13 December: Saint Lucy

Today is the feast day of St Lucy, also known as Saint Lucia of Syracruse. 10 things you didn't know about Saint Lucy.

1. All we know for certain about Saint Lucy is that she was born in 283 AD in Syracuse, Sicily, and was martyred during the persecution of Christians in the early fourth century.
2. She was, the church assumed, a brave young woman, and people wanted to know her story – since they didn't, people made things up and legends sprung up around her. In one such story she was helping Christians hide in the catacombs from the Roman Emperor Diocletian. In order to carry as many supplies to them as she could, she attached candles to a wreath on her head so she could have both hands free.
3. The story of her martyrdom is as follows. Lucy's mother, a non-Christian, had arranged for Lucy to marry a rich man. Lucy, of course, didn't want to. Despite not being a Christian, Lucy's mother went with her to pray at the tomb of Saint Agatha. While they were there, Lucy's mother was cured of a longstanding medical condition which was enough to convince her to convert to Christianity. As a Christian, Lucy's mother cancelled the marriage and let Lucy give her dowry to the poor. Her prospective bridegroom was somewhat miffed to say the least and reported her to the local governor for being a Christian.
4. When the guards came to carry her to a brothel where she'd be sentenced to forced prostitution, they couldn't lift her. They brought a team of oxen and tried to drag her but to no avail. In the end, the legend says, not even a thousand men and fifty oxen could move her.
5. Before her death, Lucy was tortured. The legend lists various tortures such as being burned alive, having a spear thrust through her throat to stop her prophesying doom for the governor and the emperor (which didn't work) and having her eyes gouged out (which is why she is often pictured holding a dish with two eyes on it). When her body was being prepared for burial, they discovered her eyes had been restored. There is an alternative version of the legend in which Lucy gouges her own eyes out, because a persistent pagan suitor admired them.
6. As well as eyes on a dish, she is often pictured holding a palm branch, which is a symbol of victory over evil.
7. As well as being patron of the blind, Lucy is also patron of martyrs, salesmen, writers, glaziers, labourers, peasants and saddlers. Places she is patron of include Perugia in Italy, Mtarfa in Malta, Syracuse, Italy, and the Philippines. She is invoked against hemorrhages, dysentery, epidemics, diseases of the eye, and throat infections.
8. According to Sigebert, a monk of Gembloux, Lucy's body lay in Sicily for 400 years until Faroald II, Duke of Spoleto, seized the island and transferred Lucy's remains to Abruzzo. It was later removed by Emperor Otho I in 972 to Metz and left in the church of St. Vincent. After that, nobody is quite sure what happened to it, but as with many saints, a number of places claim to have bits of her, including Rome, Naples, Verona, Lisbon, Milan, Germany, France and Sweden. Most of her body is still in Venice, although in 1981, her relics were stolen. Police recovered them on her feast day, five weeks after the robbery.
9. Her name means “light” which seems rather coincidental given the legends about her wearing candles on her head and losing her eyes. Add to that the fact that, in the Julian Calendar, the shortest day of the year would fall around her feast day on 13 December.
10. Another coincidence is that in Scandinavia, there was a pagan celebration known as Lussinatta, or Lussi Night, held on the same day. Lussi was a female witch or demon who would ride through the air with her followers, so it was a dangerous night to go out. Staying in wasn't necessarily safe, either, since Lussi could come down the chimney and kidnap naughty children. The whole household might be in for it if they hadn't completed certain tasks in preparation for Yule. Therefore, everyone had to stay awake and be vigilant (although in modern times, they tend to throw an all night party).

My Christmas Novella!

A Very Variant Christmas

Last year, Jade and Gloria were embroiled in a bitter conflict to win back their throne and their ancestral home. This year, Queen Jade and Princess Gloria want to host the biggest and best Christmas party ever in their palace. They invite all their friends to come and bring guests. Not even the birth of Jade's heir just before Christmas will stop them.

The guest list includes most of Britain's complement of super-powered crime-fighters, their families and friends. What could possibly go wrong?

Gatecrashers, unexpected arrivals, exploding Christmas crackers and a kidnapping, for starters.

Far away in space, the Constellations, a cosmic peacekeeping force, have suffered a tragic loss. They need to recruit a new member to replace their dead colleague. The two top candidates are both at Jade and Gloria's party. The arrival of the recruitment delegation on Christmas Eve is a surprise for everyone; but their visit means one guest now faces a life-changing decision.

Meanwhile, an alliance of the enemies of various guests at the party has infiltrated the palace; they hide in the dungeon, plotting how best to get rid of the crime-fighters and the royal family once and for all. Problem is, they all have their own agendas and differences of opinion on how to achieve their aims.

Not to mention that this year, the ghosts who walk the corridors of the palace on Christmas Eve will be as surprised by the living as the living are by them.

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