Happy Lucia Day from Sweden, where you’re never more than two months away from a major holiday, and only a few thousand years separate a beautiful modern tradition from a brutal (and widely forgotten) historical event.
Around the country today, parents were woken up by their children dressed in white and serving them breakfast in bed. (This holiday will most definitely be celebrated in our family when, a very long time from now, we have kids.) Then it’s off to school, where the children will participate in at least one Lussetåg, or Lucia Parade. They may even visit hospitals and local businesses, and many children’s choirs do public performances in the local churches, which will probably see as much or more public on Lucia Day as they will on Christmas or Easter.
I have to admit, from an outsider’s perspective, the Lussetåg looks like a slightly cultish Halloween parade. Both the boys and the girls are dressed all in white, but the girls wear wreaths on their heads and carry candles while the boys have bedazzled cone-shaped hats perched on their heads and carry what look like wands with stars shooting out of them. The boys look a lot like Mickey Mouse as the Sorcerer’s Apprentice… magic wizards!
A grown up star boy with his hat... he also has a star attached to the end of his guitar, but that didn't make it in the picture. Looks a little like a magician, right?! Photo: Kate Wiseman
At the head of the parade is Lucia herself, also dressed in white but with a red ribbon around her waist and four burning candles fastened as tightly as possible to the wreath set on her head.
Together, they sing the Lucia song, Luciasången, a Swedish text set to a Sicilian melody that describes Lucia’s shining hair and eyes. It’s beautiful and haunting in a way—when I attended a Lucia day service at Lund’s Cathedral last year, goosebumps prickled on my arms as the choir sang, and I found myself wondering if it was just because the song was beautifully sung or because the saint herself was somehow present.
Which brings us to the “brutal historical event” party of the story: why is the Lucia song set to a Sicilian melody?
St. Lucia of Syracuse (modern day Sicily) lived from around 283 AD or so to December 13, 304, when she was martyred by the Romans. There are several variations on the history behind her martyrdom, but here a few of the ones that came up again and again.
Version 1: Lucia was on the fast track to marriage, which she was not too happy about because her suitor was a Roman soldier and therefore not Christian. She gave away all of her dowry to poor Christians, and her lovelorn Roman soldier became enraged and reported her to the authorities.
Version 1b: Same thing, except it was her brother who became enraged and reported her to the authorities.
Version 2: Lucia was being wooed by a Roman soldier, who she refused because he was not Christian. Apparently he was particularly enamored of her striking blue eyes, so she went ahead and gouged them out and sent them to him. (And you thought Van Gogh was crazy…) Then the Virgin Mary restored her eyes, he converted, and somewhere in all of this the Romans found out that she was sympathetic to Christianity and she had to be put to death.
So here’s where the red ribbon and the candles came in. The Romans first tried to set her on fire, but that didn’t work. So they then they took their swords and hacked her into little pieces. The candles commemorate the burning, and the red ribbon symbolizes the blood.
Oh, yeah. Merry Christmas!!
The viciousness of ancient times aside, I got to experience the modern day tradition at Lund’s municipal housing company, LKF, where a troupe of youngsters came during the office coffee break to serenade the staff. The children came from the daycare center around the corner, where most of the students are the sons and daughters of tenants.
Some very earnest Lucia singers. Photos: Kate Wiseman
As the children stumbled in, a little overwhelmed-seeming by the crowd of adults smiling at them expectantly, their teacher led them in singing the Lucia song. They made a line behind an Advent candle display and after they had finished the Lucia song, they continued to sing songs whose melody I recognized from my own childhood, but with Swedish lyrics instead of English, of course.
It was so charming to see the group, sometimes struggling to remember the words and hand motions they had been taught, sometimes feeling a burst of confidence and starting to shout the song instead of singing.
When they were done singing, four lucky students got to take turns to light the Advent candles (practicing good fire safety, of course!), and after filing out again to another round of the Lucia song, they all received a special gift as a reward for their efforts.
Lighting the Advent candles. Photo: Kate Wiseman
To me, it was a testament to the value that is placed on community and tradition in Sweden. To maintain these holiday customs and invite children into the office to sing, as much for their benefit as for your own, says a lot about a company’s priorities—that being a part of the community and connected to other community members is important to them.
Of course, it could just be an excuse to eat the traditional Lucia Day pastry—lussekatter—at the office, but that’s also a pretty legitimate reason in my eyes.
Happy Lucia Day from Lund! Wishing you a day full of candles and singing children.
For more information:
“Celebrating Lucia Day at Lidingö Library” by Sweden.se Photoblogger Lola Akinmade
“Becoming Lucia—A Prestigious Tradition” by Sweden.se Student Blogger Kristin Follis
The Sweden.se Food Blog’s official “lussekatter” saffron bun recipe
Article on Lucia Day in Sweden (Sweden.se)
Article on “A Sacred Season in Secular Sweden” (Sweden.se)
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