mommydama | (no subject)

Today is Luci's nameday. I love this saint. Well, I actually feel a great deal of love for all three of my girls patron saints. They are all three amazing, and just seem so perfect for each girl. There have been times when I have felt their personalities so strongly in moments when I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that they were keeping an eye on the girls. Luci's patron is one of light and joy and I need to call on her to pray for Luci and all of us more when those dark days come.

St. Lucia, December 13
Kontakion:
We extol with fervent love thy most illustrious contest, and we praise and honour thee as a chaste virgin and victor; for since thou didst seek the beauty of Christ and none else, thou didst hate all things corruptible, O wise Lucia. Wherefore, when thou wast beheaded, thou wast adorned with an incorruptible crown.

Reading:
Saint Lucia was from Syracuse in Sicily, a virgin betrothed to a certain pagan. Since her mother suffered from an issue of blood, she went with her to the shrine of Saint Agatha at Catania to seek healing (see Feb. 5). There Saint Agatha appeared to Lucia in a dream, assuring her of her mother's healing, and foretelling Lucia's martyrdom. When her mother had been healed, Lucia gladly distributed her goods to the poor, preparing herself for her coming confession of Christ. Betrayed as a Christian by her betrothed to Paschasius the Governor, she was put in a brothel to be abased, but was preserved in purity by the grace of God. Saint Lucia was beheaded in the year 304, during the reign of Diocletian.

(Reading courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA, Kontakion courtesy of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Ever since we mentioned St. Lucia at Vespers last night, I've been meaning to look her up. Thank you for this. What a powerful intercessor she must be for little Lucy.

Who is Mari's patroness?

Mari's is actually St. Eugenia, which is her middle name. The nuns at the orphanage named her for the saint of the day on which the doctor guessed she was born, Decmeber 24th (she arrived at the orphanage on December 26th). Said correctly with the Spanish pronunciation, Maria Eugenia is a gorgeous name. It doesn't sound nearly as nice with an English pronunciation.

I think it's quite beautiful. I like when children are named for the day they were born - it seems to acknowledge how much of their lives are out of our hands in a way...God brought them into the world on this day, so we will ask the protection of the saint to whom the day is dedicated, know what I mean?

I also think it's so beautiful that Mari was named in a place dedicated to God, by women dedicated to God, who gave her a name in honor of an amazing woman. God was watching and guiding her, putting His people in her path, long before she was even given to her mother. It's a lovely story.

How DO you pronounce it?

PLease bear with my pathetic phonetic spellings.

Roll the "r" in Maria. Eugenia is "Eh-U-hen-yah". Spoken by someone fluent in Spanish the names flow together and sound like one name, some of the vowels sounds get left out and it sounds like "Mah-ree-u-hen-yah". This is why we call her Mari. It is "short" for her full first and middle names run together. At the orphanage, they either called her Maria Eugenia or Mari, but never Maria. She wouldn't even answer to Maria for a long time and still definately prefers Mari.

Oh that IS beautiful! I likes :)

Pardon the ignorance, but is this the same St. Lucia as is celebrated in Scandinavia? At fellowship on Sunday, some of the smaller kids came for part of the service wearing candles on their heads (the girls) or dressed as "star boys" (the boys).

That's the very one!

Yup! Brad is Swedish/Danish and we thought it was very appropriate. Luci is part Italian, so an Italian Saint (Sicilian, to be precise), venerated by the Nordic peoples seemed just about right

I was going to ask that same question...

Yes, she is the same saint. To repeat what I said in answer to the other comment, Brad is Swedish/Danish, and Luci is part Italian, so we thought an Italian (Sicilian) Saint, venerated by the Nordic peoples was very appropriate.