Santa Lucia: The Triumph of Light Over Darkness

December 13^th is the Feast Day of Santa Lucia.  She is the only saint that is shared by both Italian Catholics and Protestant Scandinavians.  This double duty appears to have occurred when early Christian Monks traveled to the land of the Vikings to convert them.  It happened that the Norse were already celebrating the winter solstice (the longest—and darkest—day of the year) on Lucia’s feast day.  In the old Julian calendar, the solstice occurred on December 13^th, not the 21^st that now marks the solstice in the current Gregorian calendar.

            There is nothing unusual about the early missionaries usurping pagan festivities and traditions for Christian purposes.  The easiest way to sway other people to your side is to respect the beliefs that have guided their culture.  [Is anyone in politics listening????]  So, Christians now use both Christmas trees and Easter eggs, both of which are pagan in origin and now represent sacred beliefs.  Likewise, Santa Lucia became symbolic of the triumph of light over darkness because her feast day coincided with the winter solstice.  Certainly, the story of the historical Saint qualifies her for the job.

            Saint Lucia was a young Sicilian woman, martyred for her Christian faith around the year 304 A.D. (during the reign of Emperor Diocletian) in Rome.  Lucia was reputed to be an extraordinary beauty (evidently Mother Theresa is the only saintly personage allowed to be unattractive, chastity being so much more valuable when you evidently have something to lose).  She had dedicated herself to the church and service to the poor when her mother, looking to financial security instead of treasure in Heaven, negotiated a marriage between Lucia and a wealthy nobleman.  Both the fact that she was going to have to marry, and marry a non-Christian at that, moved Lucia to refuse the betrothal.  Despite a host of grim, mysterious and probably apocryphal stories about Lucia’s obstinance, punishment and eventual death at Roman hands, she never relented, died a martyr and became one of the Catholic Church’s most popular saints.

             Celebration of Saint Lucia began in earnest in the mid-1700’s.  Scandinavians began retelling her story.   The oldest girl in each family was dressed in a white (for purity) and a red sash (for martyrdom) with a crown with candles on their heads.  The designated Santa Lucia’s brought saffron and raison rolls to the family and sang hymns and led parades of candles through dark streets.  A lovely celebration, gentle and child-centered, it caught the imagination of the public and the press and became increasingly more engaging and fun-filled.  Now, December 13^th includes presents and children leaving sandwiches for the Saint and her donkey, on which she carries the gifts.  Not to exclude the boys in the house from the fun, Santa Lucia is now accompanied by both her handmaidens and “star boys” in white robes, cone-shaped hats and carrying sticks with stars attached to them.  You might even find children dressed as brownies, elves or gingerbread people.    

            So here you see the morphing of a myth-laden story of a probably real (in some sense) early Christian martyr into a fun-filled and optimistic celebration of good over evil—light over darkness—right over wrong.  Cultures around the world show examples of this type of observance.  Humanity wants to see the good guys win.  We know it isn’t easy, straight forward or pain free, but we yearn for that which is morally defensible to be our benchmark.  Some people say that Hell is simply the absence of God.  I think it is the absence of hope.  We are, after all, only human. 

            Love and happiness to my own little Santa Lucia!  Keep the faith.