December 13 - Santa Lucia Day

Posted on December 13, 2020

This is an update of my 12/13/2009 post:

This Christian feast day of St. Lucy is particularly associated with Scandinavian countries – Sweden, Denmark, and Norway.

In a traditional Swedish celebration of the day, there is a procession of women or girls, each carrying one candle. The procession is headed by one girl who wears a white dress with a red sash and a crown of candles or other lights on her head. The procession sings a special song.

A home celebration involves the oldest daughter wearing the Santa Lucia garb and crown; singing, she brings coffee and St. Lucia buns to her parents in the morning. These buns are made with saffron. Other goodies traditional to the day include a cake called St. Lucy’s crown and gingerbread cookies.

Key points

St. Lucia buns, above.
St. Lucy’s crown cake, below.

Boys sometimes participate in the holiday processions dressed as one of these:

gingerbread men,
tomte (mythical Scandinavian versions of

leprechauns or elves),

or star boys (inspired by Saint Stefanos).

In Sweden young people often spend the day in noisy partying, and university students often have formal dinners before leaving for their winter break.

Here is a website that has a nice video of girls singing the Lucia song.

Here is a recipe for saffron buns, and here is one for St. Lucia’s crown cake.

Make a Swedish paper heart to decorate your home, hold treats, or decorate a Christmas tree.

This is a great site with information on Lucia crafts and recipes.

Here is a coloring page of a girls dressed as St. Lucia and a boy dressed as Star Boy.