St. Lucy is a virgin and martyr of Syracuse in Sicily, whose feast is celebrated on Dec. 13.
According to tradition, St. Lucy was born to rich and noble parents in the year 283.
Her father was of Roman origin, but his early death left her dependent upon her mother, whose name, Eutychia, seems to indicate that she was of Greek heritage.
Like so many of the early martyrs, Lucy had consecrated her virginity to God, and she hoped to devote all her worldly goods to the service of the poor.
Her mother arranged a marriage for her, but for three years she managed to postpone the marriage. Lucy prayed at the tomb of St. Agatha to change her mother’s mind about her faith. As a result, her mother's long haemorrhagic illness was cured, and she consented to Lucy's desire to live for God.
St. Lucy’s rejected bridegroom, Paschasius, denounced Lucy as a Christian. The governor planned to force her into prostitution, but when guards went to fetch her, they could not move her even when they hitched her to a team of oxen. The governor ordered her to be killed instead.
After a gruesome torture that included having her eyes torn out, she was surrounded by bundles of wood that were set afire, but the fire quickly died out. She prophesied against her persecutors, and she was then executed by being stabbed to death with a dagger.
Legend says her eyesight was restored before her death. This and the meaning of her name led to her patronage with eyes; the blind, eye trouble, and other eye ailments.
— Catholic News Agency
Detail of a stained glass window depicting St. Lucy at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Monroe, N.C.