Saint Lucy

Since Lucy (via Theresa) was the first to ask, The first Saint I will profile this month is St. Lucy.  There are actually several Saints with the name Lucy, but I will stick with the one that most everyone knows - and likely the first St. of that name. 

St. Lucy was martyred during the persecutions of Christians at the beginning of the fourth century and she probably died in Syracuse (Italy, not NY).  She has been venerated for 17 centuries along with Agatha, Agnes and Cecilia as one of the four great virgin martyrs of the early Church.  There is not much that is known about her life, but many legends have sprung up about her.  One legend says that a pagan suitor praised her beautiful eyes, so she plucked them out and handed them to him.  Another is that her eyes were torn out by her executioner -- both would account for her being invoked as the patron saint of blindness and diseases of the eyes (and those pretty holy cards where she carries her eyes on a plate).

Her feast day is December 13, and is still celebrated in many European countries today . . . even in places that are primarily Protestant.