[Image: Lucy before the judge, Lorenzo Lotto, 1523-1532]
Every December 13, Italy celebrates the Feast Day of Saint Lucy, a young Christian martyr who died during the Diocletian persecutions of the 4th century AD.
The veneration for Saint Lucy, also known as Lucia of Syracuse, from the Sicilian city where she was born in 304, soon spread to Rome and beyond; by the 6th century, the Church had recognized her bravery in the defense of faith.
Legend has it that her mother had arranged for her to marry a pagan. But Lucia had already decided she would devote her life to Christ. Lucia was able to convince her mother not to marry her after she cured her of her long illness. However, the rejected groom betrayed her by denouncing her as a Christian to the governor, who sentenced her to prostitution. When the guards arrived to pick her up, she would not move. They tried to burn her body, but to no avail. Finally, she was killed by a sword.
St. Lucy is the patron saint of Syracuse and of the blind, as her name is associated to light. Syracuse honors Saint Lucy with a week-long celebration, with fireworks, sweets and the vow not to eat pasta or bread. Cuccia, a dish containing boiled wheatberries, ricotta and sugar, is eaten instead to commemorate her intervention to stop a serious famine in 1582.
