Traditions are my favorite part of the Christmas season. Every year, I watch the same holiday movies, eat the same Christmas Eve meal, and visit the same family members on Christmas Day.
A particular tradition that has always struck me for its beauty and simplicity is the Norwegian tradition of Santa Lucia Day, held every year on December 13th. It is told that Saint Lucy, a Sicilian woman, wore a laurel wreath crown adorned with candles to light the way for persecuted Christians hiding in the darkened tunnels of Italy. The Scandinavian version says that she was a young woman who delivered baked goods to surrounding farms on the longest night of the year, what was then believed to be December 13, wearing a white robe, red sash, and a crown of lights, with a torch lighting her path. Santa Lucia Day is now a Norwegian tradition often celebrated in churches, family gatherings, and town squares, where a procession of girls is led by a young woman dressed as Saint Lucy with a white robe, red sash, and crown of lights. The girls carry baskets of baked goods and hot coffee to deliver to the devoted onlookers.
Saint Lucy represents light and hope in a dark and weary world. Even her name shares the same origin as the Latin lux, meaning light – her very name sends a message of hope in the darkest of seasons.
I can’t help but compare Saint Lucy to other figures in the Bible. Her white robe and red sash, white for purity and red for royalty, harkens to a beautiful heavenly angel delivering messages of hope, such as the angel Gabriel in giving the news of Jesus’ birth to Mary of Nazareth. I also think of the bright Star of Bethlehem that led the wise men to visit the young Jesus, the Savior of all men. But perhaps the greatest comparison would be that of the baby Jesus, fully God and fully man, who was born of a virgin in a manger to be the Lamb of God and the Savior of all people. Indeed, the most marvelous light of all!
As we reflect on this Christmas season, prepare your heart for the luminous message of hope that Jesus’ birth brings: He is the Light of the World that brings peace, joy, love, and everlasting life to all. Perhaps on this December 13, we can reflect on the meaning of Saint Lucy and her symbol of light in a world that yearns for peace, forgiveness, and hope.
Abigail Pappas, El Sistema Oklahoma, Director of Development
