From his youth, Zosimus served as a watchman to the tomb of the early Christian martyr Saint Lucy in the monastery bearing her name and enshrining her body near Syracuse, Sicily. When on one occasion Zosimus was so displeased with a task assigned to him by the monastery's abbot that he deserted the martyr's shrine, he subsequently experienced a vision of Lucy looking upon him with reproof. But in the same vision, he was consoled by the Blessed Virgin Mary. Thereafter, Zosimus remained faithful to his duty of watching beside Lucy's tomb and became a monk at the shrine. After thirty years spent in prayer as the lowly keeper of the martyr's shrine, Zosimus was summoned into the presence of the bishop of Syracuse. The prelate had been asked to select a candidate to fill the monastery's vacant office of abbot. Immediately upon seeing Zosimus, the bishop declared, "Behold him whom the Lord has chosen." As abbot of Saint Lucy's Monastery, Zosimus exhibited exceptional charity and wisdom. When later he was chosen to become bishop of Syracuse, Zosimus devoted himself to the instruction of the faithful and the relief of the poor.
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