We had the enormous privilege of celebrating a Swedish
Saint Lucy's day this weekend. The boys have some friends who are half-Swedish and their mum sensed my interest when she told me that the celebrations for our region would be nearby!
I'm not showing faces here, as lots of children were involved. Saint Lucy herself is played by a teeaged girl with this incredible crown of candles. I'm sure my interest in the Santa Lucia festival stems from when I was a young girl, and fancied the crown on my own blonde hair!
She is attended by girls in white robes carrying candles, and the Star Boys - you can see their hats and stars in these two photos.
An adult choir sang beautifully, and then we ate Swedish goodies!
I am really excited to have celebrated Advent in a different way this year.
Thanks for your lovely Advent posts and for your comments on my seeds post. I am really enjoying how different people interpret the idea of Advent, and of my seeds, too! It is a hectic time for everyone now, and I realise that I am leaving far fewer comments for people than usual. I am also behind with my posts about some lovely parcels - I will just let Penny, Shelley, Maria and Lululiz know that their parcels have arrived safely. Thanks so much, ladies!
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I'm not showing faces here, as lots of children were involved. Saint Lucy herself is played by a teeaged girl with this incredible crown of candles. I'm sure my interest in the Santa Lucia festival stems from when I was a young girl, and fancied the crown on my own blonde hair!
She is attended by girls in white robes carrying candles, and the Star Boys - you can see their hats and stars in these two photos.
An adult choir sang beautifully, and then we ate Swedish goodies!
I am really excited to have celebrated Advent in a different way this year.
Thanks for your lovely Advent posts and for your comments on my seeds post. I am really enjoying how different people interpret the idea of Advent, and of my seeds, too! It is a hectic time for everyone now, and I realise that I am leaving far fewer comments for people than usual. I am also behind with my posts about some lovely parcels - I will just let Penny, Shelley, Maria and Lululiz know that their parcels have arrived safely. Thanks so much, ladies!
22 comments:
Wow - what an experience, lucky you
What a lovely experience you all had, it looks like it was a very special time.
I would have liked to have made a comment on the seeds post, but things are rather difficult with our younger son at the moment and we are all feeling the strain somewhat.
How interesting - were those biscuits spicy? My Swedish friend makes some lovely thin spice biscuits for Christmas and has given me the reicpe to try out.
Like you I am leaving hardly any comments lately and having had a few days in Paris I haven't even had time to read the posts I missed properly! Still I am sure we all understand each other's problem just now!
Jane
Hi Jane - never got to the biscuits - they were snaffled up by children before I got anywhere near the table! I bet they were like your friend's though.
The cookies look yummy! I am the same Floss, it is seeming a lot to do with christmas, crafting for people, and the house, etc., and I feel like I can't keep up with everyones blogs like a I usually do! Suzie. xxx
What a lovely sight it must have been. I too am behind on my comments and grattitudes for parcels sent. I am trying to remain as calm and hopeful as ever, it will all work out just wonderfully I'm sure.
Hi Floss, I remember the children doing about Saint Lucy at school last year, they made crowns with paper candles and did something in assembly I think. I will show them your post, I am sure they will find it interesting..
What a beautiful experience. I think it is wonderful discovering different Advent traditions and being able to take part in them as well.
I remember the biscuits - I had a friend at school who was Swedish and her mother used to make the most wonderful gingery biscuits!
Pomona x
Funny how the mind works isn't it...your post made me think about the cafe at Ikea and now I'm craving meatballs!!! x
What a gorgeous thing to do, I love Santa Lucia, it is so pretty and special. Mark is Swedish and we did attend the Scandanavian church when we lived in Melbourne but unfortunatley we haven't kept up with the swedish traditions so well. I have his and his sisters costumes somewhere from when they were children. Glad you had the opportunity to celebrate with your friends, this truly magical experience xo
Pepparkakor! If I remember those Swedish gingerbread cookies, from back-in-the-day... Glad you got to celebrate Santa Lucia. It's always nice to learn about new traditions.
I 'm glad to learn new traditional celebrations.
Beautiful experience you had!! Thank you for sharing.(could you take photos there?)
Thanks, everyone. How lovely to hear your own experiences of Santa Lucia. Yes, Mami, lots of people were taking photos all the way through! I didn't want to show the children's faces, though, as I had no permission from their parents to do that.
how lovely I'd love to attend this.
Mum once incorporated a procession of Lucy girls in her school Nativity - it was sweet
Hi Floss,
you are a darling, popping over and making me feel better after my wee blog moan!
I was a bit in the same boat after I had read your lovely seed post...and meant to leave a comment, so I'll tell you now it was lovely, and I enjoyed the 'seedy'(!?) quotes!
I have a 'seed' quote that I like so much, I have it on my Etsy shop announcement page:
'Under every office block lies the good earth, with a seed in it, whose April will one day dawn.'
Adrian Bell
How special that you and your boys got to see the Santa Lucia festival.
I had no clue as to who santa lucia was, and then, I suddenly remembered my Dad used to sing 'Santa Lucia', (the opera song by Mario Lanza) when I was a kid! That was a nice memory to re-kindle, because he used to sing it when he was happy. Thank you.
Thanks also for thought provoking posts, I know how time consuming they can be, but it's lovely to be appreciated.
Luisa
x
..I feel so ridicolous now..I thought that the Swedish had their own Saint Lucy..I didn't know they celebrated our Sicilian Santa Lucia!
They even use your tune, Michela!
Hello Floss - Thank you for popping over to the Pacific Northwest to leave a most interesting comment for me. I didn't know that France was so secular. I can't imagine celebrating Christmas without the focus of the Christ child, just as I can't imagine Easter without the Resurrection.
I enjoyed reading your post on Santa Lucia. I look forward to a few quiet moments to go back to read some of your previous posts.
oooo I like the look of those advent swedish goodies! It does look and feel like you are really embracing the season! I'm so glad you are getting so much out of it! xxx
I love this Swedish tradition - it is very beautiful with the lights and the choir singing. The Swedes really know hoe to 'deal' with winter darkness!
How wonderful to see the candle-crown and the rest of the photos! I was on a mission years ago with a young woman from Sweden. She told me that when she and her friends performed their St. Lucia procession through the "old folks' homes," some of the elderly truly thought they had died and were in Heaven seeing angels. Easy to believe, isn't it, when you see it for yourself.
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