| Copied from a photostat mailed to my daughter. It appears to have been
taken from church-related literature distributed by Living the Good
News, Inc.
Note: The storyteller may want to dress as Swedish girls do on St.
Lucia's Day. A long white dress, red sash, and crown of greenery with
candles in it are appropriate. Set the crown on a table and let the
older children use a taper to light the candles.
"My name is St. Lucia. I lived more than fifteen hundred years ago,
across the ocean in Italy, The people of my country still tell of a
long-ago famine, when some people had so little to eat that they were
starving. They became weak and sick with worry.
"The people with no food knew that I cared about feeding poor, hungry
people, so they came to me for help. Can you guess what I did to help?
I did the very thing _you_ can do when you need help. I prayed and
asked God for food, and I asked all the hungry people to pray with me.
"While we prayed, a ship sailed into our harbor carrying a boatload of
wheat. My people were saved! We shouted and cheered and thanked God for
answering our prayers. And we cooked the wheat and had plenty to eat.
"A holiday in my honor is celebrated December 13. In Sweden where the
sun shines a few hours a day in mid-winter, the children have a saying:
'Lucy-light, the shortest day and the longest night.'
"Old people in some parts of Sweden say that at dawn on St. Lucia's Day
you might glimpse me crossing a frozen lake, carrying food to the poor.
Now that's only a story; you really won't see me, but you might indeed
see girls and boys dressed in white going from house to house.
"The girls carry candles and one of them dresses as Saint Lucia,
wearing a white dress and a red sash, with candles in her hair. The
children visit each house in their village to serve sweet Lucia buns,
which are similar to cinnamon buns, and steaming coffee. And that's
what we're going to do now..."
|
| Is the juxtapostion of Lucia Day and the day of earliest sunset mere
happenstance? As in the case of Christmas, events of religious import
have moved for the sake of convenience before. The following excepts
from soc.culture.nordic address this question.
From: [email protected] (raymond thomas pierrehumbert)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Date: 1 Dec 91 03:25:58 GMT
Sender: [email protected] (News System)
Organization: University of Chicago Computing Organizations
>I can help with the last one, anyway. At the time when the custom was
>introduced in Sweden (17th cent. ?) the Julian calender was still in use
>in Sweden while the catholic countries had changed to the Gregorian. Back
>then the swedish Lucia Day did fall on the same day as the catholic, they
>just used different dates for the same day. Btw. Lucia Day is celebrated
>on the 13th in Denmark too. I forget what it is in the catholic countries,
>...
This explanation is a little hard to reconcile with astronomy. In
Sweden, of course, Lucia has its origins in ancient pagan traditions
relating to light and darkness, the christian hagiographical overtones
being a relatively recent addition. Dec. 13 is supposedly the date,
because that is when morning begins to dawn earlier again (which is NOT
the same thing as the shortest day of the year, because of nonlinearity
of the cosine function). I haven't checked the accuracy of this claim
astronomically, but will try to do so.
Anyway, assuming the astronomical assumptions to be correct, then there
would have been problems in the Julian calendar with the festival
drifting from the correct time, astronomically speaking. With the
Gregorian calendar, there would be less drift. So... when the
switchover was made, possibly Sweden did the conversion correctly
according to astronomy, whereas the catholic countries got it wrong.
In the catholic countries, there would be no astronomical constraints
on the timing of Lucia, so other considerations may have entered into
setting the date.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: [email protected] (raymond thomas pierrehumbert)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Date: 1 Dec 91 06:14:18 GMT
Sender: [email protected] (News System)
Organization: University of Chicago Computing Organizations
I ran a little sunrise/sunset program to check out the business of the
timing of Lucia vs. the astronomical "return of light." I said
previously that Lucia happened when the dawn started coming earlier; I
got this wrong. Approximately, Lucia happens when the sunset starts
coming EARLIER (at this time, the sunrise is still getting later, so
the night is still getting longer. A curious consequence of spherical
geometry). However, the timing is rather strongly dependent on
latitude, and slightly (though not much) dependant on the year.
For example, for 1991, at latitude 60 degrees N, longitude 20 degrees E
(around Stockholm), the earliest sunset (accurate to one minute) occurs
at 313PM, and (to one minute) this is the sunset time between Dec. 13
and Dec 19. The actual "astronomical" Lucia is around Dec. 16.
