Santa Baby...
Sunday, 23. December 2007, 07:00:07
I have had this song in my head for days now...
Posts tagged with "Christmas"
Santa Lucia - the Queen of lights
Thursday, 13. December 2007, 15:56:06
Throughout Sweden the feast day of Lucia, or Lucy, is celebrated as a festival of lights. In the early hours of the morning of December 13 a young woman, dressed in a white gown, and wearing a red sash and a crown of lingonberry twigs and blazing candles, would go from one farm to the next carrying a torch to light her way, bringing baked goods, stopping to visit at each house and returning home by break of day. Every village had its own Lucia. The custom is thought to have begun in some of the richer farming districts of Sweden and still persists although the crowns are now mostly electric lights.
In Norway and Sweden it is still a custom on December 13 for a girl in a white dress (representing the Saint), to bring a tray of saffron buns and steaming coffee to wake the family. She is called Luciabrud (Lucy bride). In Denmark it is common to have Luciaoptog (Lucy processions) at schools, in churches, at nursing homes, in hospitals and many other places.
Lucia symbolizes light and growth for human and beast as she emerges out of the darkness. She is said to have been beheaded by the sword during the persecutions of Diocletian at Catania in Sicily. Her body was later brought to Constantinople and finally to Venice, where she is now resting in the church of Santa Lucia. Because her name means "light" she very early became the great patron saint for the "light of the body": The eyes.
Many of the ancient light and fire customs of the Yuletide became associated with her day. We find "Lucy candles" lighted in the homes and "Lucy fires" burned in the outdoors. Before the Reformation Saint Lucy's Day was one of unusual celebration and festivity because, for the people of Denmark, Sweden and Norway, she was the great "light saint" who turned the tides of their long winter and brought the light of the day to renewed victory.
Today when I was going home from work I got a nice surprice. At the stairs (on my way down) I saw 20 children all dressed in white gowns, and with candles in their hands. They looked like a bunch of little angels! I stopped and gazed.
A girl, 8-9 years old, stopped me when I reached the ground floor.
"You just missed the show!", she said to me.
I put on my saddest face, and said, "Awww, I am sorry to hear that!"
"Yes", she said, "and it was really beautiful!"
At this time 5-6 of the other little angels gathered around me.
I said "I am sure it was beautiful. Are you going to sing again?"
The little angel patted my shoulder twice, and said to me in the saddest little voice "No, I am sorry, we are not. I feel sad for you that you missed it!"
Then they all turned around and went into another room, leaving me smiling all over.
She was sooo cute!
Happy Saint Lucy's Day!
In Norway and Sweden it is still a custom on December 13 for a girl in a white dress (representing the Saint), to bring a tray of saffron buns and steaming coffee to wake the family. She is called Luciabrud (Lucy bride). In Denmark it is common to have Luciaoptog (Lucy processions) at schools, in churches, at nursing homes, in hospitals and many other places.
Lucia symbolizes light and growth for human and beast as she emerges out of the darkness. She is said to have been beheaded by the sword during the persecutions of Diocletian at Catania in Sicily. Her body was later brought to Constantinople and finally to Venice, where she is now resting in the church of Santa Lucia. Because her name means "light" she very early became the great patron saint for the "light of the body": The eyes.
Many of the ancient light and fire customs of the Yuletide became associated with her day. We find "Lucy candles" lighted in the homes and "Lucy fires" burned in the outdoors. Before the Reformation Saint Lucy's Day was one of unusual celebration and festivity because, for the people of Denmark, Sweden and Norway, she was the great "light saint" who turned the tides of their long winter and brought the light of the day to renewed victory.
Today when I was going home from work I got a nice surprice. At the stairs (on my way down) I saw 20 children all dressed in white gowns, and with candles in their hands. They looked like a bunch of little angels! I stopped and gazed. A girl, 8-9 years old, stopped me when I reached the ground floor.
"You just missed the show!", she said to me.
I put on my saddest face, and said, "Awww, I am sorry to hear that!"
"Yes", she said, "and it was really beautiful!"
At this time 5-6 of the other little angels gathered around me.
I said "I am sure it was beautiful. Are you going to sing again?"
The little angel patted my shoulder twice, and said to me in the saddest little voice "No, I am sorry, we are not. I feel sad for you that you missed it!"
Then they all turned around and went into another room, leaving me smiling all over.
She was sooo cute!
Happy Saint Lucy's Day!
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Where do you live?
- Europe
(40%)
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- North America (25%)
- Africa (3%)
- Asia (17%)
- Oceania (5%)
- Antarctica (5%)
Total: 65 votes
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