Saint Lucy

Saint Lucy lived in Sicily in the 4th century and was known for her kindness and generosity, although as with many saints, she had a tragic history. She dedicated her life to God, although her mother wanted her to get married. Since she refused, she was tortured in several ways, but a fire would not burn her, and nobody could move her to change her mind, because of her weight, even though she actually weighed very little as a young girl. Eventually her eyes were gouged out as a sign of revenge by the Emperor. Lucy symbolizes light and growth for human and beast as she emerges out of the darkness. She is said to have been beheaded by the sword during the persecutions of Diocletian at Catania in Sicily. Her body was later brought to Constantinople and finally to Venice, where she is now resting in the church of Santa Lucia. According to legend, she sailed from Italy to Sweden during a famine on a ship laden with gifts of food and drink and promised the return of the light, spring, and abundance. In turn, the grateful Swedes took up the practice of celebrating her feast day, creating their own traditions along the way.

Throughout Sweden the feast day of St Lucy, is celebrated as a festival of lights. In the early hours of the morning of December 13, a young woman, dressed in a white gown, and wearing a red sash and a crown of lingonberry twigs and blazing candles, would go from one farm to the next carrying a torch to light her way, bringing baked goods, stopping to visit at each house and returning home by break of day. Every village had its own Lucy. The custom is thought to have begun in some of the richer farming districts of Sweden and still persists although the crowns are now electric lights.

In Norway and Sweden it is still a custom on December 13 for a girl in a white dress (representing the Saint), to bring a tray of saffron buns and steaming coffee to wake the family. She is called the Lussibrud (Lucy bride) and her pastry (saffron buns) is Lussekattor. Today many families have a Lucia‑Queen in their own home, often the youngest daughter, who wakes the rest of the family with song. Because her name means "light" she very early became the great patron saint for the "light of the body" ‑ the eyes. She is the patron saint of those suffering from eye illnesses, and is frequently painted or sculptured with her eyes on a dish, as the above sculpture shows, by Maltese artist Adonai Camilleri Cauchi..