Although the customs and traditions vary from place to place, St Lucy's Day is a feast that children love because it brings sweets and presents, and in some places is even more awaited than Santa Claus and the "Befana" (an old woman who delivers gifts to children throughout Italy on Epiphany Eve).
It is difficult to trace the true story, but it is thought that the holiday commemorates the martyr saint of the persecution of Christians by Diocletian, who lived in Syracuse between 283 and 304 AD.
St Lucy is considered the patron saint of eyesight and of all those with eye problems; in classical representations she is always depicted blind or with a saucer in her hand containing the eyes that would have been torn out during her martyrdom.
The virgin of Syracuse is also considered the bearer of light, probably because it is said that the saint wore a crown of candles to light the way and to keep her hands free while bringing food and resources to Christians hiding in the catacombs of the city during the persecution. However, there are those who argue that this attribute derives only from the etymology of her name (from the Latin 'lux', light), which recalls the light during the longest night of the year. In fact, 13th December, according to the calendar before the Gregorian reform, was the winter solstice, and it is the day on which Lucy is said to have been killed, hence the saying: "Santa Lucia, il giorno più corto che ci sia" (Saint Lucy, the shortest day of the year).
Like Sant'Ambrogio in Milan, Saint Lucy has also acquired a great impact on popular culture over the centuries.
As mentioned above, it is a feast that has different traditions depending on the geographical area in which it is celebrated.
First of all, it is not a feast that the whole world recognises, but is limited to certain areas. The celebrations extend as far as Scandinavia, where "Luciadagen" is a day of lights, singing and biscuits.
In Italy, while in the south we go from the eight processions in Syracuse to the culinary traditions of Palermo and Trapani, with their typical dishes, in the north the Saint anticipates or almost overlaps with Christmas.
According to popular belief, on the night of 12-13 December, in several northern towns, the saint, riding her donkey, arrives at homes with gifts for children who have been good. The children write her letters with their requests and leave her bread, leftover polenta, or even just milk and biscuits so that she can eat. History traces this tradition back to the 16th century, when a miracle is thought to have occurred on the day of the solstice, the day on which the harvest was counted. The lands of Brescia were suffering from a severe famine, so some ladies from Cremona sent donkeys with sacks of grain to be left anonymously outside each house. Since it happened on the night between 12th and 13th December, it was thought to be a miracle by Saint Lucy.
In the city of Trapani, the cult of the saint has always had a protective meaning and function for the seafaring world. In the historic centre of Trapani there are two churches with the title of Santa Lucia. The church with this title that is best known today stands in Piazza Gen. Scio; it was built by the Capuchins in 1672 and housed a wooden statue of the saint by the sculptor Giuseppe Tartaglia. Since it is not currently accessible, the statue has been moved to the nearby church of San Francesco d'Assisi, where it is still much venerated, especially by fishermen; but the oldest church of Santa Lucia in Trapani was located just inside the ancient walls, on the extreme western tip of the ancient city, at the Convent of Sant'Anna.
In Trapani, the feast day is characterised by devotees of the saint abstaining from products derived from wheat flour, opting for those made from whole cereals or other flours.
This tradition derives from a popular belief in Palermo according to which Saint Lucy was responsible for a miracle: the end of the famine of 1646.
It is said that on that day, following heartfelt prayers to the saint by the people, a ship loaded with grain arrived at the port, an event interpreted as a miracle. The population was so hungry that the wheat was not used to make flour, but boiled and seasoned only with oil. Thus the culinary tradition of "cuccìa" was born.
Since then, to commemorate this miracle, no food made from cereal flour (mainly pasta and bread) has been eaten in Palermo or Trapani.
In addition to the cuccìa mentioned above, to which other ingredients have been added over time (cooked wine in Trapani, milk cream, ricotta cheese and chocolate in Palermo), in this two cities people are used to eating the famous Sicilian "arancine" (rice balls filled with rice, allegedly representing the saint's eyes) and "panelle".
