Stone & Incense Search
Start hereCurious, or no faithEvangelical, Pentecostal or ProtestantFrom another faithSomeone I love is CatholicBecoming CatholicI was Catholic once Today in the ChurchLibraryHard questionsVoices of the revivalTake the next stepAboutSources & methodSupport the site
The saints

St. Lucy

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

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

Read the story 1 min read
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.

Patron of the eyes2

01St. Lucy

Immovable

The old story says God made her so steady that nobody could drag her away.1

In the end, she was killed by the sword.1

02St. Lucy

Light in December

East and West both keep her feast 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.

Live it this week

Give something real away

Lucy gave her fortune to the poor before anyone could stop her. This week, give away one thing you actually value, not junk: a good coat to a shelter, real money to someone in need. Notice how it feels to let go.

Notes

How we know · 2 sources for this page
  1. Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), “St. Lucy”. New Advent edition. newadvent.org
  2. Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), “Patron Saints”. 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: World English Bible, Catholic edition (public domain); Verse numbers are modern, with Douay-Rheims numbers in brackets where they differ. 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 errorCorrections.