The Scandinavian tradition of St. Lucia. The song, The History -- Lucy in Syracuse, Sicily transitioned to St. Lucy in Scandinavia.
Click here to see St. Lucia sung in four different countries
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Click here to see St. Lucia sung in four different countries
(click on lower right icon for full screen)
THE STORY OF LUCY IN SYRACUSE, SICILY
Born into a wealthy Roman family in Syracuse, Sicily (although her mother was probably of Greek ancestry), Lucy had consecrated her life to Jesus Christ and wanted to sell all her belongings and give them to the poor. Having lost her father at a young age, it was for her mother to decide if she could use her dowry to this purpose.
Lucy's mother was obviously not of the same mind as her daughter, and it took a miraculous healing to persuade her into allowing Lucy to spend her dowry for the poor. Lucy’s mother in fact had been ill for a number of years and not even the best doctors available at the time were able to help her.
Lucy convinced her mother to accompany her to Saint Agatha's tomb in Catania. Agatha had been martyred over fifty years before and was already considered a saint. While they were praying before her tomb, Lucy urged her mother to touch Agatha's relic with faith, and, after doing so, her mother was suddenly healed.
Upon their return to Syracuse, Lucy was finally allowed to offer her dowry as alms to the poor. In one story, Lucy was working to help Christians hiding in the catacombs during the terror under the Roman Emperor Diocletian. In order to bring with her as many supplies as possible, Lucy needed to have both hands free in the darkness of the catacombs. She solved this by attaching candles to a wreath on her head.
The young man to whom she had been betrothed was stirred by anger at having been refused by Lucy and by greed for his lost chance of getting his hands on her dowry. He decided to denounce her to the local governor as a Christian during a time in which this was still a prohibited religion in the Roman Empire.
First of all, the governor tried to break her will by sending her to a temple dedicated to sacred prostitution, but Lucy was immovable both in spirit and in body, in fact, the governor's soldiers could not move her at all, so they tried tying her to a group of oxen, but they were not able to drag her away from where she stood.
At this point, the soldiers were ordered to light a fire around her, but the flames did not touch the young woman.
In the end, they stabbed her in the throat with a dagger, but before passing away Lucy foretold the end of the Roman Emperor’s rule, and she received Holy Communion.
It was the 13th of December in the year 304, and she was buried on the same site where she died.
Local tradition sometimes also mentions that Lucy removed her eyes when her betrothed complimented her for their beauty, and handed them over to him on a platter for him to keep. A brand new set of eyes were miraculously restored to her thanks to her faith and perseverance in God. This apparently is only a legend linked to her name meaning light and to the fact that eyes are figuratively connected with the "light of a person's soul".
According to the ancient Roman calendar, the 13th of December was the shortest day of the year when the Winter solstice occurred. After the Gregorian reform of course, solstice falls between December 21st and 22nd, but the 13th has remained the day dedicated to the Sicilian Saint Lucy or Lucia, whose name comes from the Latin word lux meaning light, thus the link with this element and with the days growing longer after the Winter solstice.
Lucy is venerated in the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican and Lutheran Churches. The earliest document referring to Saint Lucy is a marble inscription dating back to the 4th century shortly after her death. It was found in the Catacombs of St. John underneath the city of Siracusa where she would often go to pray with other Christians during the persecutions of the Roman Empower
On December 13th, all over the world, in countries both far and near, Christians celebrate Saint Lucy's Day in a variety of ways and with all kinds of different traditions.
ST. LUCIA IN SCANDINAVIA
The pre-Christian holiday of Yule or Jol, was the most important holiday in Scandinavia and Northern Europe. Originally it was the observation of the winter solstice, and the rebirth of the sun. It brought about many practices that remain in the Advent and Christmas celebrations today. The Yule season was a time for feasting, gift-giving, and gatherings.
IT WAS ALSO THE SEASON OF AWARENESS AND FEAR OF THE FORCES OF THE DARK.
In Scandinavia when the Julian calendar was used, December 13 was celebrated as the longest night of the year until the middle of the 18th century. It coincided with the Winter Solstice. .
After the middle of the 18th century, the current Gregorian calendar was used that records the longest night of the year on December 21st equal to December 13th in the Julian calendar.
In the old almanac, Lussi was a female being with evil traits said to ride through the air with her followers who were called Lussiferda. On December 13th, the longest night of the year was called Lussi Night (LUSSI). It was a dangerous night when supernatural beings were abroad and all animals could speak. It was an echo of the myth of the Wild Hunt, called Oskoreia in Scandinavia.
It was believed to be particularly dangerous to be out during Lussi Night. Children who had done mischief had to take special care since Lussi could come down through the chimney and take them away. Certain tasks of work in preparation of Yule had to be finished or Lussi would punish the household. The tradition was to stay awake throughout the Lussi night to guard the household against evil. A modern version is to throw parties until daybreak.
In agrarian Sweden, young people used to dress up as Lussi figures on Lucia night and wander from house to house singing songs and scrounging for food and schnapps.
There is little evidence that the legend itself drives from the folklore of northern Europe, but the similarities in the names – Lussi and Lucia – and the date of her festival being December 13, suggest that two separate traditions may have been brought together in the modern –day celebrations in Scandinavia. Saint Lucy is often depicted in art with a palm as the symbol of martyrdom.
In Sweden, legend is that Lucia was Adam’s first wife. She is said to have consorted with the Devil and that her children were invisible infernals. Thus the name may be associated with both lux (that is- light) and Lucifer (that is - Satan). The origins are difficult to determine. The present custom appears to be a blend of traditions.
The Nordic observation of St. Lucia was first attested to in the Middle-Ages, and continued after the Protestant Reformation of the 1520’s and 1530’s. The modern celebration is only about 200 years old.
