Winter is particularly dark in Sweden. The Lucia Festival, which is celebrated on December 13th, sheds light on the darkness. The eldest daughter of the house is allowed to embody St. Lucia. It is part of the tradition that she wakes her family up in the morning with singing – and serves everyone a traditional Christmas cookie, the Lussekatter. The girl typically wears a white dress and a green wreath with candles.
The Swedish Lucien bride does not only appear in the family, the festival is also celebrated in the whole village, in kindergartens, schools and retirement homes. It is considered the counterpart to midsummer night – although the shortest day of the year is actually a little later. “The Swedes don’t care about the date error, they celebrate the Festival of Lights every year with great joy. The custom is becoming more and more popular here too,” says Thekla Weißengruber, folklore expert at the Linz Castle Museum. “No wonder, it is a very nice festival that wants to give people hope that the days will get brighter again, that they will come back into the light.”
In Burgenland, Saint Lucia has also been venerated for a long time. “There is the so-called Lucia wheat. This is an oracle custom in which people plant wheat seeds in a bowl and hope that these will form a beautiful, dense green bush by Christmas. If that is the case, it should have a blessed year and a good one Harvest imminent. “
The legend
There are many legends about Saint Santa Lucia, who lived 300 years after Christ in the Sicilian city of Syracuse. According to tradition, she is said to have brought food to the then persecuted Christians in the caves and passages below the city.
Since Lucia needed both hands for this, she carried the candles that shone her way on her head. Furthermore, she is said to have canceled her wedding to a Gentile because she wanted to dedicate her life entirely to Jesus.
She became a martyr because her fiancé betrayed her, whereupon Lucia was allowed to be killed.
Source: Nachrichten
