This is the tale of Lucy, a young woman who died for the Christian Faith. This tale takes place during the reign of Emperor Diocletian, in the year 300 of Our Lord, or 1053 in Roman years. Lucy lived in a wealthy villa, owned by her mother, Eutycha, outside of the city of Syracuse.

  Lucy awoke one fall morning. Lucy was seventeen years old and had brown hair. Her eyes were blue and were like jewels that sparkled.

  She got up and began to dress. She had put on her blue stola and put on a green pala. She was draping it over her right shoulder, when her servant, Amata, entered the room. Amata was seventeen years old, had titian hair and blue eyes. She wore a white stola.

  “My Lady, your mother wishes to speak to you in her chamber,” Amata said.

  “Tell her that I will be with her shortly,” Lucy said.

  “Yes, My Lady,” said Amata. Lucy put on her sandals, and made her way to her mother’s chambers. She began to pray, in a low voice:

  “O Jesus Christ, I offer you today, my prayers, works, joys, sorrows and sufferings, for the praise of thy holy name, in reparation for sins, for the conversion of sinners, and in particular for the purity of my soul. Amen.” She entered her mother’s chambers. Her mother, Eutycha was seated. Her servant was working on her hair. Lucy knocked on the open door.

  “Come in,” said Eutycha. Lucy came in. Eutycha was forty years old. She had black hair that had a touch of gray in it, and green eyes. She wore a red pala and a yellow stola.

  “Please sit down, darling.” Eutycha motioned Lucy to sit down on a chair. Lucy sat down.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Have you eaten yet?” Eutycha asked.

  “No, mother,” Lucy replied. Her mother motioned to one of her attendants. The servant left the room. She quickly returned with a plate of bread, honey, and olives. Lucy began to eat.

  “Lucy, why must you wear your hair long, like a young girl? Why not wear your hair up like a young woman who is of age to marry?” Eutycha asked.

  “I wish to wear my hair long, mother,” Lucy replied.

  “Fine. The reason I called you in here was that I want to tell you that Virgil of Patavium is coming to see you again. He will be here at the fourth hour.”

  “Not again, Mother,” Lucy said as she stood up.

  “Lucy, since your Father died twelve years ago, your uncle has been the overseer of this farm. It’s time you were married, so you can become the overseer of this farm.”

  “Mother, I have chosen Christ as my spouse. I do not want to marry,” Lucy explained.

  “O come now Lucy, you cannot live that way. Who would run the farm? There are no such things as an unmarried woman, except for the Vestal Virgins, but you cannot become one because you are a Christian. Besides the book of Proverbs says: ‘Who shall find a valiant woman? Far and from the uttermost coasts is the price of her,’” Eutycha said.

  “There might be unmarried Christian women who choose the way I want to live, mother. Besides, it says in the prophecy of Osse:

  ‘Therefore, behold I will allure her, and will lead her into the wilderness: and I will speak to her heart,” Lucy replied.

  “The heart of her husband trusteth in her, and he shall have no need of spoils,” Eutycha stated.

  “And I will give her vinedressers out of the same place, and the valley of Achor for an opening of hope: and she shall sing there according to the days of her youth, and according to the days of her coming up out of the land of Egypt,” Lucy asserted.

  “Her husband is honorable in the gates, when he sitteth among the senators of the land.”

  “And I will espouse thee to me for ever: and I will espouse thee to me in justice, and judgment, and in mercy, and in commiserations. And I will espouse thee to me in faith: and thou shalt know that I am the Lord,” Lucy said.

  “Strength and beauty are her clothing, and she shall laugh in the latter day, said Eutycha.

  “Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain: the woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands: and let her works praise her in the gates.” Lucy said. Four hours later, Virgil and his guests arrived at the villa. Eutycha and Lucy met Virgil at the gates.