All the family moments that you want, without all the stuff that you don’t.
Growing up, I didn’t know too much about my Scandinavian roots but it was important to my father’s family to incorporate Swedish traditions into our Christmas Eve gathering. Some of these traditions revolved around traditional food and drink but the most important one was incorporating the traditions of St. Lucia’s Day - also known as St. Lucy’s Day or The Feast of St. Lucy.
St. Lucia’s Day is observed every year on December 13th. The holiday is celebrated mostly in Scandinavia and Italy. This holiday commemorates Lucia of Syracuse who lived during the 4th century. As legend has it, Lucia brought food to Christians in hiding. She wore a wreath with candles on her head to light her way as well as allow her hands to be free to carry food.
Today, there are a number of ways that people celebrate St. Lucia’s Day or incorporate its traditions into their Christmas celebrations. In a tradition that is more common among Swedes, a woman or girl will take on the role of St. Lucia and pass out food or desserts to guests on Christmas Eve. She may wear a wreath with candles and a white dress with a red sash. This tradition in particular is one my family adopted. The first year I was “St. Lucia”, I wore a battery operated candle wreath we purchased from American Girl (remember Kirsten Larson?) with a white dress and red sash. I served appetizers to family members that joined us for Christmas Eve dinner. While this role is traditionally filled by the oldest daughter, my sisters and I (I have 3 of them!) took turns as “St. Lucia” each Christmas Eve.
Now that my sisters and I are adults and have children of our own, the duties of St. Lucia will be shared among my 3 daughters and 3 nieces each Christmas Eve. The battery operated candle wreath my parents purchased decades ago still lights up and my daughters look forward to taking turns wearing it every year. While we may have altered the tradition a bit, I am glad we have made it something unique to our family and hopefully the tradition will continue for generations to come.
All the family moments that you want, without all
the stuff that you don’t.
