Lucia Festival a Swedish tradition

The Lucia Festival and Pageant will be held Dec. 7, 4 p.m. at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 2800 Atlantic Ave., Wildwood.
It will feature a Scandinavian market with traditional foods and gifts. Market hours are 2-3:30 p.m., reopening again at 5:15 p.m.
There will be complimentary coffee and cookies, and a free will offering will be accepted for ELCA World Hunger.
On Nov. 19, the church is again hosting the concert of the St. Petersburg Men’s Ensemble. For information, call 609-522-5000 or access holytrinitywildwood.org.
The four exquisite singers blend their voices “a cappella.”
Following the concert will be a reception of light refreshments. There is a suggested donation of $10. There is ample parking behind the church.
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The Swedish Tradition of St. Lucia, Dec. 13 is in honor of St. Lucia, an Italian saint, who has been “adopted” by the Swedes.
She gave her dowry to the poor, and her fiancée denounced her for this. She was blinded and burned. The flames didn’t touch her so she was stabbed in the heart. It is said that she appeared during a famine in Sweden in the middle ages carrying food to the farmers across Lake Vännern.
St. Lucia is associated with the idea of light. In the middle ages, Dec. 13 fell on the longest day of the year. In Sweden, the sun is not up very long in winter. In some places it doesn’t come up at all. This holiday celebrates the fact that the days will now get longer.
Today on the morning of Dec. 13, the oldest daughter dresses in a special long white dress with a red ribbon around the waist and white socks and no shoes.
She puts a wreath made out of leaves on her head. The wreath has six to eight candles on it. Nowadays the candles are usually battery powered light bulbs instead of real candles.
Her sisters also wear special long white dresses but they have shiny ribbons around their waists and they have another shiny ribbon around their heads. They carry a candle in their hands.
Her brothers wear a special long white gown with a shiny sash and a pointed hat with three stars on it. They carry a baton with a star on it. They are called Star Boys.
The children serve coffee and special saffron bread to the rest of the family. They walk into the bedroom with the oldest daughter in the front, followed by the next tallest girl, down to the smallest.
Then the boys follow with the tallest in the front. As they bring in the Lucia bread and coffee the girls sing “Santa Lucia” (in Swedish, of course), and then the boys sing “Stefan was a Stable-boy.”
The children then go to their neighbors and teachers and serve them the coffee and bread.
Significance of Symbols:
• candles – light
• yellow (saffron) bread – light
• bare feet – charity
Traditionally, they can eat the bread until Christmas, but not before St. Lucia.
Lucia Bread
• 11 T. butter
• 6 c. flour
• 2/3 c. sugar
• 3 pkg. dry yeast or 1 2/3 oz. fresh yeast
• 2 c. milk
• 1 gr. saffron -OR- 1/2 t. cardamom, 15 drops yellow food color
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/2 c. raisins
• 1 egg
Grind saffron with a little sugar in a mortar and pestle. Melt butter, add milk and heat to 130° (too hot to keep your finger in), add salt and saffron.
Mix dry ingredients and gradually add the hot milk mixture. Knead the dough. Place in a greased bowl, cover with a damp cloth and let rise 30 minutes.
Knead again. Divide the dough into 30 parts. Roll into traditional shapes, add raisin decoration and place on a greased sheet. Let rise 30 minutes. Brush with beaten egg. Bake 5 minutes at 450°.
Note: Add 1/2 c. raisins to the dough if you like lots of raisins.