Saint Lucy’s Day

On December 13, the liturgical memory of the Virgin and Martyr Saint Lucy is celebrated. A young woman from the 3rd century, she found in Jesus Christ the reason for her life and consecrated herself to Him in body and soul. Such devotion led to her persecution, condemnation, torture, and death. Among the punishments inflicted, she was blinded, which poetically contradicts her name. Lucy derives from Lux, meaning light or bearer of light. Thus, Lucy, despite being visually impaired and even after being martyred, continued to be a bearer of the light of Jesus Christ through the centuries. For the city of Viana do Castelo, Lucy was also a bearer of Christ’s light, to the point of becoming the cause for the current existence of this sanctuary to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.