A popular saying reads: " Saint Lucia, the shortest day ever ". This is actually a gross mistake, which has been handed down for some time now.
The shortest day is actually the one that coincides with the Winter Solstice , on December 21st, i.e. when the Sun touches the southernmost point of its annual journey around the planet Earth, therefore the minimum height with respect to the horizon that we see , and the astronomical winter officially begins.
But who was Saint Lucia? A Christian martyr born in Syracuse and died in 304, on December 13th. Orphaned of a father when she was just a child, she had taken a vow of virginity. His mother was very ill and together they had gone to pray at the tomb of Sant'Agata. Lucia had fallen asleep and had dreamed of the Saint who had told her not to ask her for miracles, her own faith would provide. And so it had been, her mother was healed.
In the meantime, Lucia had been promised in marriage to a pagan who, having rejected her, had denounced her as a Christian (persecuted at the time). Accused of witchcraft and sentenced to death, once doused in oil and set on fire, the stake hadn't even touched her. Finally she had been stabbed in the throat.
Tradition has it that her name is linked to the protection of eyesight because there are many stories that tell of how Lucia had her eyes gouged out in order not to give in to marriage.
(Unioneonline/ss)
