Happy St. Lucia's Day-Sat. December 13

[Ruthie Koenigsmark]

Quietly, on the morning of Dec. 13, a ceremony will be re-enacted in the homes of many local families of Scandinavian descent as Saint Lucia Day signals the beginning of the Swedish Christmas season.

Swedes around the world will celebrate Saint Lucia's Day this Saturday with saffron-flavored sweet buns. Tradition dictates that a young girl garbed in a white robe with a red sash and crown of glowing candles awake the family with a tray of coffeecakes and coffee.

Traditionally, the oldest daughter in the family portrays Saint Lucia, the Queen of Light, and she serves the elder members of the family coffee and pastries in bed.

The pageant goes something like this. While the parents snuggle under comforters and feign sleep, the children are in the kitchen bustling about. Coffee must be brewed, and saffron-flavored Saint Lucia coffeecake or buns must be warmed.

The daughter, dressed in a long white gown with red sash, lights a ring of candles and carefully lifts it up to rest securely on her head as a crown. (Although there's no record of how many kids got their ears singed with molten candle wax over the years, these days the candles are usually battery-powered.)

When everything is ready, the coffee is poured, the Lucia buns are placed on a tray and the breakfast procession slowly begins toward the parents' bedroom. The children sing a traditional song: "Now the light is carried forth, proud on its crown, in every house, and every home, the song shall ring." (It probably rhymes in Swedish.)

The girl's white robe symbolizes the purity of the saint. The red sash symbolizes the martyred blood of Saint Lucia, and atop her head is a crown of lingonberry or holly, woven around the ring of candles. It is appropriate that Swedes associate Lucia with light, since her name comes from the Latin word lux, meaning light.

Other children are included in the celebration, too. Younger sisters dress as maidens, wearing white robes with a crown of silver tinsel, and each bears a single lighted candle. The boys of the family wear white robes as well, and wear cone-shaped hats decorated with stars. The boys are called Starngossar, or star boys. In homes where there are no daughters, a Saint Lucia is "borrowed" from friends or relatives.

In Stockholm, citizens turn out for the Lucia Day parade, a procession led by a beautiful costumed Saint Lucia and her crew of singing attendants. Lesser Lucia parades and processions are held all over Sweden in schools, hospitals and offices on this day. By the end of the day the general population is fairly wired on Lucia coffee and sweet saffron-flavored buns.

The only formal celebration I know of in our area will be held this Saturday, the 13th, at Forest Hill Church in Cleveland Heights (corner of Lee and Monticello) The program begins at 4 p.m. But look for something next year in Lakewood as I have formed a small group to organize a similar event!

[sharon kinsella]

This is very cool.

[Ivor Karabatkovic]

My first name is of Scandinavian descent.

[Stan Austin]

Ruthie---Thanks for sharing that and expanding our understanding of a good culture. (*smacks Ivor*).
Stan