Today is St. Lucia Day! Happy St. Lucia Day! There are many Saint days in the Advent and Christmas seasons. Last week we had St. Nicholas Day and St. Ambrose Day. December 19 is the day for Adam and Eve. December 27 is St. John (apostle) day and so on. Saint days are celebrated all throughout the year. Many celebrate in one way or another on these days, but some may be a little hesitant. We don't want to possibly start worshiping someone that isn't God Himself.
That's understandable and its not wrong to pass, but if you want to and are a little hesitant, give me a chance to help you see why it's perfectly okay.
Celebrating a Saint Day is about praising God! When you celebrate a Saint day you take that time and praise God for what He did through that Saint. When Saint Lucia gave up her dowry in order to take care of the poor, God was working through her.
Celebrating a Saint day is about learning history, both flat out biblical and the Church after Bible times. There's a day for Noah, Mary (Jesus' mother), Adam and Eve, and Peter and Paul, and so many more people of the Bible. There's a day for Augustine, St. Nicholas, St. Valentine, and Athanasius. There were all real people and as part of God's family they are part of our family history.
Celebrating a Saint day gives us the chance to learn from the examples of our ancestors in the faith. St. Nicholas stood up for the truth of Christ's divinity. St. Lucia gave to the poor. Ruth walked away from paganism and was a faithful woman of God.
Celebrating Saint days can be another opportunity to read God's Word. When the Saint day is for a biblical person you read the account(s) of their life. When it's for a person who lived after the Bible you can find Bible verses that go with the way they lived their lives (find some verses about generosity to the poor for St. Lucia Day for example).
Celebrating a Saint day can be fun. On St. Nicholas day, people put chocolate coin in shoes to remember the coins that St. Nicholas gave to the man who didn't have enough money for dowry's for his daughters for example. Another example is St. Lucia Day. The oldest daughter of the house wears a white gown (similar to a baptismal gown and that's deliberate) with a red sash (a reminder of the fact that St. Lucia was martyred for her faith), and a wreath on her head that has candles and brings people coffee and cookies or special rolls. The candles are because the name Lucia means "light."
So, if you want to, enjoy a Saint day. It's fun, it's educational, it's another chance to read the Bible, and it's a reminder of what God has done through the ages.
This picture is basically what the oldest daughter of the house would look like in her St. Lucia garb.
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