IX.
(DEC. 13). ST. LUCY, VIRGIN.
Then Agatha's renown spread over land and sea,
so that a great multitude out of Syracuse sought
the virgin's tomb, from a distance of fifty miles,
in the city of Catana, with great devotion.
Then came a certain widow, named Eutychia,
amongst other people, to the famous tomb,
and her daughter with her, the blessed Lucy.
The widow was diseased, so that she had a flux of blood
for the space of four years, and had tried many physicians,
but all of them could not help her, though she was but one[1]
Then it happened, at the mass, that the gospel was read
how the woman was healed, that had a flux of blood,
when she touched the Saviour's robe.
Then said Lucy, full of faith, to her mother,
'If thou believest, mother, this well-known gospel,
believe that Agatha has merited something from Christ,
since she suffered for His name that she might ever
behold Him in her presence, in eternal bliss.
Touch now her tomb, and thou shalt soon be whole.'
Then, after the mass, the mother and daughter
prostrated themselves in prayers at the tomb.
Whilst they lay there and prolonged their prayers,
Lucy fell asleep and saw Agatha
amongst hosts of angels, splendidly adorned,
and called to her thus, crying from above,
'My sister Lucy, true virgin of God,
why prayest thou of me that which thou couldst thyself grant?
Thy holy faith has helped thy mother,
and lo! she is entirely healed by Christ;
and even as this town is renowned through me, by Christ's favour,
so shall Syracuse be renowned through thee,
because thou didst yield thyself to Christ, in thy pure virginity,
as a pleasant habitation;' and then Lucy awoke.
She rose then trembling because of that bright vision,
and said to her mother, 'thou art mightily healed.
Now I pray thee, by that same One who healed thee by prayers,
that thou never name to me any bridegroom,
nor expect of my body any mortal fruit.
but, as for the property that thou wouldst give me for my pollution,
give it me for my chastity, as I am going to Christ.'
Then said the mother, 'thou knowest my wealth,
and I have kept now for nine years against all losses
thy father's property, and have increased it further.
First close mine eyes (in death), and then dispose of the property
lo! how thou mayst please, my dear daughter.'
Then said Lucy, ' listen to my counsel;
thou canst take away nothing with thee out of this life,
and that which thou wilt give at death for the Lord's name
thou wilt give because thou canst not take it away with thee.
But give now, in thy time of health, to the true Saviour
whatever thou intendest to dispose of at thy death.'
Thus Lucy frequently exhorted her mother,
until she sold the shining gems,
and even her landed property for ready money,
and afterwards distributed it to the poor and to strangers,
to widows and exiles, and wise servants of God.
This came to the ears of the nobly-born youth
who was wooing Lucy, who was named Paschasius,
an impious idolater, who enticed the holy maid
to make offerings to devils; but the Lord's virgin said,
'A pure offering is this, and acceptable to God,
that one should visit widows, and comfort exiles,
and help orphan children in their affliction.
I have not for three years been employed about any other deeds,
but have offered these offerings to the living Lord.
Now I desire verily to offer to Him myself,
because for some time I have had nothing to spend in His service.'
Then was Paschasius wroth, and they spake much,
until he promised her a beating if she would not be silent.
Lucy said to him, 'the words of the living God,
cannot be suppressed, nor put to silence.'
Then he asked her slanderously, 'What, art thou God?'
Lucy answered him, ' I am the Almighty's handmaid,
and therefore I speak God's words, since He says in His gospel,
'It is not ye who speak there, but the Holy Ghost speaks in you.'
After that Paschasius arrogantly enquired,
'Dwelleth the Holy Ghost in thee, in good earnest?'
Lucy answered the impious one, and said,
'The apostle promised those who preserve chastity,
that they are God's temple, and the Holy Ghost's habitation.'
Then the impious one said, 'I shall straightway bid men lead thee
to the house of harlots, that thou mayst lose thy maidenhood,
that the Holy Ghost may flee from thee, when thou art foully dishonoured.'
Lucy thus answered, ' no one's body is dangerously
polluted, if it pleases not the (possessor's) mind.
Though thou shouldst lift up my hand to thine idol,
and so, by my means, offer against my will,
I shall still be guiltless in the sight of the true God,
who judges according to the will, and knoweth all things.
If now, against my will, thou causest me to be polluted,
a twofold purity shall be gloriously imputed to me.
Thou canst not bend my will to thy purpose;
whatever thou may est do to my body, that cannot happen to me.'
Then the cruel one desired to fulfil his word,
that she might be led to loathsome pollution,
and began to drag her to the house of lust;
but God's might was displayed at once in the maiden,
so that the Holy Ghost held her, and fastened her as by a great weight,
so that the wicked ones could not remove the maiden.
Then they fastened ropes, in their cruel attempt,
to her hands and feet, and many tugged at once,
but she was never stirred, but stood firm as a mountain.
Then was the impious Paschasius perplexed,
and bade false magicians be brought unto him,
that they with their enchantments might overpower the virgin of God.
But when they sped not at all, he commanded oxen to be harnessed to her,
but they could not even so shake the maiden.
The murderer then said to the pure maid,
'What is the reason that a thousand men
cannot even stir thee, all weak as thou art?'
Lucy said to him, ' though thou call ten thousand men,
they would all hear the Holy Ghost thus speaking:
Cadent a latere tuo mille, et decern millia a dextris tuis, tihi autem, non adpropinquabit malum.
A thousand shall fall beside thee, and ten thousand at thy right hand,
but verily no evil shall approach thyself.'
Then was the impious one perplexed in his mind yet more,
and bade men light a great pile all round the maid,
and sprinkle her with pitch and bespattering (?) oil.
She stood then undismayed in the fire, and said,
' I have obtained of Christ in prayer that this deadly fire
may have no power upon me, that thou mayst be put to shame,
and that it may dispel all fear of torture from believers,
and take away from unbelievers their evil joy.'
Then was the impious one madly vexed,
so that his friends could not assuage his madness;
but they bade men kill the pure maid with the sword.
Then was she wounded, so that her bowels fell out.
nevertheless she died not, but continued in prayer
as long as she desired, and said to the people,
'I tell you of a verity that peace is granted
to God's congregation, and the furious emperor
Diocletian is deposed from his empire,
and Maximian the evil-doer is dead.
Even as the city of Catana within its walls
has the powerful intercessions of my sister Agatha,
so am I allotted by Almighty God
now to this city of Syracuse,
to intercede for you, if ye receive the faith.'
Whilst she thus spake, the wicked Pascliasius
was bound with chains, and led before the virgin.
He had previously been accused, for his cruel deeds,
to the Roman people, who governed all the land.
He was then brought in bonds to Rome,
and the senators commanded him to be beheaded,
when he could not excuse his evil deeds.
The blessed Lucy remained in the same place
where she was struck down, until priests came
and houselled her with the holy mysteries,
and she departed to Christ as they were saying 'Amen.'
Then the people reared a church on the spot where she lay,
and hallowed it in her name, to the Saviour's glory,
who ever reigneth as God throughout eternity. Amen.
- ↑ A quaint expression. Many physicians could not heal one patient.