Lucy and Geminian

The Holy Martyrs Lucy and Geminian are honoured as martyrs of Rome in the persecution of Diocletian, around 300. Their veneration is ancient, but their story has come down only in legendary acts.

According to tradition, Lucy was a widow of seventy-⁠five, denounced as a Christian by her own son, Eutropius. Diocletian first tried to dissuade her, then had her placed in a cauldron of burning pitch, where she lived for three days. She was then carried through the city with weights laden on her body. As she passed the house of Geminian, a young catechumen, the statues of the gods in his house shattered, and a dove made the sign of the cross over his head. He followed her, asking for Christian instruction and baptism, and through his example seventy-⁠five people came to believe. In the end both were beheaded. A woman named Maxima buried them.

Scholars hold that Lucy is in reality the same as Saint Lucy of Syracuse, and Geminian appears to be an invented figure. The saints are commemorated on 16 September, as saints of the undivided Church, by the New Calendar.