Sweden Christmas Luminaria Date

Saint Lucy’s Day in Sweden: the festival of light

For Swedes the Christmas season really kicks off on December 13 with Luciadagen (Sankta Lucia), one of the best-loved light festivals in the Nordic countries. The date never moves: data = 13 de dezembro every year. Before the Gregorian calendar reform of 1753 it fell on the winter solstice, the longest and darkest night, which explains why the central image is a young woman crowned with burning candles, carrying light into the dark.

Sweden is overwhelmingly Lutheran, and yet the feast honors a Catholic martyr from Syracuse, Sicily, put to death around 304 AD under Diocletian. The Swedish version we recognize today, with its processions of girls in white gowns and candle crowns singing the Italian song “Santa Lucia” in Swedish, took shape in the 18th century. The newspaper Stockholms Dagblad standardized it in 1927 when it crowned the first national Lucia.

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Schools, churches, hospitals, retirement homes and workplaces all hold their own processions. The food that goes with it includes lussekatter (sweet saffron buns shaped like an “S”), pepparkakor (ginger cookies) and glögg (mulled spiced wine). In Brazil the Swedish community of Pomerode and Brusque (SC) recreates the procession, and so does the Swedish Church in São Paulo.

FAQ

Why does Lutheran Sweden celebrate a Catholic saint? The feast made it through the Reformation as a folk custom tied to the solstice. Over time it shed most of its religious meaning and turned into a cultural symbol of light during the long polar winter.

Is the date the same every year? Yes, it is always December 13. Nothing moves it around the way Easter shifts; it is a fixed liturgical feast in the Catholic calendar that the Swedes held on to.

What is the meaning of the candle crown? It stands for light winning out over the longest night of the year. The candles were once real flames; these days, to play it safe, battery-powered LED lights are common, especially with children.