After reading  “Kirstin’s Surprise” (an American Girl book) the short one asked if we could celebrate St. Lucia Day, Since I am Scandinavian I thought it would be a great tradition for us to do. I did a little research and discovered many lovely things that were a part of the ceremony. I set to work prepping their dress up clothes to serve as the white dress and added red sashes. I made each girl a crown with electric battery operated lights on it.

I woke the girls early today, December 13 and we bake Pillsbury cinnamon rolls in place of traditional St. Lucia buns. They dressed in the white dresses with read sashes, we read the poem A Nocturnal Upon S. Lucy’s Day, Being the Shortest Day by John Donne and sang St. Lucia songs. They carried the trays with rolls and cocoa (in place of coffee).

St Lucia Day is celebrated on December 13, with the Winter Solstice which, under the old Julian calendar, used to fall on that day. This day is very significant in Scandinavian countries. There, in December, the daylight time is very short and darkness and night time are extremely long, due to their position on the globe. Lucia translates to “light”.  After the Winter Solstice the days get longer. So St. Lucia is a celebration of the coming lengthening of the days.

Here is a document called Saint Lucia Notes filled with all the poems, songs and recipes we found online in the research we did.