I have literally waited YEARS to celebrate Santa Lucia with my sweet daughter. Growing up in a household that took our Swedish roots VERY seriously, i'm always surprised that our family never celebrated Lucia day. So naturally when I found out more about it about 8 years ago, I started dreaming of the day I could crown our daughter with a wreath of candles and bake with her a plate of Swedish buns:)
Traditions have always been important to me. They bring a nostalgic gleam of safety and comfort, that the world is still right and good, and we are still loved. Maybe that's overdramatic, but in the craziness of the world today, I seem to find so much solace in repeating the traditions of my childhood, the warm and familiar feelings that I belong…this is my place.
So now as a mama to two (and hopefully more in the future), I have spent a lot of time thinking and praying and journaling over the traditions I want to start in my own home. My prayer is that my kiddos see Jesus, bright and beautiful and bursting forth to capture our hearts.
Sweden revels in Lucia day, which is December 13th. When I've visited with my cousins in Sweden, they all know the special Lucia song (which I've tried to learn in Swedish SO many times and have crashed and burned miserably...but am hoping to learn the English version for my daughter's sake!). There is an official Lucia service that is aired on TV the morning of the 13th that the whole country watches. I watched some on YouTube and cried it was so beautiful!
But the point of the holiday is to celebrate St. Lucia and the coming of light into the darkness. There are lots of stories that talk about Lucia's significance, but the two that I've read most are as follows:
1) St. Lucy, whose name Lucia refers to "light" is known to have been a Sicilian saint who suffered a sad death in Siracusa, Sicily, around AD 310. She had been engaged to a pagan, and she instead decided to give away her dowry to the poor. The man she had been engaged to was so enraged he reported her to the authorities for being a Christian where she was attacked and died a martyr.
2) Legend also has it that she brought food and aid to Christians hiding in the Roman catacombs, wearing a candlelit wreath on her head to light her way and leave her hands free to carry as much food as possible.
But the basic gist is that she was a kind and compassionate saint who cared for the poor and spent her life wanting to give to others.
I'm no expert, but the basic tradition in Sweden is that the first born daughter (if you have more than one daughter they take turns each year) arise early on December 13th and dress in a white dress, with a red sash, and a crown made of leave and candles. She bakes Lussekkater, or saffron buns, and brings the buns and coffee to the rest of the family who are still fast asleep in bed. The light from her candles signify the light of Christ coming into the world.
So this year, I got my act together and bought this electric candle wreath on Amazon, and this sweet children's book that describes one family in Sweden celebrating Lucia day. I prepped Avonlea a few days before by explaining who Lucia is and what the day looks like. We watched a service on YouTube and I read her the sweet book from above called Lucia Morning in Sweden.
Avonlea was So excited to celebrate it, I literally almost died of happiness by how much she was getting into it, haha! We put on her crown and white dress, tied the red sash, and I gave her a tray of buns and coffee. Before you start thinking I'm super organized, I'm not really. The night before I realized I didn't have saffron and cognac, which go in the real Lucia buns, so I just took gluten free sugar cookie dough that I had on hand and shaped them into the bun shapes, haha!! There are supposed to be currants on the buns, and I didn't have them, so I perused my trail mix on hand and found that I did have dried blueberries, haha!! It worked, and the memory of it was still special!
I made Kevin go and act like he was sleeping, and I put on Lucia music, turned out all the lights and let her crown light the way to our bedroom where she woke Kevin up all excited. We all sat in bed, eating treats, and talking about light coming into the darkness, and how Jesus is the light of the world. It was a sweet day, and it was pretty deep considering Avonlea is only 2.5 years old, haha! But she loved it and a few hours later, told me she wanted to "do it again!". Next year!!
Have you ever celebrated Lucia day?? xoxo