Wordless Wednesday: Lucia

(A not so) Wordless Wednesday: Lucia.

Lucia-day is always celebrated on the 13th of December in Sweden. Contests are held in every town and city to elect each year's Lucia, who traditionally, is a very fair-haired girl dressed in a white gown with a blood-red sash and a crown of lit candles, to commemorate the original Saint Lucia, who died a martyr approximately 305 A.D. According to legend, she was burned at the stake, but had to be stabbed in the throat because she would not die.

We who live in the North and long for light, use this maiden from Syracuse, as our symbol of light and hope in the darkest hour of winter. But this year, since the thirteenth of December was on a Sunday, all the school children had their Lucia-pagent on Monday the fourteen, either very early in the morning, when it is still dark, or in the late afternoon, when it gets dark again. Here are some shots from Elisabet's pre-school.

Elisabet is the short blond girl with the Lucia-crown made of fabric that is looking down. If anyone of you thought that she is an out-going little girl, judging from the many smiling photos on this blog, you will see another side of her now. She is actually very shy.

You may wonder why the children don't look so typically "Swedish", with blond hair and blue eyes.

We live in a middle-sized city where there are many families from countries where conflicts or repression have made them flee. Not all Swedish schools are like this, but many schools in cities are. These girls probably look more like the original Saint Lucia from Sicily, than our blond and blue-eyed Elisabet.

A happy (and almost never) Wordless Wednesday!

Anna