Thought for the Day
Feast of St. Lucy
I wish you a very happy feast. I will try to describe St. Lucy’s day here. We said we would go to churches of hers. The second one we saw stands in the midst of the poor. There were about fifty beggars outside, who set up a perpetual wail: “St. Lucy, St. Lucy, hear me, St. Lucy, I am a blind man! Give me something!” The church was crowded, there was a beautiful marble statue of the saint in front of the altar. We could still hear the distant prayers: “St. Lucy, I am blind, help me!” We sang the hymn to St. Lucy in her honour.
Letters, December 1886
We pray on this feast for those suffering from diseases of the eyes. St. Lucy is their patroness, and the saint of light, as her name implies.