I wore a crown of candles on my head for many years. Sure, my mom only let me wear battery-operated candles in fear that my hair would ignite, but it didn’t lessen the connection to my ancestry one bit. As the firstborn daughter, I had the special honor of being Lucia.
Each year, on December 13th, Swedes celebrate Santa Lucia Day. The eldest daughter in each family dresses in a long white robe with a red sash and wears a crown of candles on her head; younger siblings follow and carry a candle. She serves breakfast in bed to her parents and holiday songs are sung - it’s the beginning of the Christmas season and Lucia lights the way.
For most of my childhood, I was fortunate enough to live next door to my grandparents. I can remember surprising them in bed with sticky buns and coffee on a couple of Santa Lucia Days…although, I’m absolutely certain that those “surprise visits” were carefully coordinated and that they’d been up and out of bed long before I’d arrived. Grandma would coo over how clever I was and Grandpa would sing old Swedish songs. This was a tradition they passed down and taught us all to love…and love it, I did!
This Lucia candle was my grandma’s. I love that she passed it down to me!
The tradition was more important to me than the actual meaning of Lucia’s name day. She was a young Christian virgin who was martyred long, long ago and quite honestly, I never knew the story of her life until very recently. (Isn’t that terrible?!) But wearing the white robe and crown of candles connected to me to years and years of other Johnson daughters and that’s what mattered the most in my young mind and heart.
—
I finally visited Sweden for the first time this past April. I spent time with distant family, walked reverently through the old grave stones, sat in the pews of the small church, and toured the old family farmhouse. Those moments cemented my love for the traditions begun by my grandparents.
Visiting Karsebo, the old farmhouse that has belonged to our family for more than 200 years.
Because of that incredible trip into my family’s history, I look forward to Santa Lucia Day this Thursday with even more anticipation…and frankly gratitude.
Thursday officially kicks off the Christmas season in my heart (and hopefully in my home if I can get that darn tree up!). Though I won’t be wearing a crown of candles, I hope that my light shines the way to the true reason for celebration this Christmas and that I can continue to be Lucia all year round.
Do you have any special traditions that you celebrate each holiday season?
You have a lot in common with St Lucy… From Catolic.org’s directory of saints (http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=75): ‘Lucy’s name means “light”, with the same root as “lucid” which means “clear, radiant, understandable.”‘ That is you, my friend. She’s also the patron saint of ‘those with eye trouble’ (us before lasik, ha)!
You’re too funny! Thanks for passing along more info on her…and for the kind words. Love you, friend!
I love that you shared this tradition. I remember reading about this tradition in Kristen, the American Girl, books.
My favorite Christmas is watching White Christmas. For me, it is not Christmas until Bing sings it so.
Oh, yes! I missed out on the American Girl phase, but my little sister had Kirsten and all of her goodies!!! And I LOVE LOVE LOVE White Christmas, too. There’s something so special and dare I say, wholesome, about that movie that just makes me smile!
What a rich and wonderful family history! Claim to a farmhouse for over 200 years is so impressive and so special for you and your family. Now I am going to educate myself and research St. Lucia as I don’t know anything about her! Family Christmas traditions are such a fun part of the season, I have a 4-year old and I’m starting to try to find out how we can begin our own tradtition.
Oh my gosh, you get to start from scratch with your girl…how fun! We tried different things throughout the years, making gingerbread houses as a family (until the dog ate the one we worked on for hours!), going to church pageants, driving through the streets with the pretty lights, etc. So many options and such special memories!
Oh, Jen! I absolutely LOVE THIS! Maybe as a product of my own mutt-like upbringing, I’ve always been fascinated by (and jealous of!) those who had strong cultural traditions. This is so neat. Thanks for telling us about it,
It’s definitely one of my favorite things about the holidays and growing up! My mom is “31 flavors,” but she adopted our Swedish traditions and even tells everyone she’s a Swede-by-marriage.
I, too, learned of St. Lucia through the Kirsten doll. I love hearing it’s a tradition families still carry. My family hasn’t kept up with any German traditions, which has always made me sad. Heritage is important, especially at the holidays. This makes me want to look up German traditions and see if there’s any I can bring back to the table.
Our family tradition is to drink eggnog and eat crackers and cheese after we set up the tree. It’s a little different now that we don’t all live in the same state but when I’m not able to go home for Thanksgiving (we decorate the day after), I make sure to have eggnog on my own. And I absolutely have to watch White Christmas, Elf, and a few other favorite Christmas movies.
Eggnog…does anyone REALLY like it or is it one of those things that just holds too many memories to pass up?
You should totally look up German traditions. How fun would it be to walk your family through them…even if they don’t stick, what an interesting dinner conversation they would ignite!
Beautiful, JJ! Love this tradition. I’d never heard of it before.
Really? There are carnivals and festivals and contests throughout the country, too. Many SWEA chapters host them in metropolitan cities. It’s fun to go to those and walk through the booths and eat meatballs until they’re coming out of your ears. But doing the simple little tradition in the home is just as meaningful!
Yup, we had a Lucia breakfast for 20 years at our church in Pasadena. Both of my daughters got to wear the crown and carry the coffee tray – it was lovely. And a whole lot of work to put on two seatings for over 600 people!! I don’t have a drop of Swedish blood in me (all Celt – British/Irish/Scottish/Welsh) but I loved learning about the tradition and may post the reading for that breakfast that I wrote over 20 years ago on the 13th this year. Thanks for showing us a bit of your heritage-story, Jen. Very cool.
That sounds like SO MUCH FUN!!! What a great experience for your daughters to enjoy serving in…and I’m sure the food wasn’t half bad, either!
Great story and a really good message. Lucia is my granddaughter’s name (picked because it means light as someone elsementioned) and she’s all of seven months old now. I’m pretty sure no one in our family knew this story. I’ll pass it on and I’m sure her parents can’t wait for that breakfast in bed (even if it’s some years down the road!) Thanks for this.
You might have to wait a while, but it sure is a fun tradition to practice once she gets a little older!!!
Although my hair used to be brown, and my grandmother’s maiden name was Donaldson, I didn’t learn many of these Swedish traditions until I married into my husband’s family. Both of my husband’s sisters had the opportunity to play Lucia, even though they were adopted from Korea! At one point, during her grade school years, a classmate asked one of the girls about her nationality, and she proudly proclaimed, “I’m Swedish!” Because she thought she was.
We were delighted one Christmas morning, after my in-laws had retired and moved near us, to be able to get up early and celebrate a traditional Julotta service with them.
God Jul!
I have a Korean cousin and she told everyone she was Swedish, too!
God Jul to you!
I love hearing about your St. Lucia Day tradition. We love the way it connects us to the season, too. Your Lucia candle is precious. Merry Christmas!