In the Scandinavian countries of Iceland,
Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway,
today is Santa Lucia day!
For the people of Sweden, this is the most important day
of the entire year.
It is celebrated all over the country in homes, schools,
offices and hospitals.
Anywhere you find a gathering of people today you will
find them celebrating
Santa Lucia!
Lucia was a young girl in Italy in the fourth century.
It is said that instead of marrying a powerful landowner,
she instead gave her dowry to the poor of her city and
confessed to being a Christian. For this she was put to
death. One thousand
years ago King Canute, also known as King Knud in Denmark
and King Knut in
Norway declared that Christmas should last a month
beginning on the feast of
Santa Lucia and ending on January 13th.No one is really sure why
Santa Lucia
is so special to the Scandinavian peoples though it is
said that she visited
Sweden and other stories say that the stories of her life
so entranced the people
of Sweden that they adopted her as their special Saint.
What ever the reason and
whatever her story, she has been revered and much loved
by the people of
Sweden and Scandinavia for over a thousand years.
At dawn on the 13th of December the eldest daughter of
each house dresses in
a long white dress with a red sash. She wears a wreath in
her hair made of
lingonberry branches with four lit candles. ( For safety
reasons, to protect the
girls, the people of Sweden adapted battery lit candles
instead of real ones to
prevent her hair from being caught on fire).
Santa Lucia is
accompanied by her younger brothers and sisters.
The younger girls also wear white dresses and sashes and
carry lit candles
but they do not wear a wreath in their hair. Her little
brothers are dressed in
white pants and shirt and wear hats with stars on them
and carry staffs with
a star on the tip, these are Santa Lucia’s star
boys.
Santa Lucia carries a tray with coffee, sun coloured
saffron buns called Lussekatt
and ginger cookies to their parents in bed. While the
children walk, a traditional
song is sung in honour of Santa Lucia and of the return
of the sun. The Saffron
buns and the candles represent the sun returning soon to
the northern lands.
On this day, as well as around Christmas, a hot mulled
drink called glögg is
served.
In offices and in schools and hospitals Santa Lucia is
also very much honoured
with processionals and saffron buns and gingerbread
cookies. All over Sweden
and her sister countries coffee, buns and cookies are
placed out on tables for all
to share and to celebrate! Even guests in hotels are
wakened in the morning by
a girl in white carrying a breakfast of buns, coffee and
cookies! Every girl dreams
of being Santa Lucia at least once before she grows up!
Everyone gets involved! There are competitions to pick a
Lucia to represent each
town and even a competition to select a Lucia to
represent the country! The
"crowning" of the "town" Lucia takes
place on the First Sunday of Advent after
the raising of the Christmas tree in the centre of the
town square. This is also
the First Decoration Sunday and every store decorates
their store front and all
the townspeople walk up and down the streets to see the
new decorations.
The newly crowned Santa Lucia visits hospitals and
Seniors homes on this day
to spread joy and the promise that the light will return
after the long darkness.
This is a day of great joy and celebration, full of hope
warmth, and expectation.
Sankta
Lucia
Nightly, go heavy hearts
Round farm and steading
On earth, where sun departs,
shadows are spreading.
Then on our darkest night,
Comes with her shining light
Sankta Lucia! Sankta Lucia!
Then on our darkest night,
Comes with her shining light
Sankta Lucia, Sankta Lucia.
Night-darkling, huge and still.
Hark, something's stirring!
In all our silent rooms,
Wingbeats are whisp'ring!
Stands on our threshold there,
White clad, lights in her hair,
Sankta Lucia! Sankta Lucia!
Stands on our threshold there,
White clad, lights in her hair,
Sankta Lucia! Sankta Lucia!
Darkness shall fly away
Through earthly portals.
She brings such wonderful
words to us mortals!
Daylight, again renewed,
will rise, all rosy-hued!
Sankta Lucia! Sankta Lucia!
Daylight, again renewed,
will rise, all rosy-hued.
Sankta Lucia! Sankta Lucia!
Recipe:
Lussekatter, Lucia Buns
Most Swedish people prefer fresh cakes of yeast,
although an equivalent amount of dried yeast can be
substituted.
There are a number of traditional shapes for Lucia buns;
two favorites are the
figure-eight shaped ìcatsî
with a raisin in the center of each loop and the ìbridal
crowns,î a strip of dough
topped with four smaller rings
of dough, each loop embedded with a raisin like the
stones in a tiara.
Preparation and Baking Time:About 3 hours Makes about 2
dozen buns,
depending on size
Saffron threads, one tube, approximately 0.5 grams
1/2 cup sugar
1 and 1/4 cup milk
7 Tablespoons butter, melted
3 cakes of fresh yeast (0.6 ounces each)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
3 and 1/4 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour,
plus additional flour for kneading
Glaze:
1 egg
3 Tablespoons milk
With a mortar and pestle, rub saffron threads and one
teaspoon of sugar together
and set aside. Heat the milk to
lukewarm, about 99 degrees Fahrenheit, and add the melted
butter along with the
saffron-sugar mixture.
Crumble the yeast in a bowl and pour about 1/4 cup of the
warm saffron milk on
top and stir gently. Sprinkle
with 1 Tablespoon sugar and 1/8 teaspoon salt and let
rest five minutes.
Add the remainder of the sugar, the
milk, 3 cups of flour and the beaten egg and stir with a
wooden spoon. Sprinkle
1/4 cup of flour on top and
knead dough in the bowl for several minutes, adding more
flour if the dough is
too sticky to handle.
Shape into a ball. Dust the top of the dough with flour,
cover with a clean cloth
and let rise in a warm, dry
place until double in size, about 60 to 90 minutes
Turn dough out onto a floured board and knead for 5 to 10
minutes, adding flour
as needed to keep the dough
from sticking. Divide the dough into small pieces and,
using your hands, roll
the dough bits into an S or other traditional Lucia
shape.
Push raisins into dough as desired for decoration. Place
buns on a cookie sheet
that has been buttered or covered in parchment paper.
Cover buns with a clean cloth and let rise again until
double in size, about 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
Make the glaze by beating one egg with 3 Tablespoons
milk.
Brush the tops of the buns
with the glaze just prior to baking. Bake 5 to 10
minutes; cool on a rack.
Gledileg
Jol!
God
Jul!
Hyvää
Joulua!
Merry
Christmas!
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