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The saints

St Lucy

She gave her fortune to the poor, and they could not move her.

Feast: 13 December · died 303 or 304 · Syracuse, Sicily

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The church and arcaded buildings of Santa Lucia al Sepolcro in Syracuse, Sicily, under a blue sky.

Effems, 2019. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Home / The saints / St Lucy

Syracuse, Sicily, 303

A young woman of Syracuse has persuaded her mother to give a great part of their riches to the poor.1

The young man to whom she was unwillingly betrothed denounces her to the governor of Sicily.1

It was the fierce persecution of Diocletian. The governor ordered her dragged away. They could not shift her.

01St Lucy

Immovable

According to the traditional story, in the strength of God she stood immovable, so that they could not drag her away.1

Finally, she met her death by the sword.1

02St Lucy

Light in December

Her feast is celebrated by Latins and Greeks alike on 13 December.1

The church and arcaded buildings of Santa Lucia al Sepolcro in Syracuse, Sicily, under a blue sky.
Santa Lucia al Sepolcro, Syracuse, built where tradition places her burial. Effems, 2019. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Her name means light, and her feast falls in the darkest days of the northern year.

Notes

  1. Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), “St. Lucy”. New Advent edition. newadvent.org

The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) is in the public domain; we quote the New Advent edition. Texts of the Holy See are quoted briefly from vatican.va. Scripture: Douay-Rheims, Challoner revision (public domain). Photographs: Wikimedia Commons, credited under each image; full list on the photo credits page.

Lines in the narrator’s voice, without a note, are our reflection, not a historical claim. Stone & Incense restates Church teaching in plain words; our wording is not an official Church text. Report an error.