St. Lucy: Lauds & Vespers: The Roman Breviary

It was a sad day, when the mad revisers of the liturgy forgot what legenda means and abolished everything in our prayer that could be dismissed as mere ‘legend’. What legenda means is not ‘something that never happened’ but rather ‘something that ought to be read’.

St. Lucy is a perfect example of a ‘legend’ in the Latin sense of the word.

1.      Lucy comes from lux, which means light: it is beautiful, all its grace is in its appearance, you cannot get it dirty, even in a dirty place it is clean, light shines in straight lines, it crosses distances without losing speed.

2.  So, St. Lucy: she has the beauty of virginity, no corruption, charity without any impure love, she went straight to God without any deviation, advanced in God’s work without neglect or delay.

And that’s just the first paragraph of Jacobus de Voragine’ medieval best-seller, The Golden Legend. But maybe you do not have time for all that. It used to be that the Breviary itself told the story in the antiphons:

Oránte sancta Lúcia, * appáruit ei beáta Agatha, et consolabátur ancíllam Christi.

While St. Lucy was praying, * the blessed Agatha appeared unto her, and consoled the handmaiden of Christ.

Saints  make other saints. Antiphon to antiphon Agatha and Lucy grow together. 

Lúcia virgo, * quid a me petis quod ipsa póteris præstáre contínuo matri tuæ?

O virgin Lucy, * wherefore askest thou of me what thou canst thyself forthwith obtain for thy mother?

Mom is ill with a flow of blood (Dad had already died). Notice what happens: Lucy wants Agatha to pray; Agatha wants Lucy to pray. It does not matter who does it, but everybody has to pray.

Per te, Lúcia virgo, * cívitas Syracusána decorábitur a Dómino Iesu Christo.

Through thee, O virgin Lucy, the city of Syracuse shall be made glorious by the Lord Jesus Christ.

We think that we are not supposed to root for the home team, when we are praying. But virgins and martyrs, not to mention virgin-martyrs know perfectly well that God plants us in a particular place, at a particular time, for a particular purpose.

Benedíco te, * Pater Dómini mei Iesu Christi, quia per Fílium tuum ignis exstínctus est a látere meo.

I bless thee, O Father of my Lord Jesus Christ, for through thy Son the fire was extinguished round about me.

Big miracle, little miracle, you have to give thanks and bless the Father, even though you can only bless the Father, if you follow the example of his Son. That s what a Virgin Martyr does, celibate and cross bound

Soror mea, Lúcia, * virgo Deo devóta, quid a me petis, quod ipsa póteris præstáre contínuo matri tuæ?

Lucy, my sister, thou virgin consecrated to God, wherefore askest thou of me what thou canst thyself forthwith obtain for thy mother?

Above Lucy is twice addressed as Lucia virgo but now she is addressed as “Sister”. It beats me how some modern folks think the old ways of the Church are out-of-date. Here is what we now call 'empowerment'. Agatha to Lucy: “go on, you can do it.”

I really should go back to the old Roman Breviary so I can be up-to-date.