Santa Lucia Day

🎶 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! 🎶

- Excerpt from Santa Lucia Song

The pictures are always so sweet but thankfully you can't hear the coughing. Our little girls came down with croup on December 7th and our two year old is still recovering... I made it through their worst days, and then managed to pull together our annual Our Lady of Guadalupe Bruch, Saint Lucia Day Baking, and then make a "Mary Poppins" cake for our daughter's 12th birthday... next up is our little guy's 10th birthday! Whew... I don't think I would have started the themed birthdays had we had our December babies first instead of numbers six and seven! ;) 

It's hard to have the same enthusiasm on certain favorite feast days, when your oldest sister is gone for the first time and your super fun older brothers are also off at college instead of "asleep" in their bunk beds waiting to get woken up with Lucia Bread and Rolls... We will definitely have to make our annual Saint Lucia's Braided Bread again over Christmas break when everyone is home again!

 

Recipes: Saint Lucia's Braided Bread & Lussekatter

Mugs: St. Lucy Quote Mug & Santa Lucia Mug 

Lucia Crowns: Hemslöjd

Santa Lucia, Ora Pro Nobis! 

Late Night Baking on the Eve of Santa Lucia Day

Since 2008 (look how little my girls were back then!) I've been baking Saint Lucia's Braided Bread for the feast of Santa Lucia Day. About five year's ago one of our daughters started baking the traditional Lussekatter each year as well to add to our celebration of her nameday, the feast day of St. Lucia who is one of her patron saints. Since these lightly sweet S-shaped rolls resemble a cat's curled tail, the Swedish name for these rolls is lussekatter, which means "Lucia cats." The Lucia comes from the fact that they are served on St. Lucia's Day (Dec 13).

Our two toddlers came down with croup this past week, and our older children have been fighting off colds too, so I sent our daughter to bed early to get some extra sleep while I took care of the baking. 

We have a great recipe over at Catholic Cuisine (here is the link) which was sent to me from a friend of mine over in Norway back in 2009, but the recipe my daughter seems to always use is from one of her picture books: Lucia Morning in Sweden. 

Lussekatter (Lucia buns) 

1 pkg active dry yeast 

1/4 c water, warm

3/4 c milk

1/2 c butter or margarine

1/2 c sugar

2 eggs

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp powdered saffron

4 c flour

For brushing: 1 egg, 2 T water

Dissolve yeast in warm water and set aside. 

Warm milk, add butter to melt. 

Place all above ingredients in a mixing bowl using 2 cups of the flour. 

Mix for 3 minutes using a mixer. 

Add rest of flour and beat with a wooden spoon.  (I just continued to knead with my mixer.)

Knead dough, adding a little flour for easy handling. 

Put in a bowl and let rise to double. 

Turn out on floured board and shape into Lussekatter. 

Let rise on cookie sheet and brush with egg and water mixture before baking. 

Put a raisin in each curl and bake at 450º for 10 minutes. 

Makes about 4 dozen rolls. 

It was late and I was a little impatient waiting for them to finish rising... 

They didn't turn out as well as my daughter's did last year but they were still delicious. 

Our Lady of Guadalupe Brunch on Gaudete Sunday

Morning Offering to Our Lady of Guadalupe

Immaculate Heart of Mary, Heart of my Mother, Our Lady of Guadalupe, I unite to thy purity, thy sanctity, thy zeal and thy love, all my thoughts, words, acts, and sufferings this day, that there may be nothing in me that does not become through thee, a pleasure to Jesus, a gain to souls, and an act of reparation for the offenses against thy Heart. 

On the Menu: 

St. Juan Diego's (Crepe) Tilma with (Strawberry) Roses

A Woman Clothed with the Sun (Oranges)

Crushed Serpent (Crushed/Extra Crispy Bacon)

Crescent Moon Rolls and Starry Cinnamon Rolls

Bishop Zumarraga's Candy Cane Crosier

Aztec Cocoa and Orange Juice

 

This year my husband pulled out a book his mother had given us many year's ago, Saints of the Southwest, and read about Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe during our brunch. He also read our Our Lady of Guadalupe Pop-Up book to everyone. The babies really loved seeing all the pop ups! 

 

"Are there peoples inside?" asked our little two year old in her raspy voice... 

Our sweet baby girls both had croup this past week but finally started to improve by the weekend. 

... and of course they pulled out some of our Our Lady of Guadalupe Dolls and Blocks!

"Am I not here who am your Mother? 

Are you not under my shadow and protections? 

Am I not the fountain of your joy? 

Are you not in the fold of my mantle, in the cradle of my arms?” 

- Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Juan Diego 

Our Lady of Guadalupe, ora pro nobis! 

On the Eve of the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

“Am I not here who am your Mother? 

Are you not under my shadow and protections? 

Am I not the fountain of your joy? 

Are you not in the fold of my mantle, in the cradle of my arms?” 

- Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Juan Diego

Celebrating the Feast of St. Nicholas :: 2021

 

The Christmas Carol • Christmas Blossoms • The Night The Saints Saved Christmas

Joseph's Donkey • The Gifts of the Animals: A Christmas Tale • The Christmas Fox

Saint Blocks from Almond Rod Toys 

Editable Letter from St. Nicholas

Here's the link to this year's: New Christmas Books on the Feast of St. Nicholas

St. Nicholas Chocolate Coins (new update 2019) and St. Nicholas Chocolate Coins (original 2010)

We had a couple children fighting colds (and coming down with colds) so we decided to save our annual Cherry Cheese Candy Cane Coffee Cake and St. Nicholas Cookies for the Christmas season this year, when the college kids will be home to enjoy them with us.  A few of us braved the snow covered roads to go to noon Mass and our college kids sent pics of the picture books they received from St. Nick too! 

Bob Ross' Happy Little Night Before Christmas • World War II Night Before Christmas

It's A Wonderful Life: The Illustrated Holiday Classic

God, we pray that through the intercessions of St. Nicholas

you will guide and protect our children. 

Keep them safe from all harm and help them grow

to become loving disciples of Jesus in your sight. 

Give them strength to always mature into deeper faith

in you, and to keep alive joy in your creation. Amen.

St. Nicholas, pray for us!