The popularity of the tradition is likely due to the extreme change in daylight hours. Perhaps the wreath and candles of Lucy are significant in recognition of the long Scandinavian nights.
The first recorded appearance of a white-clad Lucia in Sweden was in a country house in 1874. The custom did not become universally popular in Swedish society until the 1900’s when schools and local associations in particular began promoting it. The old customs disappeared with urban migration, and white-clad Lucias with their singing processions were considered more preferable than the youthful partying of the past. Stockholm proclaimed its first Luca celebration in 1927.
In Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland, Lucia (Lucy) is celebrated on December 13. A girl is elected to portray Lucia wearing a white gown with a red sash and a crown of candles on her head perhaps portraying the practice of Lucy lighting the way on this darkest of nights.
She walks at the head of a procession of women, each holding a candle. The candles are also said to symbolize the fire that refused to take Lucy’s life when she was sentenced to be burned. The women sing a Lucia song while entering the room. It is the melody of the traditional song Santa Lucia. The lyrics are fashioned for the occasion, describing the light with which Lucia overcomes darkness.
The pre-Christian holiday of Yule or Jol, was the most important holiday in Scandinavia and Northern Europe. Originally it was the observation of the winter solstice, and the rebirth of the sun. It brought about many practices that remain in the Advent and Christmas celebrations today. The Yule season was a time for feasting, gift-giving, and gatherings.
IT WAS ALSO THE SEASON OF AWARENESS AND FEAR OF THE FORCES OF THE DARK.
In Scandinavia when the Julian calendar was used, December 13 was celebrated as the longest night of the year until the middle of the 18th century. It coincided with the Winter Solstice. .
After the middle of the 18th century, the current Gregorian calendar was used that records the longest night of the year on December 21st equal to December 13th in the Julian calendar.
In the old almanac, Lussi was a female being with evil traits said to ride through the air with her followers who were called Lussiferda. On December 13th, the longest night of the year was called Lussi Night (LUSSI). It was a dangerous night when supernatural beings were abroad and all animals could speak. It was an echo of the myth of the Wild Hunt, called Oskoreia in Scandinavia.
It was believed to be particularly dangerous to be out during Lussi Night. Children who had done mischief had to take special care since Lussi could come down through the chimney and take them away. Certain tasks of work in preparation of Yule had to be finished or Lussi would punish the household. The tradition was to stay awake throughout the Lussi night to guard the household against evil. A modern version is to throw parties until daybreak.
In agrarian Sweden, young people used to dress up as Lussi figures on Lucia night and wander from house to house singing songs and scrounging for food and schnapps.
There is little evidence that the legend itself drives from the folklore of northern Europe, but the similarities in the names – Lussi and Lucia – and the date of her festival being December 13, suggest that two separate traditions may have been brought together in the modern –day celebrations in Scandinavia. Saint Lucy is often depicted in art with a palm as the symbol of martyrdom.
In Sweden, legend is that Lucia was Adam’s first wife. She is said to have consorted with the Devil and that her children were invisible infernals. Thus the name may be associated with both lux (that is- light) and Lucifer (that is - Satan). The origins are difficult to determine. The present custom appears to be a blend of traditions.
The Nordic observation of St. Lucia was first attested to in the Middle-Ages, and continued after the Protestant Reformation of the 1520’s and 1530’s. The modern celebration is only about 200 years old.
The popularity of the tradition is likely due to the extreme change in daylight hours. Perhaps the wreath and candles of Lucy are significant in recognition of the long Scandinavian nights.
The first recorded appearance of a white-clad Lucia in Sweden was in a country house in 1874. The custom did not become universally popular in Swedish society until the 1900’s when schools and local associations in particular began promoting it. The old customs disappeared with urban migration, and white-clad Lucias with their singing processions were considered more preferable than the youthful partying of the past. Stockholm proclaimed its first Luca celebration in 1927.
In Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland, Lucia (Lucy) is celebrated on December 13. A girl is elected to portray Lucia wearing a white gown with a red sash and a crown of candles on her head perhaps portraying the practice of Lucy lighting the way on this darkest of nights.
She walks at the head of a procession of women, each holding a candle. The candles are also said to symbolize the fire that refused to take Lucy’s life when she was sentenced to be burned. The women sing a Lucia song while entering the room. It is the melody of the traditional song Santa Lucia. The lyrics are fashioned for the occasion, describing the light with which Lucia overcomes darkness.
- IN Sweden, the custom involves the eldest daughter arising early and wearing her Lucy garb of white robe, red sash, and a wire crown covered with whortleberry-twigs with nine lighted candles fastened in it and awakens the family, singing Sankta Lucia, serving them coffee and saffron buns , thus ushering in the Christmas season.
- IN Finland, the first records of St. Lucy celebrations in Finland are from 1898, and the first large celebrations came in 1930, a couple of years after the popularization of the celebrations in Sweden.
- IN Denmark, the Day of Lucy (Luciadag) was first celebrated on December 13, 1944. The tradition was directly imported from Sweden as an attempt to “bring light in a time of darkness”. While it was meant as a passive protest against German occupation during the Second World War it has been a tradition ever since. The tradition is most strongly centered on Christianity and does not have much impact anywhere else in society.
- Historically Norwegians considered what they called Lussinatten the longest night of the year and no work was to be done. From that night until Christmas, spirits, gnomes and trolls roamed the earth.
- In the United States, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), which is the successor church to hundreds of Scandinavian and German Lutheran congregations, St. Lucy is treated as a commemoration on December 13, in which red vestments are worn. Usually, the Sunday in Advent closest to December 13 is set aside for St. Lucy, in which the traditional Scandinavian procession is observed.