Epiphanies of Resistance
There are conflicting accounts of how St. Lucia's eyes were removed, but the folkloric miracle of her story is that when her body was discovered her eyes had been restored.
Saint Lucia, patron saint of the blind and the one who brings light to long, cold winter nights is often portrayed with her eyes held on a platter. Historically she lived in Sicily in the early 4th century. There are conflicting accounts of how her eyes were removed, but the magic of Saint Lucia’s story is that when her body was being prepared for burial her eyes had been miraculously restored.
Saint Lucia represents the restoration of sight, the return of the light. She represents a kind of vision that comes not only through our physical eyes but through many other types of sense perceptions. Her feast day is widely celebrated in Scandinavian countries where people endure long dark winters. She demonstrates sacrifice and resilience through the inevitability of death, hard times, change and transition.
I draw musical inspiration from Saint Lucia, in part, because I was born with a visual impairment. My heritage is both Scandinavian and Sicilian. As if these correlations were not enough, the name “Lucia” was mysteriously stamped inside my childhood violin which I still perform on today.
On January 6 we remember that dark day of the insurrection of the US capital in 2021. Many of us are feeling fatigue and dread for this new era ahead of us. I will be offering a program of music exploring celestial magic making and the power of musical vibration to gather our strength in community and keep us shining through the darkness of this new era and new year. I will be premiering a new song in dedication to St. Lucia.
Creative Bond presents Epiphanies of Resistance: A Gowanus Arts Community Roundtable Dinner against Fascism
Monday January 6th
6:30PM
Saint, Lydia’s 304 Bond Street
Brooklyn, NY
Featuring music written and performed by Concetta Abbate
“Eyes in Hand
No Face to Hold
No Mind to Think
No Mouth to Speak
No Ears to Hear
No Heart to Bleed
Just sight upon eye
In outstretched hand
One hand to feed the hungry
In hiding and alone
For whom you have nothing to give
For whom you have nothing to share
But your eyes themselves
And light on cold winter nights
In trade for another kind of perception”
-Concetta Abbate
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