This last weekend we celebrated St. Lucia's day with the girls in Casey's family. Since we actually all have Scandinavian heritage, Casey's grandma Anna thought it was fitting for us to start this new tradition. She had crowns of candles made for the little girls. We had hot cider and ebelskibers (little round pancakes with jam) that the girls served to us. It was so much fun!
Just a little history on what St Lucia's day is:
St Lucia was a young Christian girl who was martyred, killed for her faith, in 304AD. The most common story told about St Lucia is that she would secretly bring food to the persecuted Christians in Rome, who lived in hiding in the catacombs under the city. She would wear candles on her head so she had both her hands free to carry things. Lucy means 'light' so this is a very appropriate name.
In Scandinavian countries each town elects its own St. Lucia. The festival begins with a procession led by the St. Lucia designee, who is followed by young girls dressed in white and wearing lighted wreaths on their heads and boys dressed in white pajama-like costume singing traditional songs. The festival marks the beginning of the Christmas season in Scandinavia, and it is meant to bring hope and light during the darkest time of the year.
I like this tradition!
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