
Lucy of Syracuse
c. 283 AD — c. 304 AD
Lucy of Syracuse gave away her dowry to the poor, broke her betrothal to a pagan nobleman, and consecrated her virginity to Christ—a triple defiance that led to her martyrdom around 304 AD. Her name means light, and each December 13, young women across Scandinavia still walk in candlelit procession wearing crowns of flames in her honor.