Today’s post is a guest post written by a dear friend who has adopted a simplified version of the Swedish traditions surrounding St. Lucy’s feast day, making them especially meaningful for her family with four littles. I’ve never attempted to celebrate this feast day at home, at least not yet, but have always wanted to. I’m so grateful to Mimi for sharing her home celebrations with us! Look for pictures and updates on the 13th! And as always, please share your family’s celebrations with us!
St. Lucy, Saint of Light
In the month of December, there are many feast days to celebrate. It starts with Saint Andrew, moves along to Saint Nicholas, and then there is Saint Ambrose, the Immaculate Conception, Juan Diego, ect. For the past couple of years, we have tried to make a point of picking at least a few to celebrate well (or as best we can) out of the many feast days. Having two older girls, the feast of Saint Lucy naturally made sense to celebrate.
Saint Lucy of Syracuse
Saint Lucy was an early Christian martyr who lived during the reign of Diocletian. After being discovered as a Christian, she was sentenced to death. She was burned at the stake, but the flames did not harm her. So, a guard gauged out her eyes and pierced her heart with a sword. Her eyes were miraculously restored after her death, and this is why she is the patron of blindness and traditionally shown holding a dish with two eyes. (Find more here http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=75)
We have become big fans of Saint Lucy. My second daughter frequently prays for her intercession and asked to dress up as her for All Saints Day.
Celebrating the Feast
There are various traditions around the world for celebrating the feast of Saint Lucy. Here is a more on the traditions around the world. We have somewhat followed the Swedish customs for celebrating. We are not swedish (as far as I know), but we have picked up their custom for celebrating the day. Truthfully, we have older cousins that began celebrating the day with these customs and so we though, why not try this too!
The feast of Saint Lucy occurs around the darkest time of the year, so the feast day is also known as the Festival of Light in Sweden. Traditionally, on the feast of Saint Lucy, the oldest daughter in the house wakes early in the morning and dresses in a white gown with a red sash (white for purity, red for martyr). She also wears a wreath with candles on her head as a symbol of light during the dark days of winter. Then, she goes around the house to wake the family, greeting them with fresh baked Lussekatter . Isn’t it a lovely tradition? Of course, my children are all under the age of six, and they were even younger when we began to celebrate. So, we have had to simplify things to make them work for us.
Simple Celebrations
Our celebrations include cinnamon rolls, candles, a prayer to Saint Lucy, and a craft or a coloring page. Some years they have included all these things, and some years just one or two things.
The Treat
Typically, we bake cinnamon rolls (from the can of course!!) in the morning. While they are baking, I have tried to have a craft or coloring page for them to work on and wait.
The Craft
For the craft, we have made a wreath with white candles. It is pretty simple, but the kids love wearing their crowns. I cut out a strip of green construction paper and several strips of white paper. Make the strip of green long enough to fit around the child’s head. Next, glue small triangle or flame shaped pieces of yellow construction paper on the top of the white strips. Then, glue white strips of paper, the candles, onto the green before I would staple or tape the green paper into a circle shape to fit on their head.
After the craft, we ice the finished cinnamon rolls, and place white candles in them. We light the candles, and say a prayer to Saint Lucy.
Prayer
O God, our Creator and Redeemer, mercifully hear our prayers that, as we venerate Your servant, St Lucy, for the light of faith You did bestow upon her, You would vouchsafe to increase and to preserve the same light in our souls, that we may be able to avoid evil, to do good and to abhor nothing so much as the blindness and the darkness of evil and sin.
Relying on Your goodness, O God, we humbly ask You, by the intercession of Your servant, St Lucy, that You would give perfect vision to our eyes, that they may serve for Your greater honour and glory, and the salvation of our souls in this world, that we may come to the enjoyment of the unfailing light of the Lamb of God in paradise.
St Lucy, virgin and martyr, hear our prayers and obtain our petitions.
Amen.
Then, we blow out the candles and feast! In years past, one of my daughters has worn the white dress, but this has mostly been the extent of our celebrating. This year, I hope to include reading the book Lucia: Saint of light, which my daughter received from Saint Nicholas. The book includes the history of Saint Lucy, descriptions of celebrations in various countries, and a song and recipe at the end.
I do hope that eventually we will be able to have the girls dress up, make the Saint Lucy buns, and greet us in the morning with the treats. For now, our own traditions have been a great way of remembering Saint Lucy, and my kids look forward to it every December.
O Saint Lucia, wearing white, lighting up the darkest winter night!
Mimi Campaigne is a Catholic homeschooling mom of four littles. With a background in art and photography she brings a simple, creative beauty to their feast day celebrations at home. Thank you, Mimi, for sharing your traditions with us!
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