Today is the feastday of St. Lucy, a martyr from Syracuse, Sicily, who was born in the third century. She was a wealthy young Christian of Greek ancestry who vowed her entire life to Christ at an early age. Lucy's mother, Eutychia, was cured of a terminal illness when Lucy journeyed with her to the tomb of the famous martyr, St. Agatha. Lucy had a vision of the Saint, who told her that one day she would die a martyr's death and join her in heaven. Lucy was pursued by a wealthy pagan named Paschasius, who denounced her as a Christian after she rejected him. The governor of Sicily sentenced her to forced prostitution, and when this failed, the governor ordered her to death. She was tortured, and according to legend, her eyes were gouged out. (Other sources claim that an admirer repeatedly commented on the beauty of Lucy's eyes, so she gouged them out herself and sent them on a platter to the man.) The governor even attempted to have her burned at the stake, but it failed. She was eventually stabbed in the throat and died immediatley. St. Lucy died in Sicily in 304. She is also mentioned in the Canon of the Mass. She is the patroness the blind, eye afflictions, throat infections and Syracuse, Sicily.
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