About St. Lucy
Celebration in honor of St. Lucy, which takes place on December 13th, influenced the celebration of Christmas a lot. Before the change of the calendar, the celebration took place on a Winter Solstice, so it was considered a holiday of light (her name comes from Latin lux – light), rejuvenation of nature and fertility. Different beliefs and ceremonies related to this holiday exist around the world. There are many places named after this saint, including a small Caribbean nation.
Celebration of Fertility
Around Europe, people would plant wheat seeds on this day, either in the garden or in small pots, like they still do in Hungary. After Christmas, this wheat would be served to birds. In other places, people decorate their houses for this day, while in many Italian regions, the holiday is celebrated with large traditional feasts, that always include a special dessert – wheat in hot chocolate milk. In the Philippines, believers make large processions and carry the image of the saint. The most common belief related to St. Lucy’s Day is that the twelve days between it and Christmas symbolize the 12 months of the following year, and that the weather on each of those twelve days indicates the weather of each of the following 12 months.
Celebration of Light
In Scandinavian countries St. Lucy celebration is especially important as the holiday of light, because of their dark winters. There is a traditional procession on St. Lucy’s Day, mostly led by a young girl dressed in white, with a red sash, who wears a crown or wreath with candles on her head. In Norway, groups of girls walk through the streets carrying rolls and cookies in a procession, while people around them sing songs. In Sweden and Finland, it is a national holiday, one of the most beloved ones. They believe that it is important to celebrate the holiday as merrily as possible because then the winter would not be so dark.
Read an interesting story about Christmas Names next!
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