Saint Lucy 's Day, also called Lucia Day or the feast of Saint Lucy, is a Christian feast day observed on 13 December, commemorating Lucia of Syracuse, an early-4th-century martyr under the Diocletianic Persecution, who according to legend brought food and aid to Christians hiding in the Roman catacombs, wearing a candlelit wreath on her head to light her way and leave her hands free to carry as much food as possible. Her feast day, which coincided with the shortest day of the year prior to calendar reforms, is widely celebrated as a festival of light. Falling within the Advent season, Saint Lucy 's Day is viewed as a precursor of Christmastide, pointing to the arrival of the Light of Christ in the calendar on Christmas Day. Saint Lucy 's Day is celebrated most widely in Scandinavia and in Italy, with each emphasising a different aspect of her story. In Scandinavia, where Lucy is called Santa Lucia in Norwegian and Danish and Sankta Lucia in Swedish, she is represented as a lady in a white dress symbolizing a baptismal robe and a red sash symbolizing the blood of her martyrdom, with a crown or wreath of candles on her head.In Norway, Sweden and Swedish-speaking regions of Finland, as songs are sung, girls dressed as Saint Lucy carry cookies and saffron buns in procession, which symbolizes bringing the Light of Christ into the world 's darkness. In both Protestant and Catholic churches, boys participate in the procession as well, playing different roles associated with Christmastide, such as that of Saint Stephen. The celebration of Saint Lucy 's Day is said to help one live the winter days with enough light.A special devotion to Saint Lucy is practiced in the Italian regions of Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Trentino-Alto Adige, in the north of the country, and Sicily, in the south, as well as in the Croatian coastal region of Dalmatia. In Hungary and Croatia, a popular tradition on Saint Lucy 's Day involves planting wheat grains that grow to be several centimetres tall by Christmas Day, representing the Nativity of Jesus.
Origins
An inscription in Syracuse dedicated to Euskia mentioning St Lucy 's Day as a local feast dates back to the 4th century A.D., which states "Euskia, the irreproachable, lived a good and pure life for about 25 years, died on my Saint Lucy 's feast day, she for whom I cannot find appropriate words of praise : she was a Christian, faithful, perfection itself, full of thankfulness and gratitude ". The Feast of Saint Lucy became a universal feast of the Church in the 6th century, commemorating the Christian martyr 's death on 13 December 304 A.D. St. Lucy 's Day appears in the sacramentary of Gregory, as well as that of Bede, and Christian churches were dedicated to Saint Lucy in Italy as well as in England.Later, Christian missionaries arrived in Scandinavia to evangelize the local population, carrying the commemoration of Saint Lucy with them, and this "story of a young girl bringing light in the midst of darkness no doubt held great meaning for people who, in the midst of a North Sea December, were longing for the relief of warmth and light ".
