Christianity has been persecuted right from the start. It was illegal, though tolerated, in the Roman Empire. However, if Christians came to the attention of the authorities they could be arrested, condemned and executed without any fuss. The general population throughout the Empire hated the way Christians took no part in public festivals, ignored the cult of the Emperor, and avoided positions in the civil service and other public offices. Christians were openly critical of ancient Roman traditions and would not join in the religious rites that were so much a part of Roman society and government. The Roman historian Suetonius claimed that Christians were involved in black magic. Tacitus went further and said that Christians were hostile to society and had no right to live. The first persecutions were spontaneous public reactions to a group that set out to be different from the rest of society. They were not religious persecutions per se – they were political and fed by prejudice. Jesus had been killed for much the same reasons. Official persecutions followed and many Christians died for their faith. The persecution during the reign of the Emperor Diocletian lasted from 303 to 311 and was very fierce indeed.
This week the Church celebrates the life of a young Christian girl who died in the first year of Diocletian’s persecution. The feast of Saint Lucy is on Saturday 13th. Tradition says Lucy was born in Syracuse in Sicily where Saint Paul has stayed for three days on his way to Rome (see Acts 28:12). It’s said that her father was Christian but not her mother who wanted her to marry a rich pagan but Lucy refused. There are many variations of the legend of what happened next but they all end with the mother being converted and the rich fiancé complaining to the authorities who arrested the family. Lucy was subjected to innumerable indignities and tortures – the ancient legends dwell at length on descriptions of the sufferings of the martyrs (definitely not suitable for children)1.
Her story is a mixture of myth and legend but there is enough of a root in fact to explain why she is so revered. She is mentioned in the first Eucharistic prayer where it says, “For ourselves, too, we ask some share in the fellowship of your apostles and martyrs, with John the Baptist, Stephen, Matthias, Barnabas, Ignatius,, Alexander, Marcellinus, Peter, Felicity, Perpetua, Agatha, Lucy, Agnes, Cecilia, Anastasia, and all the saints.”
When Diocletian’s persecution came to an end the Church was stronger than ever. Persecution and the example of martyrs like Lucy had encouraged the Church and led to its being respected for its bravery and persistence in the face of lethal dangers. Diocletian was succeeded by Constantine who recognised the inherent goodness of Christianity and how it could become a unifying rather than a divisive force in the Empire. He also saw the importance of bringing the organisation of the Church into public life.
Lucy was only one of many thousands who were killed in Diocletian’s attempt to clean Christianity out of the Empire. So why was she given a special place as a saint in the life and traditions of the fourth century Church? Lucy’s youth and perseverance made her a focus for numerous nameless examples of the same qualities. She represents all those other young people who disappeared in the ferocity of the persecution. Her reputation is an example of the encouragement of the Letter to the Hebrews, (written between 60 and 70) where it says, ‘Encourage one another daily, … We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly to the end the confidence we had at first.” (Heb 3:13-14)
That letter goes on to say, “since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses (i.e. the martyrs), let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” (Heb. 12:1) Lucy and her fellow martyrs helped to mark out the track for everyone else to follow.
Author: C B Whittle