Saint Lucy

Lucia of Syracuse died around 304 AD, executed during the empire-wide Christian persecution ordered by Diocletian. The details of her life are sparse, but her veneration took firm hold: by the Middle Ages she was widely honored across Europe, and in England her name remained familiar even into the early modern period. The Church placed her among the virgin martyrs — a small pantheon that includes Agatha, Agnes, Cecilia, and Catherine of Alexandria. Her feast day, December 13th, is still observed in the West as Saint Lucy's Day. What distinguishes her is the Canon of the Mass, where only eight…