Saint Lucy   -   13 december

A virgin and martyr of Syracuse in Sicily, whose feast is celebrated by Latins and Greeks alike on 13 December.

According to the traditional story, she was born of rich and noble parents about the year 283. Her father was of Roman origin, but his early death left her dependent upon her mother, whose name, Eutychia, seems to indicate that she came of Greek stock.

Like so many of the early martyrs, Lucy had consecrated her virginity to God, and she hoped to devote all her worldly goods to the service of the poor.

In Sicily and among the Sicilian diaspora, cuccia is eaten in memory of Saint Lucy's miraculous averting of famine, while St.Lucy is popular among children in some regions of North-Eastern Italy, namely Trentino, East Lombardy (Bergamo, Brescia, Cremona and Mantua) and some parts of Veneto, (Verona) where the Saint brings gifts to good children and coal to bad ones. Children are asked to leave some food for Lucia (a sandwich) and for the donkey that helps her carry gifts (flour, sugar, or salt) and they must not see Santa Lucia delivering gifts otherwise she will throw ashes in their eyes, blinding them.