We started off our Swedish Unit tonight by attending the St. Lucia celebration that is put on annually by the Swedish Heritage Society in Salt Lake. It was such a beautiful program.
“Saint Lucia’s Day, also called the Feast of Saint Lucia, is a Christian feast day celebrated on 13 December in Advent, commemorating Saint Lucia, a third-century martyr under the Diocletianic Persecution, who according to legend brought “food and aid to Christians hiding in the catacombs” using a candle-lit wreath to “light her way and leave her hands free to carry as much food as possible”. Her feast once coincided with the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year before calendar reforms, so her feast day has become a Christian festival of light. Falling within the Advent season, Saint Lucia’s Day is viewed as an event signaling the arrival of Christmastide, pointing to the arrival of the Light of Christ in the calendar, on Christmas Day.” (Wikipedia can explain it better than me. Haha).
I love the symbolism of Lucia (her name means light). Sweden isn’t the only country that celebrates her, but they definitely have good reason. Winters are very dark in Sweden. Just as the candles help to bring much wanted light in the middle of winter, Jesus Christ brings light to us in our moments of darkness.
We will be doing our own little St. Lucia celebration at home on December 13th.
