Wednesday, December 17, 2008

St Lucia

So I am terrible at posting things to do before the actual date.. this is 4 days late.. sorry :) But ever since I saw a blog post about celebrating St Lucia day (back in February when I started blogging) I have wanted to make sure I did a little thing with the girls.. but with such a hectic weekend we missed by a few days... but hey they don't know.

For those who don't know what St Lucia day is.. here is the rundown

St. Lucia was an Italian saint who suffered the martyr death under the Roman Emperor Diocletian in Syracuse, Sicily around 300 AD. She is known by working to help Christians hiding in the catacombs, and in order to bring with her as much food/supplies as possible, she needed to have both hands free. She solved this problem by attaching candles to a wreath on her head.

Saint Lucy's Day (Santa Lucia, Saint Lucia) is the Church feast day dedicated to St. Lucy and is observed on December 13. It retains traditional forms of celebration mainly in Scandinavia, parts of the United States and southern Europe. It is celebrated in Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Norway, Finland, Malta, Italy, Bosnia, Iceland, and Croatia. In the United States, people in areas of Minnesota and other states with Scandinavian roots continue to celebrate the holiday, often centered around church events. Before the reform of the Gregorian calendar in the 16th century, St. Lucy's Day fell close to the winter solstice on the Northern Hemisphere, so the festivities are also associated with candles and lights


We made paper candle wreaths to wear on our heads, traditionally St Lucia had 7 white candles on her head


St Lucia Buns and Gingerbread cookies are given out on St Lucia Day - we only made cookies


St Lucia, thy light is glowing
Through darkest Winter night, comfort bestowing
Dreams float on Dreams tonight
Comes then the morning light
Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia

St Lucia day celebration Ideas
St Lucia Day
How to celebrate St Lucia Day
St Lucia Buns Idea

As I have all girls I was so excited to share the story with my girls of a real woman long time ago who made a difference to peoples lives. For boys they celebrate St Lucia Day as Star Boys

Star Boys Ideas here
Star Boy hat
Star Boy info

1 comment:

Jan said...

I am always learning new things from down under. Cute wreath for your head.

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