Saint Lucy's Day
The Lucia celebration is one zurückzuführender on a holy festival custom, which is widespread in Sweden. The festival falls on 13 December, which is the Memorial of Saint Lucia in the Christian churches, and was before the Gregorian calendar reform, the shortest day of the year.
Also in Denmark, Norway and Finland and Sweden Danish Südschleswigern the Lucia festival is celebrated.
Origin and development
Since December 13 fell on the winter solstice in Sweden to 1752, the Lucia celebration is ultimately in the tradition of older solstice celebrations. In what ways from these celebrations today's Lucia celebration was, however, difficult to reconstruct.
A special Swedish expression of the feast can be the earliest evidence for the Middle Ages. From this time there are reports of celebrations with which the country people celebrated the end of the pre-Christmas agricultural work and the beginning of Weihnachtsfastens. From about 1760 contemporary witnesses for the first time from wearing white robes on estates in western Sweden. There was, therefore, limited to a small part of the country and the population, which today most striking element of the Lucia festival.
At a national custom, the Lucia celebration evolved only in the last hundred years. End of the 19th century attacked the Stockholm Skansen Open Air Museum on the western Swedish Lucia traditions in order to preserve them for future generations. At the same time the custom to spread over its original boundaries, the population began. This process was reinforced when a Stockholm newspaper in 1927 for the first time Lucia chose. As a result, the Lucia festival took a firm place in the Swedish Customs.
Today's form
Although the Lucia festival is named after a saint's feast, it is marked in Sweden today religious enough. The main elements are wearing white robes and candles, the consumption of traditional saffron buns ( lussekatter ), singing Lucia songs, and the choice of a local Lucia.
The celebrations usually begin in the morning in the family and continue in kindergartens, schools and workplaces. A girl in the family traditionally the eldest daughter plays Lucia. She is wearing a white robe, a red ribbon around the waist and a wreath with candles on her head. You often followed by other girls ( tärnor ), holding candles in their hands, and sometimes star boys ( stjärngossar ), gingerbread males ( pepparkaksgubbar ) and density ( tomtar ) in a veritable procession. Because of the danger of burning children carry predominantly electric candles today.
Also in Norway, Denmark and Finland enjoys the Lucia celebration increasing popularity. In German partner communities, there are also events to which most guests will be invited from each city. In Hungary the tradition of Lucia festival ( Lucia - chair) has been revived since 1990.
Connection with the hl. Lucia
To what extent the Lucia celebration in its widespread occurrence in Sweden actually with St.. Lucia is related, can not be answered clearly.
On one hand, owes its present status of the hard fact that December 13 in Sweden to 1752 was the shortest day of the year. In this context it is striking that the candlelight in other winter and Christmas customs plays an important role ( Christmas, Advent ). Statewide dissemination learned the hard moreover, not as a religious holiday, but as a tradition.
On the other hand, fits the element of head-mounted candle ring to descriptions of hl. Lucia. From this is sometimes reported that they wore around a candle wreath of hands free sake on the head when she provided other early Christians secretly with food. Going one step further, can the white robe with geschlungenem around the waist red ribbon as a reference to Lucia's Christianity, indicate their affiliation to the state of consecrated virgins and their death as a martyr. Lucia had vowed celibacy for the sake of Christ and died, according to tradition at a stab in the neck. In this interpretation is the white robe of her virginity and the red ribbon for martyrdom.