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Where did the meaning "blind" come from? Which came first, the saint or the meaning? I mean, was Cecilia patron saint of the blind and then that was the meaning, or...what? I'm kinda confused here.
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Faster, faster, faster, until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death. -Hunter S Thompson
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Caecus (m) and caeca (f) are adjectives meaning 'blind'. Caecilius is that adjective turned into a surname; if borne by a woman, the female form was Caecilia. This was originally a plebeian name, and might well have been used originally to refer to a blind person, or maybe to someone who had a blind spot - a kind of prejudice - about something. The name existed long before Christianity.
I'm a bit vague about saints, but wasn't St Dunstan the patron of the blind?
I'm a bit vague about saints, but wasn't St Dunstan the patron of the blind?
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Thanks
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Cecilia is basically a simplified spelling of Caecilia, the proper and original Latin form.
As is mentioned in the entry for Cecilia, the name is ultimately derived from the Latin adjective caecus meaning "blind" (plus a Latin diminutive suffix, so actually the meaning of the name is more like "little blind one"):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_diminutives_by_language#Latin (in English)
Names with a descriptive meaning first started out as informal nicknames, usually in order to distinguish two bearers of the same name (think of cases like Pliny the Elder vs. Pliny the Younger). Over time, some of these nicknames began to be used as legitimate given names (and ultimately, family names).
Since the name Caecilia was borne by Roman women who lived in the centuries BC, obviously the name and its etymology predate the saint (who lived in the 3rd century AD):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caecilia_gens#Members (in English)
Also, Cecilia was not the patron saint of the blind. Not sure where you got that from. She was the patron saint of music:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Cecilia (in English)
As is mentioned in the entry for Cecilia, the name is ultimately derived from the Latin adjective caecus meaning "blind" (plus a Latin diminutive suffix, so actually the meaning of the name is more like "little blind one"):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_diminutives_by_language#Latin (in English)
Names with a descriptive meaning first started out as informal nicknames, usually in order to distinguish two bearers of the same name (think of cases like Pliny the Elder vs. Pliny the Younger). Over time, some of these nicknames began to be used as legitimate given names (and ultimately, family names).
Since the name Caecilia was borne by Roman women who lived in the centuries BC, obviously the name and its etymology predate the saint (who lived in the 3rd century AD):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caecilia_gens#Members (in English)
Also, Cecilia was not the patron saint of the blind. Not sure where you got that from. She was the patron saint of music:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Cecilia (in English)
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Well whose the one who had the eyeballs on the plate in all the drawings? Or was it eyeballs..? I think. Maybe I got confused bc the name means blind, so...? Idk.
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I suspect Lucy of Syracuse is the saint depicted in the drawings you remember. She is indeed represented in art holding a plate with eyes on it. The following link shows one such painting, and further down on the page “eyes on a dish” is listed as part of her symbolism.
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-lucy-of-syracuse/
Also, it appears that Saint Lucy is one of several patron saints of the blind. Two of the other saints mentioned by the other posters in this thread, Saint Dunstan and Saint Odilia, are also on the list. Here is the link:
https://catholicsaints.info/patrons-of-blind-people/
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-lucy-of-syracuse/
Also, it appears that Saint Lucy is one of several patron saints of the blind. Two of the other saints mentioned by the other posters in this thread, Saint Dunstan and Saint Odilia, are also on the list. Here is the link:
https://catholicsaints.info/patrons-of-blind-people/
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Ahh, ok thank you!
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