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When I was in my first year of theology at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary, I was assigned as a tour guide at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D. C. My fellow seminarians and I would drive down to Washington twice a month and spend our day giving tours and serving Mass. One of my favorite sites on the tour, although we were warned as guides that we should never mention a favorite anything, was found in the crypt chapel in the west apse. In the apse were five side altars and above one of the altars was a mosaic depicting a lovely young woman holding a tray containing two eyes. This woman is, of course, St. Lucy, whose memorial we celebrate this week.

As a tour guide, I would tell of Lucy’s life: how she lived in Sicily in the 4th century and secretly consecrated her virginity to Christ and later was offered marriage by a Roman nobleman. It would seem that it was a perfect match — even her mother approved. But she declined the proposal, choosing instead to honor the vow she had made to Christ. Having been shunned by Lucy, the Roman felt jaded, as shunned lovers often are, and turned Lucy in to authorities for being a Christian. She was imprisoned, tortured and eventually put to death.

Inevitably, when I would tell this story to those on the tour, the question would arise: “So let me get this straight, Lucy died instead of marrying this Roman guy? Isn’t that kinda dumb? Why didn’t she just marry him and worship God, like on the side. Maybe she could have converted him. Wouldn’t that be the Christian thing to do? What good did it do for her to die?”

I always found that part really interesting, because I am not convinced that for Lucy, it was really a question of choosing life with the Roman nobleman or death for Jesus. I think it was more that she was so in love with Jesus, she didn’t want anything which was not part of him. Her eyes were so focused on our Lord that it wasn’t even an option for her. She was continually ready to join Christ.

Lucy mirrored in her life the parable that Jesus tells in the gospels of the wise virgins outside the wedding banquet who are unwilling to share their oil with the unwise virgins whose oil has run out. (Matthew 25:1-13) When we read the parable, a natural response is: “why don’t those virgins who HAVE oil share theirs with those who don’t have any?” Maybe the question should be more along the lines of, “why did the foolish virgins waste their oil?”

The wise virgins were saving their oil for the bridegroom. To share their oil with the other virgins is not even a question for them - not because they do not care about the other bridesmaids, but because they have saved their oil for the bridegroom and it is for him. In the same way as St. Lucy was saving her proverbial oil for her bridegroom, she had dedicated her life to Jesus Christ and there was nothing that could change the dedication of her heart.

During this season of Advent, I think it would be good for all of us to consider St. Lucy and her dedication to Christ. As we await the coming of our Savior, we must constantly look at our own lives to see if we are wise and ready to greet him when he comes. Through the example and intercession of St. Lucy, may our hearts burn with similar love for Christ, so that nothing we face on this earth can even phase our dedication to him. When he comes, may he find us with our lamps full, ready to enter the wedding banquet.