FEAST OF SAINT LUCY

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December 13, 2014

Luke, Chapter 1, verse 10-12:
10 Then, when the whole assembly of the people was praying outside at the hour of the incense offering, 11the angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right of the altar of incense. 12Zechariah was troubled by what he saw, and fear came upon him.

Zechariah was troubled and he was afraid.  I do not think this was Holy fear for Zechariah’s faith did not equal his fear and he was filled with unbelief.  His intellect outweighed his heart and as a result he was left unable to speak until the birth of his son as the angel told him.  That son was John the Baptist. There are times when we must listen to our hearts and not our heads.


Today is also the feast of St. Lucy.  Lucy is an excellent example of a person whose heart is filled with faith.  She is one of the church’s incorruptibles.  That is her body is still intact long after death.  She had a great heart of great courage.


Father Kenelm Digby Best knew her example of fearlessness when he penned in his book “A Priest’s Poems”[1] on St. Lucy:

Flames might not harm her: Saint Lucy stood fearless, Still as a statue's the neck which they smote: Scarcely another save, Lucy, was tearless. When the sharp dagger was plunged in her throat.


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