Back in 500AD (extrapolating back using the Julian calendar), the
sunset is 313PM between Dec. 12 and Dec. 18 (if I got the Julian date
extrapolation right!). Anyway, Dec. 13 isn't a bad astronomical date
for Lucia.
Around Chicago, the earliest sunset is 515PM between Dec. 1 and Dec.
14. The Dec 13 date is still OK, though we ought to celebrate Lucia
maybe a week earlier here, properly speaking (yeah, in Chicago, we even
have a Lucia queen chosen downtown. There's even an Andersonville
here, though now it's mostly occupied by Turkish and middle Eastern
immigrants.)
However, if you are on the Equator, (at the longitude of Stockholm)
then the earliest sunset is 607PM 'way back around Nov. 1.(and until
Nov. 10).
Conclusion: The Dec. 13 date in Sweden is roughly the right date for
Lucia astronomically speaking, based on sunset time. It is roughly
the right date for most of historical time, and for most of Northern
Europe.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: [email protected] (Marcus Gustavsson)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Subject: Lucia revisited
Date: 2 Dec 91 14:19:13 GMT
Sender: [email protected]
Organization: Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden
With all the interesting postings about Lucia I started to dig in
the great excavation (my home). Soon I found a book that according to
the colour of the paper was ageold. In it I read some funny things
about how to celebrate Lucia and why and such. Then I read something
very interesting, the author stated that the blind saint from Suracusae
was honoured in the middle of the summer. So now I atleast remember why
I had the notion that Lucia was honoured on another day in catholicism.
But our astro friend said that it was honoured on some other day
and that it had to do with the length of the night and such (very nice
posting btw).
So I pulled forth the phonebook from the excavation, and contacted
the catholic church in Gothenburg: They said that Lucia was celebrated
on the 13th, all over the world. The only difference was that only in
Scandinavia do we hail here this much.
That they didn't bother about her in Italy for example, was
something I knew, but surely the date must've been wrong. I got a
number to a pater Amadeo in Gothenburg, who happens to be an Italian.
He to mumbled something about Lucia not being hot in Italy, and then he
said that the 13th of December was the right day.
Nah he was pulling my leg for sure. So off I go to the phonebook
again and lucky me, I find the Italian consulate's number. Hallo I
said, and started the now quite monotonous questions. I was lucky to
find a very nice woman there who helped me to the Italian culture club
in Stockholm. If anyone knew, they would, she assured me.
So I make my last phonecall in this messy affair (couldn't help
feeling like in the godfather with all the Italians around :)), at this
culture club I got something of a final word. An older Italian woman
who spoke Swedish very well, promised to check things up. She was away
for some minutes while I was watching some children play on the street
outside my house.
She managed to find something that was called "encyclopedia
Catholica" this sounded very serious to me, I mean you don't call a
small paperback for encyclopedia something. Now according to this
encyclopedia, Lucia is celebrated on the 13th all over the world,
because that's when she died in the year of 304 AD. I asked her if they
had anything to back this up, she was probably used to such, because
before I had understood it, she said something to the effect that they
had found a stone slab in Syracuse in 1898, that said "Lucia died 13th
of December 304 AD.
So that's that, seems likely that the author of the book I had at
home, had been pulling many legs. There is ofcourse still some chances
that he's right. It might be like this for example.
In the middle of the summer there's a holiday or some such that has
some connection with illnesses to the eyes etc. Then Lucia could be
honoured, but not on her own.
So what's left then? Well we have this minor saint, who happens to
be a smash hit in Scandinavia and some other areas. Then it seems
likely that Lucia, being the saint of light among other things, was so
darn lucky that she happened to die on a major pagan holiday. Namely
the Holiday.
So how shall we prepare ourself for Lucia this year then? First and
foremost, it is wellknown that this is the night of the hunt. I can't
figure how the youths dare to go outside on such a night. They might be
taken by the hoard that follow that wicked woman Lussi. This Lussi is
not the same as Lucia. Lussi was alive when the memory of paganism was
alive. As time goes by, this day is less and less interesting and less
evil. So now it's perfectly safe to follow Lucia, as she has been
assimilated.
As late as the 19 century saw another celebration of Lucia in
Sweden. In Vaestergoetland they used to lead a cow, with burning
torches attached to the horns, around the farm.
Nowadays it seems to be a holiday, during which you shall swill all
kinds of toxic waste :) No seriously, even the old fashioned style is
ok. We use to stay up and bake that night or the night before and then
we tell some stories to any children around, and then we oeh "blush"
"lussar" somebody :) Don't know what to call it. Anyhow, it's very nice
to see the face of those that you visit. They seem to be so happy that
you fear they'll never be able to move from that spot.
