12-13-2002, 12:21 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,177
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Hope And Light To All Of You
http://www.scandinavica.com/culture/lucia.htm
Today is Lucia's Day, celebrated in Sweden, Norway and Finland. December is a dark and cold winter month and we welcome Lucia and her procession to bring hope and light. Today, I had breakfast at a hotel in Gothenburg. Dim lights, candles, Christmas atmosphere and enjoying the songs Lucia sang. Read on if you wish to learn more about Lucia's Day! Also, please tell us about your "pre-Christmas" traditions from where you live!
"It is Lucia's day, the festival of light, celebrated in memory of the Italian Saint Lucia. In the early hours of the morning a young woman, dressed in white and wearing a crown of blazing candles, brings light into the dark winter at homes, hospitals, schools and offices, serving steaming coffee with ginger biscuits and saffronbread for everybody. There are Lucia processions everywhere and every village elects its own Lucia. The 'Lucia Queen' leads the processions mostly consisting of a group of young girls and boys singing traditional carols. Lucia's day symbolically opens the Christmas celebrations in Scandinavia, bringing hope and light during the darkest months of the year. The most typical Lucia celebration is the Lucia Procession, which consists of a group of young girls and boys singing traditional songs. Every town elects a Lucia, and she will go on a parade through the streets dressed in white with a red ribbon round her waist and wearing a chandelier on her head. Lucia is accompanied by her attendants, who are dressed similarly, and by the 'star boys', who wear cone-shaped hats decorated with stars. They visit schools, hospitals, offices and churches, and bring coffee and sweets to everybody. The traditional Scandinavian baking for this celebration is ginger biscuits and saffronbread."
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