Sankta Lucia i Stockholm
Spend the 13th of December in Stockholm is something you have to do some day. It is really amazing. I’m just back from there and I must say it’s been one of the most amazing days I’ve spent so far in Sweden. Lucia was a saint from Sicily and was celebrated on the 13th December under the Julian calendar, which happened to be the shortest day of the year and therefore light was coming back from that day on. The fact that her name is close to the word “ljus” (light) in Swedish must be another reason for her popularity in Sweden – she must be the only Catholic saint celebrated in Sweden, as far as I know… Anyway, when you go around in shops, you come across groups of people singing, amongst whom stands a girl dressed in white, with a red belt and a crown of candles on the head. The finest Lucia must have been Ellen who happened to be the one for her company.
I’ve had the chance to go to the Luciakonsert in the Globe which is a huge building for ice hockey matches, and that was simply amazing. Hundreds of kids all carrying a candle and dressed in white entered in the dark, singing Christmas songs and the famous Då i vårt mörka hus, stiger med tända ljus, Sankta Lucia. The acme was the entering of Lucia, carrying a crown with candles and walking till the middle of the stage: really moving. And then dances and more singing with even more light entering the Globe, this all finished with the building of a big virtual Christmas tree made of steel rings onto which all the kids came to lay their candles.
Another thing to do in Sweden is, BTW, go to a ice hockey match, but that’s entirely somthing else and a somewhat different atmosphere!¶