MOF
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: [email protected] (raymond thomas pierrehumbert)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Subject: Lucia and Astronomy
Date: 3 Dec 91 06:07:12 GMT
Sender: [email protected] (News System)
Organization: University of Chicago Computing Organizations
One of my previous postings following up on the date of Lucia seems not
to have made it, so I'm reposting a quick summary.
First, conversion from Gregorian to Julian calendar was in 1582, and to
put things back in phase with the solar year, 11 days were jumped over
in starting the Gregorian calendar. Thus, Dec 13, 1582 (Julian) = Dec
23, 1582 (Gregorian). This clicks with the Dec 23'd date somebody
mentioned as the date of Lucia in catholic countries, but a later
posting said that in fact Lucia is celebrated on Dec. 13 (Gregorian)
around the world. This is roughly the right date for "astronomical"
lucia. Maybe it's a coincidence, and the astronomical interpretation
was tacked on during the pan-nordic nationalist revival of the 19th
century.
In 1582, Dec. 13 (Julian) was way too late for astronomical Lucia.
However, in 427AD, the Julian calendar was roughly in phase with the
Solar calendar, so Dec 13, 427, is reasonably close to astronomical
Lucia. Now, the date for St. Lucia's death is given as Dec. 13, 308AD,
which is close enough to 427 that Dec. 13 would be near astronomical
Lucia.
Now, the rub is, I can see no way of determining astronomical Lucia
without either (a) clocks accurate to a minute over a period of about a
month, or (b) thorough theoretical understanding of the geometry of the
Earth's axis, spherical trig, and ability to compute sines and cosines
to a couple decimal places.
The Greeks, in principal, could have done (b), though I don't think
they had a good enough value for the angle of the axis tilt.
Maybe with some kind of orrery, it would have been possible to figure
that the day of earliest sunset comes several days before the solstice.
Hard to imagine the Vikings or early Svear preoccupied with this sort
of thing, though.
|
| From: [email protected](Victoria Slind-Flor)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Subject: Lucia crowns, fire danger, and other Lucia stuff
Date: 4 Sep 1996 19:01:27 GMT
Organization: Netcom
For whoever was asking about Lucia crowns, I have seen them for sale at
several Scandinavian import stores in the Bay Area--Northern
California--so I suppose they must be findable anywhere in the U.S.
where there is a sufficiently large Scandinavian population to support
a shop of that nature.
The crowns use small artificial candles with clear bulbs at the top and
are battery operated. All things being equal, I would advise against
using real flaming candles in all but exceptional situations. Most of
the Lucias I have seen are little girls or young teenagers, and the
danger of catching their hair or cotton gowns on fire is just too great
with real candles. I know I am probably a fanatic on the subject, but
I once spent over a month with one of my children at a major medical
center's burn unit--not from Lucia candles, fortunately--and I would
not wish that experience on any other child or parent.
My family is Norwegian rather than Swedish, but Dec. 13 is still a big
day for us. It's the first time we have anything in the house that is
related to the coming holiday, and we do get up before dawn, have a big
plate of fresh-out-of-the-oven Lucia buns, and always a huge bowl of
oranges and play Christmas music for the first time of the year. Since
we live on the Pacific Coast, the oranges we have are Satsumas, those
tiny flat seedless zipper-skinned treats from Japan. Dec. 13 to me
means the smell of saffron and cardamom-flavored yeast bread, the sharp
scent of orange peels, the first whiff of brought-in-from-outdoors
evergreens and the glow of candelight on a dark winter morning.
My dad used to sing ``Santa Lucia'' for us on Dec. 13. The song had
the same tune as ``Santa Lucia'' we learned in school, but he sang it
in Norwegian.
Even now, I think Dec. 13 is such a special day for my family. There's
something so magical about waking up to the the sweet smell of baking,
filling the house with music and bringing in the first holiday
decorations--lots and lots of candles and some evergreen boughs.
I have no idea how this relates to what is done in Scandinavia, but it
feels just right for us. How I love the way the many candles on the
table banish the cold and darkness of winter! I also enjoy having a day
to celebrate that means so much to our family, but that the outside
world--at least here in the U.S.--fails to notice, and therefore has
not managed to commercialize.
Victoria
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