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| St. Lucy of Syracuse |
Begins, Wednesday, 4 December 2019
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Hymn: JESU CORONA VIRGINUM.
Jesus the Virgins' crown, do thou Accept us as in prayer we bow; Born of that Virgin, whom alone The Mother and the Maid we own.
Amongst the lilies thou dost feed, By Virgin choirs accompanied; With glory decked, the spotless brides Whose bridal gifts thy love provides.
They, wheresoe'er thy footsteps bend, With hymns and praises still attend: In blessed troops they follow thee, With dance, and song, and melody.
We pray Thee therefore to bestow Upon our senses here below Thy grace, that so we may endure From taint of all corruption pure.
To God the Father, God the Son, And God the Spirit, Three in One, Laud, honor, might, and glory be From age to age eternally. Amen
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Novena Prayer to St. Lucy, Virgin and Martyr
1). O glorious virgin and martyr, Saint Lucy, we behold with wonder the light of living faith which the God of mercy was pleased to infuse into thy fair soul; by the light of this faith thou wast enabled to despise the vain and fleeting things of this miserable world and to keep thine eyes fixed on heaven, for which alone we have been created; for thy spirit was not darkened nor thy heart ensnared by the honors, riches and pleasures offered thee by a deceitful world to the loss of faith and the grace of God; far from yielding to the wicked proposals of the impious prefect, thou didst show thyself brave and resolute so as to face even death itself, rather than prove unfaithful to thy heavenly Master. How greatly ought we to be ashamed who have been illuminated by the same faith and fortified by the grace of God, and are nevertheless unable to resist our guilty passions or to despise the crooked maxims of the world, or to turn a deaf ear to the cunning suggestions of our hellish foe. Do thou, dear Saint, obtain for us more light from Almighty God to enable us to see clearly the great truth that we are not made for things below but for unseen things above.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be.
2). In thee, O invincible martyr, Saint Lucy, the virtue of hope was most admirable: this virtue kept alive in thee an ardent desire for heaven, and nourished in thy heart a childlike confidence in the Lord our God and our most loving Father. Animated by this virtue, thou didst obtain for thy infirm mother the gift of health, when thou didst pray fervently for her at the tomb of Saint Agatha. Full of confidence in God, and in order to detach thyself still more from the things of earth, thou didst freely distribute the remainder of thy goods to feed the poor. Wherefore, if thou didst not lack courage and strength of mind to resist the cruel tyrant and to suffer frightful torments in thy fidelity to the faith, the only cause thereof was this, that thou didst put all thy trust in Him Who hath promised not to forsake us in the hour of danger and Who is our shield and defender, ready to work miracles in our behalf, if need be, as also happened at the moment of thy glorious martyrdom! Alas, we must make an unhappy confession: our overwhelming attachment to earthly things and our want of trust in God harden our hearts and deprive us of courage and steadfastness in the most dangerous occasions, and so we succumb to temptation. Obtain for us, Saint Lucy, a more solid hope in the Lord our God, that so we may deserve to have Him for our helper and our comforter in all the dangers that encompass us throughout life.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be.
3). Thy lively faith and thy firm hope, O glorious martyr of Jesus Christ, Saint Lucy, could not be separated from that fire of most ardent charity with which thy heart did glow, and which caused thee to shed thy blood and lay down thy life so willingly for the sake of Jesus, the beloved Bridegroom of thy soul. It is no wonder, then, that the flames of that material fire which was lighted round about thee by order of the wicked tyrant, were unable to touch thy body and reduce it to ashes. This outward fire was far too feeble by comparison with the inward fire that burned so brightly in thy bosom. Whereupon the impious prefect, seeing all his efforts to be in vain, commanded thy throat to be pierced by a sharp sword. Then it was that thy innocent soul hastened its flight heavenward to rest upon the bosom of thy Jesus, there to rejoice evermore in His heavenly sweetness.
Alas, how miserable we are! We lavish our love on things created and labor unceasingly to possess them, and then we find our poor souls not only unsatisfied, but even embittered and oppressed. Grant us, dear Saint, to be persuaded once for all, that our true happiness on this earth must begin with the love of God, Who Himself will be the true and only object of our perfect and eternal blessedness in heaven.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be.
4). Filled with confidence in thy mighty intercession, O glorious martyr, Saint Lucy, we beseech thee once again to plead for us in the presence of thy divine Bridegroom, Jesus, that He may vouchsafe to preserve in us the light of our bodily eyes and at the same time give us the grace to make a profitable use of the same; that in the day of resurrection our eyes may be radiant with that heavenly light which shall make them worthy to behold the unspeakable beauties of our true and blessed country. Amen.
V. Pray for us, O blessed Lucy,
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray:
Mercifully hear us, O God of our salvation, that even as we rejoice in the constant faith of blessed Lucy, thy Virgin and Martyr, so we may be instructed in sentiments of loving devotion, Through Christ our Lord Amen.
(Indulgence 300 days)
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