SAINT LUCY AND 22 COMPANIONS, MARTYRS OF ROME

SAINT LUCY AND 22 COMPANIONS, MARTYRS OF ROME - 25 JUNE

SAINT LUCY AND 22 COMPANIONS, MARTYRS OF ROME

Saint Lucy (Luceja, Lucia) was a pious Roman citizen (civis urbica) from the eternal city (Urbicaria). Taken into captivity by the barbarian king Auceias, he fell in love with her because of her beauty. But when she explained to him that she was already betrothed to Jesus Christ, the king was filled with awe towards her. He had a suitable dwelling allotted to her, and commanded maids to tend to her, giving them the strictest orders, in all things to give punctual obedience to this virgin, who worships the God who dwells in heaven.

Lucy, praying and fasting, thanked God day and night for this great grace. At the same time she prayed very often for the king and his house, and the king owed his brilliant victories over his enemies to her constant prayers, which is why he also honoured her as he would his mother.

After a stay of 20 years, Christ appeared to Lucy in a vision and asked her to return to her homeland; for martyrdom awaited her there. She related this vision to the king and begged him not to keep her any longer, which he gladly granted. Indeed,

Auceias offered to travel with her to Rome in order for himself to leave everything for Jesus' sake.

After a few days of her stay in Rome, Lucy was indeed reported to the authorities for being a Christian, duly seized and led before the city prefect Aelius, who had her beheaded because she refused to sacrifice to the gods. Seeing this, the king positively went and asked the prefect for his own beheading, convinced that the shedding of his blood would make him a Christian. So he too was adorned with the crown of martyrdom. Immediately afterwards twenty others were accused of Christianity, they too refused to sacrifice to the idols, and thereupon were also beheaded on orders of the same prefect, among them Anthony (Antonius), Hereneus, Theodore (Theodorus), Denis (Dionysius), Apollonius, Apamius, Pronicus, Loteus, Orion, Papicus, Satyrus, Victor and nine others, whose names are known only to God. Some of the Companions are spelled differently, depending on the source used, viz. Serenus, Diodorus, Dion, Papianus, Cotyius, Oronus, etc., while other martyrologies mention fewer names.

Lucy's martyrdom took place in the year 301, at the time of Diocletian's and Maximian's persecution of Christians. The Greeks venerate this Saint Lucy on July 6 and on July 1. Our Saint Lucy of Rome is a different person than [both Saint Lucy (December 13) and] Saint Lucy (June 1) who was martyred with many others at Thessalonica. (V. 11–14).

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 3, Augsburg, 1869, p. 867-77)

Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Saint Lucy and Companions may increase our devotion and promote our salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

➡️ Saint Lucy's entry in the Roman Martyrology

Sources of these articles (in the original German): books.google.co.uk, de-academic.com, zeno.org, openlibrary.org

WELCOME

Please pick your saints: January - Saints by date 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 February - Saints by date 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 March - Saints by date: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 April - Saints by date: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 May - Saints by date: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

ST JOHN BERCHMANS, RELIGIOUS - 13 AUGUST

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN AUGUST Saints celebrated on the 13th of August WELCOME! SAINT JOHN BERCHMANS, RELIGIOUS (Patron Saint of Altar Servers.) The eldest boy of a poor cordwainer, in a small Belgian town, John was ever a dutiful, prayerful, and studious child. Our Lord called him when but young to leave his father and his father’s house, to serve Him in the Society of Jesus. And because he was so good a son, it cost his father much to give him up to God; but he was too good a Christian to refuse outright. HE WAS SENT TO ROME John had hardly taken his religious vows when he was sent to the centre of Christendom, the holy city of Rome. His modesty, his purity, shone out as great virtue always does; and the young laymen who attended the lectures would come to gaze upon his beautiful and holy face, and go away the better for the sight. GREAT VIRTUE Three short years, and his last sickness found him sighing for heaven, and three days before the great feast of Mary’s Assumption in 1

ST LAURA OF CORDOBA, WIDOW AND MARTYR - 19 OCTOBER

WELCOME! SAINT LAURA OF CORDOBA, WIDOW AND MARTYR Laura, a widow and martyr of Cordoba in Spain, is mentioned in the Spanish martyrology of Tamajode Salazar, who refers to Luitprand, where it says the following: St Laura is said to have been of a noble family, and according to the wishes of her parents she married an equally noble man and gave birth to two daughters. After the death of her husband and her daughters, she went to the monastery of St Aurea, named St-Maria de Cuteclara, and after her martyrdom led the same for nine years as her successor. After she had made wonderful progress in all virtues, she was finally summoned to renounce the faith before a Saracen judge. But since she remained steadfast, she was first beaten very cruelly and then thrown into a bath of boiling pitch, where she remained in praise of God for three hours and then flew to heaven on October 19, 864. St Laura is of the 48 Martyrs of Cordoba. PRAYER: Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that we who

SAINT FEAST DAY FOR EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR

Search This Blog