture, Lucia’s eyes were torn and that’s why she became a protector of sight. However, there are no official sources confirming this truculent detail. The emblem of the eyes on the tray that accompanies it, is probably to be linked to the popular devotion that has always invoked her as a protector of sight, because of her name Lucia, which means light.

What have Dante Alighieri and Cristoforo Colombo got to do with Saint Lucia?

Dante Alighieri was very devoted to Saint Lucia and attributed to his intercession the recovery from a serious illness in the eyes. While Dante made it one of the main characters of the Divine Comedy, Christopher Columbus gave the name of the Saint to an island of the Lesser Antilles, discovered on December 13th.