St. Lucia Day
St. Lucia Day is a holiday that is held on December 13 in several countries in Europe. Those countries include Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland.
Overview
The holiday is in honor of Saint Lucy, or St. Lucy. On this day, young girls – mostly the oldest daughter of the house – dress like Saint Lucia in a white robe and a crown of candles. There are parades, pageants, and the girl playing Lucia serves cakes. They also sing special songs. Here is one of the songs:
The night treads heavily
around yards and dwellings
In places unreached by sun,
the shadows brood
Into our dark house, she comes,
bearing lighted candles,
Saint Lucia, Saint Lucia.
The Lucia celebrations also include ginger snaps and sweet, saffron-flavored buns (lussekatter) shaped like curled-up cats and with raisin eyes. People eat them with glögg or coffee.
St. Lucia Day Media
A Saint Lucy procession in Sweden, 2007
Lucy by Cosimo Rosselli, Florence, c. 1470, tempera on panel
Albert Szent-Györgyi, who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1937, here at that year's Saint Lucy celebration in Stockholm
Swedish girls singing during Saint Lucy's Day (Lucia) celebrations in Vienna, Austria.
Lucia procession at a meeting in the Swedish parliament. The so-called "star boys" follow Lucia in the procession.
Saint Lucy's Day 1848 by Fritz von Dardel
Saint Lucy's Day celebration in the church of Borgholm, Sweden 2012
Christmas season card with Lucia in the snow
Danish girls in the Lucia procession at a Helsingør public school, 2001
Lucia buns, made with saffron
