{"id":"st-lucy","name":"St. Lucy","title":"Virgin and Martyr","knownFor":"Martyr of Syracuse, Light of Christ","feastDay":"December 13","lifespan":"c. 283-304","patronOf":"The Blind, Eye Diseases, Syracuse","shortBio":"A young Sicilian virgin who consecrated herself to Christ and was martyred during Diocletian's persecution. Her name means 'light' and she is invoked for eye problems.","fullBio":"Lucy was born in Syracuse, Sicily, around 283 to a wealthy Christian family. Her father died when she was young, leaving her mother Eutychia to arrange a marriage for her. However, Lucy had secretly consecrated her virginity to Christ.\n\nWhen her mother suffered from a hemorrhage for four years, Lucy persuaded her to make a pilgrimage to the tomb of St. Agatha. There, Eutychia was miraculously healed, and Lucy revealed her vow of virginity and desire to give her dowry to the poor.\n\nHer rejected suitor denounced her as a Christian to the governor. When ordered to sacrifice to idols, she refused. The governor ordered her to be defiled in a brothel, but when guards tried to move her, she became immovable. Even a team of oxen could not budge her.\n\nThey tried to burn her, but the flames did not harm her. According to legend, when the governor asked how she could resist, she replied that her strength came from Christ. Some accounts say her eyes were gouged out, but God restored them more beautiful than before.\n\nFinally, she was killed by a sword thrust through her throat. Before dying, she prophesied the end of Diocletian's persecution and the peace of the Church. She died on December 13, 304. Her feast day, once the shortest day of the year in the Julian calendar, associates her with light conquering darkness.","miracles":["Became supernaturally immovable when guards tried to take her to a brothel","Fire could not burn her when they tried to execute her","Her gouged-out eyes were miraculously restored","Prophesied the end of Diocletian's persecution","Her intercession healed her mother's hemorrhage","Light phenomena reported at her tomb and during her feast"],"imageUrl":"https://page.gensparksite.com/v1/base64_upload/929cdefd26acdff9fa5ef6821b8347c3","imageAttribution":"The Last Communion of Saint Lucy by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1747-1748). Church of Santi Apostoli, Venice, Italy. Oil on canvas","orderByDate":304.2}