Santa Lucia Day
We had a modest celebration this morning of Santa Lucia, the Italian saint adopted and beloved by Swedes. Lucia was a young woman who lived in 304 A.D. and gave her dowry to the poor. She was blinded, tortured, and decapitated for it. Saint stories are so grim! For me, well, I’ll skip that part.
It’s said that Lucia appeared to a starving village in Sweden with food and drink for all in need. She has captured the heart of Sweden ever since. (I wish wish wish I had a photo of collage-age Ian as a Star Boy singing to his professors in Upsala, Sweden, in 1993!)
Edit 12/14/2010: I got my wish!!! Ian’s mom came over today and brought some mementos from Sweden, including this photo from 1993. Ian’s in the back row, third from the right.
Last year was a big year for Lucas‘s second-grade class to celebrate Santa Lucia Day, since they were studying saints. They dressed up and walked through the whole school, singing to all the classes and delivering hundreds of Lucia Buns, which I helped to bake. There is a wonderful blog post here, which gives lyrics to the Santa Lucia song.
This year I tried a different recipe (from a Swedish cookbook we bought at Ikea) and made them in the “Christmas cross” shape. Because Ian and I went to a Christmas party last night, I was baking buns at 11:20 p.m. folks. They were yummy and lovely on our breakfast table this morning.
Today Lucas is home sick after being feverish through the night. Maybe we’ll make Star Boy hats for fun.
By the way, we’ve been reading a great book we found at the library called Lucia and the Light, by Phyllis Root and illustrated by Maria GrandprĂ©. It is not the story of Saint Lucia, but is a story of a courageous young girl who must go and rescue the sun from mountain trolls, who have captured it. (Asher isn’t too sure about those trolls.)
Hope you’re finding plenty of ways to bring the light into your homes and hearts this season.
December 13, 2010 at 5:08 pm
I so wish you had that picture. I’m recreating it in my mind and it’s killing me. I regret that we had cameras around so sparingly in our beautiful youth. I’m glad that has changed.
December 14, 2010 at 12:22 pm
NoNo, I agree completely!
December 15, 2010 at 11:14 pm
So great to see this post and learn more about different ways of celebrating St. Lucia….those buns do look yummy.
December 17, 2010 at 10:43 am
They were tasty! And this recipe was easier than many of the recipes I found online. I didn’t have to let the dough rise three times.
December 18, 2010 at 11:09 pm
What a wonderful post! 2nd graders at Davis Waldorf went around and sang to all of the classes this year. Wilson got to make buns in Grade 1. A special time of the year. đŸ™‚
December 21, 2010 at 10:20 am
Thanks for reading, Jennifer! There’s so much to enjoy about December. I had tears in my eyes the whole time Lucas’s class did that last year at school. I was lucky enough to follow behind them, carrying buns, and it was very moving.