Feast Of Saint Lucy

I want to post more Holiday Themed Entires here so I decided to research some other Holidays that are celebrated during this season other than the ones that were are all familiar with (Christmas, Kwanza, Hanukah). I have always had fascination with these cute little girls with wreathes on their heads but I never really took the time to find out what they were actually celebrating until just now.

The girls in this picture are celebrating a Swedish Holiday known as "St. Lucy's Day" Or "St. Lucy's Feast". This day is not only celebrated in Sweden, Many other nordic countries participate in St. Lucy's day as well and also it is celebrated in Sicily as well (St. Lucy herself was a Sicilian). The Holiday falls on December 13th and is celebrated in congruence with Christmas in Switzerland. Before i get into all the ways this Holiday is celebrated I am going to give everyone the background info on why it is celebrated and who the holiday is about.

St. Lucy: Who was she? 

St. Lucy was a Sicilian born into a noble and wealthy family in Syracuse, Italy. Her father passed away when she was very young which meant she was raised solely by her mother. When She was a young girl she vowed to keep her virginity for Christ but her mother had different plans for her. When she reached her teen years her mother tried to force the girl to marry a pagan boy but Lucy of course, refused the marriage. Lucy's mother eventually developed a hemorrhage and became very ill so Lucy begged her mother to pay visit to the Tomb of St. Agatha in order to receive healing. Her mother agreed and she was cured soon after she paid visit to the holy site. After her mother was healed, Lucy told her her about her vow to God to stay a virgin and then asked if she could bestow her fortune amongst the poor. Her Mother agreed with her choice and she was let off the hook from marrying the young pagan man her mother had chosen for her. Of course, he was not very happy about this. This young man accused Lucy of being a Christian in front of a Judge and she was sentenced to serving life in a brothel (ironic huh? a virgin in a brothel..) As the judge's guards tried to drag Lucy away to her faith they were shocked that they were unable to budge her. She was then sentenced to be burned and amazingly she got past this consequence as well.  It was finally decided that a sword would be struck into her throat in order to punish her. The date of the day Lucy was killed is believed to have fallen on December 13 AD 310.

There is another story of St. Lucy as well. Some believe that she was working to hide Christians in the catacombs during the terror of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. In order to bring with her as many supplies and food as she needed, she wore a wreath with with candles attatched to it in order to free her hands from having to carry a lantern so she could carry all of her surplus.

How is this day celebrated?


This Holiday is celebrated in many different ways in different countries in Europe. I

n Sweden, the oldest (or youngest) daughter in each household traditionally carries a tray of coffee and traditional pastries called lussekatter (Lucy cats) to her parents before they arise in the morning. She wears a white gown, scarlet sash, and a crown of greens and four, seven, or nine lighted candles . Her brothers, wearing white shirts and tall, cone-shaped hats decorated with stars, and her sisters, all in white and carrying lighted candles, follow her. In many towns, a Saint Lucy is chosen to carry coffee and buns to each house. She and her followers, each bearing a lighted candle, sing carols as they traverse the dark streets while St. Steven, represented by a man on horseback, leads the way. The procession is done in memory of Saint Lucy's traversing darkened woods to bring bread and other food to the poor. 

In Switzerland, St Lucy strolls around the village with Father Christmas, giving gifts to the girls while he gives gifts to the boys. In Venice, folks celebrate the Feast of St. Lucy by enjoying fried cheese.
Italians eat small cakes or biscotti shaped like eyes, light huge bonfires, and conduct evening candlelight processions, all in honor of Saint Lucy.Sicilians pay tribute to a miracle performed by St Lucy during a famine in 1582. At that time, she brought a flotilla of grain-bearing ships to starving Sicily, whose citizens cooked and ate the wheat without taking time to grind it into flour. Thus, on St. Lucy's Day, Sicilians don't eat anything made with wheat flour. Instead they eat cooked wheat called cuccia. 


Below is A video of A St. Lucy's day Procession that was held at the Sweedish Embassy In Washington D.C Feel Free to watch it if you like choir music :P