December 13th St. Lucy.

A famous early martyr of Sicily, put to death at Syracuse in the great persecution of the Emperor Diocletian in the year 304. Her name is in the Roman Canon of the Mass. Traditionally she was a girl who refused offers of marriage, gave away her wealth to the poor and was then persecuted by her suitor. The judge ordered that her eyes should be torn out (hence two eyes are her emblem) and she was put to death with the sword. Her shrine is in the church which bears her name in Venice. In Sweden, St. Lucy's day, being virtually at the winter solstice, has been turned into a festival of light whose popularity has spread elsewhere.