December 13, St. Lucia Day, also known as the Festival of Light, is a day of celebration in Sweden, in the spirit of Advent and Christmas. Young girls are dressed in white robes with a red sash, with one girl selected as “Lucia” who wears a crown of lit candles (or battery powered ones), the others carrying a single candle. Processions with singing and revelry abound.
At home, the eldest girl dresses up in robe, sash, and candle crown, and delivers coffee and lussekatter, or S shaped saffron buns to her parents for breakfast.
Saffron bun recipe: https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/st_lucia_saffron_buns/
https://infogalactic.com/info/Saint_Lucy's_Day
Ember Days follow St. Lucy’s Day traditionally:
The Ordo Romanus fixed the spring fast in the first week of March (then the first month), thus loosely associated with the first Sunday in Lent; the summer fast in the second week of June, after Whitsunday; the autumnal fast in the third week of September following the Exaltation of the Cross, September 14; and the winter fast in the complete week next before Christmas Eve, following St. Lucy’s Day (Dec. 13).
This is widely celebrated in Scandinavian countries. Kids walk around dressed in white with a crown of candles handing out saffron buns. My daughter did it in her kindergarten today.
Crazy
The first time i experienced it was when i was staying in a residential school (folkehøgskule) and i guess everyone made the assumption that its something people just did generally. I had a knock on my bedroom door at 7 in the morning. I answered it to 5 of my classmates dressed in white singing with a crown of candles handing me buns. Needless to say I thought I had dreamt the whole thing until I saw the crumbs on my bedside table. Very strange experience.
