It’s Saint Lucia Day in Sweden; an event noting the winter solstice and the celebration of “Lucia” or “light.” Soon, days will grow longer and nights will shorten.
Saint Lucia was an Italian martyr who was sentenced to be burned. Swedish tradition calls for women and children to wear white gowns, carry lit candles and serve coffee with saffron buns. The young women who play, “Lucia” wear red sashes over their gowns and a crown of light which are real candles or battery powered light bulbs. The red sash represents the wound when Saint Lucia was stabbed in the heart after the flames failed to consume her life.
I light a candle tonight and contemplate the celebration of light overcoming darkness. Life’s fragility dance in the flicker of the flame. I think about how hope keeps us afloat the heaviness and heartache of being human. The hope to overcome loss and loneliness by loving again. The hope to simply awaken to a new aurora where day overstays night.
I pray for my family living in multiple countries and states of consciousness. Like dots in the same dark sky, I know that one God lights each of our path and connects each of our dots. Being one member of a large family is similar to serving as one star in a complex constellation of past, present and future occurences. From time to time, we are fortunate enough to feel deeply connected to our lineage. Sometimes the lines on the family tree blur… all the roles merge into one expression of humanity… one call for light to overcome darkness.
Below is a translation of the song of Saint Lucia. The melody is haunting and heartwarming… and perhaps, so is the lyric of life.
The song of Saint Lucia
Night walks with a heavy step
Round yard and hearth,
As the sun departs from earth,
Shadows are brooding.
There in our dark house,
Walking with lit candles,
Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia!
Night walks grand, yet silent,
Now hear its gentle wings,
In every room so hushed,
Whispering like wings.
Look, at our threshold stands,
White-clad with light in her hair,
Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia!
Darkness shall take flight soon,
From earth’s valleys.
So she speaks a
Wonderful Word to us:
A new day will rise again
From the rosy sky…
Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia!
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