St. Lucy

Their story

Lucy was a young Christian woman of Syracuse, on the island of Sicily, who was martyred around 304 during the persecution under Emperor Diocletian. Her name, which comes from the Latin word for light, has been honored since the earliest centuries, and it is prayed in Eucharistic Prayer I at Mass. According to the ancient account of her life, Lucy had secretly dedicated her life to Christ. Her mother, who was ill, wanted her to marry. Lucy took her mother on pilgrimage to the tomb of St. Agatha, a martyr in nearby Catania, and her mother was healed. Lucy then persuaded her mother to let her give her dowry to the poor. The young man she had been promised to was furious and reported her to the authorities as a Christian. The governor ordered her taken away to be shamed, but the story says that no one could move her, not even with a team of oxen. An attempt to burn her also failed, and she was finally killed by a sword. Later tradition connected her with the eyes, and she is often shown holding them on a dish. In Scandinavia her feast is celebrated with candles and a young girl wearing a crown of lights, bringing light in the darkest days of the year.