Virgin, martyr, born Syracuse, Sicily, 283; died there, 304. According to the traditional story, she was of a noble Greek family, brought up as a Christian by her mother, Eutychia. After her mother's miraculous cure at the shrine of Saint Agatha in Catania, Lucy was allowed to make a vow of virginity and to distribute a great part of her riches among the poor. This largess stirred the greed of the unworthy youth to whom Lucy had been unwillingly betrothed, and he denounced her to Paschasius, the Governor of Sicily. Condemned to suffer the shame of prostitution, she stood immovable and could not be dragged to the place of evil. Faggots were then heaped about her and set on fire, but again God saved her. Finally she met her death by the sword. Her name occurs in the prayer "Nobis quoque peccatoribus" in the Canon of the Mass. She is invoked against sore eyes, sore throat, hemorrhages, and epidemic diseases. Patroness of Syracuse, Sicily. Emblems: cord, eyes. Relics at Venice and Bourges. Feast, Roman Calendar, December 13,.