Today was our 3rd year celebrating Sankta Lucia day. This is one of our favorite days of the Christmas season. I love incorporating our Swedish heritage and thinking about our ancestors.
I also love what Sankta Lucia stands for – light. Light amidst the darkness. In the northern hemisphere, the middle of December is the darkest time of the year. This is especially true in northern countries like Sweden. During the Christmas season, and especially on December 13th, candles are lit to bring light in the darkness. I love the symbolism of this and how it relates to Christmas. Jesus Christ is the light of the world. Without Him, the world is a dark and cold place. With Him, everything is bright and warm. With Him, we see people and things and life clearly.
I also love thinking about how the world was in darkness for so long from the Apostasy, that occurred after Christ’s death, to the Restoration that was ushered in 200 years ago in 1820. For the past 200 years, the gospel of Jesus Christ has been in the continuing process of being restored to its fullness and the Kingdom of God on earth and in heaven has been getting brighter and warmer. We have enjoyed 200 years of increasing light. I am grateful to have that light in my life. It makes the darkness of the world easier to bear.
For breakfast this morning, we had Swedish Pancakes with lingonberry jam. I made some homemade and then we also had some frozen ones that I bought from Ikea. I definitely prefer the homemade ones… but Ikea’s version is pretty tasty as well.
In the afternoon, we made Saffron Buns.
For dinner, I made delicious homemade Swedish Meatballs with creamy gravy, mashed potatoes, and roasted asparagus, green beans, and onions. Of course we had lingonberry jam with all of this. I’m already dreaming of the leftovers.
After dinner, the girls and I got dressed in our Sankta Lucia outfits and we had our little tradition of wearing our candle crowns (which I was brave and actually lit this year) and passed out the Saffron Buns and Pepparkakor (Swedish ginger cookies).
