"You wear what? A crown?" A common question I got as a teenager when telling friends about St. Lucia Day. Celebrating an additional holiday during the Christmas season was always cool to me, it made me feel unique and special. My friends and coworkers were constantly intrigued by "that one holiday Becky celebrates where she wears a white dress, and wakes up in the middle of the night and greets family members wearing a crown of candles."
December 13 is a special day for the Swedish people, and many others around the world, as we celebrate St. Lucia, a Christian martyr.
St. Lucia - Patron Saint of Light
Lucia was an Italian woman from Sicily who lived during the Roman Empire. She secretly practiced Christianity under Emperor Diocletian's rule and gave aide to Christian who were persecuted. At one point, she gave her entire dowry to the poor. Her disagreeing, and betrothed husband, was upset by this and turned her in. Lucia was ordered to be burned at the stake (many stories say) but was filled with the Holy Spirit that she could not be moved and was stabbed at the throat and had her eyes gouged out.
The story of Lucia made way to the Christian Vikings where they fully embraced the virgin saint. St. Lucia Day is celebrated on December 13. Scandanavians see Lucia as a shining figure bringing in light to the darkest day of the year. The day marks the beginning of Winter Solstice in traditional Swedish folklore.
Lucia was an Italian woman from Sicily who lived during the Roman Empire. She secretly practiced Christianity under Emperor Diocletian's rule and gave aide to Christian who were persecuted. At one point, she gave her entire dowry to the poor. Her disagreeing, and betrothed husband, was upset by this and turned her in. Lucia was ordered to be burned at the stake (many stories say) but was filled with the Holy Spirit that she could not be moved and was stabbed at the throat and had her eyes gouged out.
The story of Lucia made way to the Christian Vikings where they fully embraced the virgin saint. St. Lucia Day is celebrated on December 13. Scandanavians see Lucia as a shining figure bringing in light to the darkest day of the year. The day marks the beginning of Winter Solstice in traditional Swedish folklore.
What you need to celebrate St. Lucia Day
Now that you know the history of St Lucia, here's how you can celebrate it on December 13. Traditionally the oldest girl in the family dresses in a white gown and red sash and greats members of her family in early morning hours with light, love and food.
The white dress represents her purity and light, while the red sash symbolizes the blood shed. On her head, Lucia wears a crown of candles often with evergreen. (My crown happens to be gold with five candles, there are usually seven.)
Lucia Buns - Lussekatter
She serves Lucia Buns (also known as Lussekatter or Lucia buns)
and coffee. My family grew up serving hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls.
But this year I decided to go for it and make the traditional Lucia
buns and pull out some Postum since we're not coffee drinkers.
Lucia buns were everything I'd hoped for and more. A couple years ago, I found a great recipe from King Arthur's Flour and finally used it. I can't believe I'd waited so long.
These buns are the perfect sweet bread. Perfectly buttery and sweet,
adorned with two golden raisins and pretty Swedish pearl sugar. The
saffron gives them the most beautiful golden yellow color, especially in
their traditional S shape.
I already have plans to make these again on Thursday. (A warning: make
two batches or make smaller buns because they will be gobbled up quick. The recipe makes 12 at the size you see in my post.)
I hope you enjoyed learning more about St. Lucia Day. It's a huge part of my Christmas season. It's a time for me to reflect on my dedication to Christ, my ancestry and some great memories with my family. St. Lucia has stuck with me through the years as we rotated which one of my sisters would be Lucia, to me sharing the holiday with roommates and now with my husband. Happy St. Lucia on Thursday and God Jul!
How to Celebrate St. Lucia Day:
What you need:
- a cute Swede gal
- white robe or dress
- crown of candles (Hemsjold sells a few.)
- Lucia Buns (Great recipe from King Arthur Flour)
-------- alternatively you could make cinnamon rolls
- Coffee, Postum or Hot Chocolate
- Coffee, Postum or Hot Chocolate
- Tray for buns and drink
- Alarm clock if you want to wake up early
- St. Lucia song
How to celebrate:
Gather your Lucia costume components and decide which female in your family will be Lucia this year. Make Lucia buns either the day before or day of. Set your alarm early enough to catch all family members before work and school.
Gather your Lucia costume components and decide which female in your family will be Lucia this year. Make Lucia buns either the day before or day of. Set your alarm early enough to catch all family members before work and school.
Lucia will enter each family members room with her candles lit and tray in hand. She gently wakes them up and leaves them with her goodies.
*If you don't wish to wake up early, set up your table in a festive manner with Lucia buns, drinks, napkins and crown. Play Lucia carol and other Swedish songs in the background.
*Special thanks to my sweet little niece for being my Lucia model!
More Swedish posts of mine:
Swedish Christmas Rice Pudding - Risgrynsgrot or Risgrynspudding
Grandma Beeda's Swedish Pancake Recipe
Swedish Christmas Rice Pudding - Risgrynsgrot or Risgrynspudding
Grandma Beeda's Swedish Pancake Recipe
3 comments:
Hi! Your cousin, Emily Farrer passed along this link to me. I'm not Swedish, but I did live in Sweden for 5 1/2 years. My husband served his mission there and then 4 years after we got married, we moved to Sweden so he could get his PhD. We loved celebrating St. Lucia day, though we never did the home stuff. Most of our celebrations centered around school and church performances, which are unbelievably lovely and special.
I heard the legend of St. Lucia in a different way. According the stories told to me, St. Lucia carried food to Christians hiding in the catacombs of Rome. She wore a crown of candles on her head to light as her way as she carried trays of food to the Christians. I suspect all the legends probably bear little resemblance to the truth. Whatever the truth is, the tradition is absolutely gorgeous. Sweden is very secular now, but they still hold onto this deeply religious holiday. They tend to focus on the meaning and beauty of light, especially in the dark of the winter. I don't think you can even really comprehend how important light is to Swedes in the winter, until you've actually lived there.
Here is a blog post I've written about St. Lucia Day in Sweden.
http://tiffanyswedemomisraeltrip.wordpress.com/2007/11/18/lucia/
This is the recipe I used, from one of my mom's Swedish books. Check out the method. It is so weird. You add the sugar and butter AFTER the first rise. But they work.
Great post to help us get ready for Sankta Lucia tomorrow!! It's the best way to start the Christmas celebration.
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