Saint
Lucia
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December
13th people in Norway and Sweden celebrate the Lucia Day to
remind us of Saint Lucia. Children use to dressup in white
clothes like you see on the pictures on this page. They have
candles in their hands and the girl who is Lucia also have
candles on her head. They sing a special song about Saint Lucia.
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Who
was
Lucia?
Lucia was a
saint who died as a martyr on på Sicilia
the third century. They say she was born in the year 283 in Syrakus on Sicialia .
Her parents was rich. Lucia's father died when she was a little girl and
she lived together with her mother.
When
Lucia was very young she promised to take care of the poor but she
didn't tell anyone about this promise. When she grew up she become
a very pretty young woman. Her mother got sick and promised a man
he could marry Lucia. Lucia didn't want to marry him and she asked
God to help her.
Lucia's
mother got well after a while and she said Lucia didn't have to marry
the man. THose days they use to bring money into the marriage. Lucia's
mother said Lucia could give the money to the poor. The man got very
angry and he told the emperor Lucia was a Christian. Lucia was sentenced
to death in the year 304, she was burned to death. 200 years later she became a
saint.
The story about Saint Lucia is a story
about a girl who did much to help the poor but she died in a terrible way when
she was very young.
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December 13th is the
day we celebrate Lucia's Day. It's the darkest month in the year and we
celebrate the day with candles. The children have candles in their hands and the
one who is Lucia also has candles on her head. The reason why they use candles
is because the people need light and candles in the darkest time of the year. In
the older days (before the year 1700) they thought the night before December
13th was the darkest night in the year. The light. |
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The
St. Lucia Day
In
our time we didn't celebrate the St. Lucia Day before a newspaper in
Sweden wanted to find a beautiful girl and let her be Lucia in a
parade in the year 1927. Now we celebrate the day in Sweden, Norway,
Denmark and also in some other countries.
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Symbols
The
candles on Lucia's
head a symbol of the fight between the good and the evil. The candles in the
children hands is a symbol of hope.
The red bow is a symbol of love.
The children are dressed up in white
clothes because Lucia had white clothes when she was burned to death.
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