She was born c.283 in Syracuse, Sicily, and died martyred c.304 in Syracuse, her
relics are scattered in churches throughout Europe. Her name means light; bringer of
light.
She offered her life to Christ and had many temptations against her purity, but she
insisted that she was a temple of the Holy Spirit and that she would always keep herself
pure.
She was offered by her mother in marriage to a pagan, at a time when the Church was
being persecuted. Paschasius the rejected bridegroom denounced her as a Christian and she
was convicted to be martyred for her faith.
During the attempts to her life they took her eyes out, they tried to burn her to
death and they also tried to stab her to death. She died finally when a priest came to
give her Holy Communion. Her vision was restored before her death and she became a saint
that intercedes for eye diseases.
