Continuing with my multicultural holiday celebrations, today is St. Lucia Day!
I learned about St. Lucia Day many years ago when I first read Kirsten’s Surprise. On St. Lucia Day the oldest daughter in her family wears a crown of candles and a white dress and invites her family to breakfast. That’s how Kirsten celebrated in her Minnesota cabin in 1854, and families in Sweden still celebrate in this way. St. Lucia is the saint of unmarried women, and many towns in Sweden will elect a young woman to lead the town in a St Lucia parade. She will wear a crown of candles and others will follow her carrying candles. Maybe because “Lucia” means light, or maybe because December 13 is one of the darkest days of the year. When I visited Sweden, it was late November, and we got about 7 hours of daylight in Stockholm! St Lucia day is lovely tradition to bring more light to the holiday season.
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