Dress Suggestions for Santa Lucia Day

Happy feast of the Immaculate Conception!   I don't think I'll ever celebrate this feast without remembering and thanking God for the good news we received on this feast, two years ago today!   It's hard to believe that much time has passed already...

Anyways, I have had quite a few emails lately asking where I purchased our dresses for Santa Lucia Day...   Unfortunately the lovely dresses that my older girls have are not currently available where I purchased them, just the doll sized version. Update: no longer available, link removed. (My girls gowns also came with a pink ribbon/bow sewed to the neckline, which I carefully removed).  

Last year I just used one of my white t-shirts for Rose (which works great for toddlers!) and this year I have been looking for a dress for her to wear.   I bought the big girls their dresses extra extra big back in 2008 and have been cinching them up with the ribbon each year, so we still don't have a hand-me-down for Rose.

I had been looking and finally ran across this cute little imported Scandinavian Swedish Dress for Lucia with Red Ribbon Sash on Ebay!   It is currently available in 4 sizes, and I ordered the XS for Rose. It arrived today and I still need to wash it, but I did try it her to show you all.  It is slightly see-through, which seems to be the case with most white gowns, but I think it is really cute especially the collar and sleeves!

Here are a few other dress options as well:

• Josefina's Night Shift for Girls from American Girl
• White Angel Robe from Oriental Trading
• Girls White Pajama Gown from Amazon
• Little Girls Christmas Nightgown from Etsy
• Megan Girls Dress from April Cornell
• Old Fashioned Nightgowns from Jumpin Bloomers

*If anyone else has additional suggestions, please leave them in the comment box and I will add them to this list.

Additional ideas for celebrating the Feast of St. Lucy can be found in the archives:

Ideas for Celebrating Santa Lucia Day 

Scroll through all posts for St. Lucy

Recipes for St. Lucy at Catholic Cuisine

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life.

I thought I would take this opportunity to share a few more pictures from this year's Santa Lucia Celebration!

{pretty}

The girls all looked so pretty, dressed for our little Santa Lucia Celebration! 

{happy}

Very, very happy that we ended up baking St. Lucia's Braided Bread this year.  The other surprise treats, a jar of Lingonberries imported from Sweden (purchased locally) and a darling little Santa Lucia Doll for our sweet girl who was celebrating a name day, were a happy addition as well!

{funny}

Our little "Star Boy" was so cute, as always, even when yawning.  He was very excited to be having WHITE BREAD for dessert.  Our little picky eater's favorite! 

{real}

It may not fit me (ever again!) but my pre-maternity white t-shirts, paired with a ribbon from a Gymboree Christmas gift box, make a perfect Santa Lucia gown for an almost two year old!   (All you have to do is pin the neckline in the back, so it's not too loose.)

Visit Like Mother, Like Daughter for more pictures of contentment!

Santa Lucia Day in the Evening

This year I just didn't have the energy to bake our annual Saint Lucia's Braided Bread on the eve of St. Lucy's feast day, due to lots of contractions, after a very busy day attending a field trip (the weather was beautiful!), baking cupcakes, and then Our Lady of Guadalupe Potluck at our parish (at least I didn't have to make lunch or dinner!).   I tried again in the morning, getting up at 5 am, but after starting the laundry and more contractions, I gave up and went back to bed.  I just haven't had same energy during Advent this pregnancy, as I did when I was pregnant with Rose.

Our children understand, but still I found our little Chiquita, who celebrates a name day on this beautiful feast, with tears in her eyes.  When I asked her what was wrong she said that "We are missing Santa Lucia Day!"   Apparently it just isn't complete without the Saint Lucia Bread, and the cinnamon rolls that Daddy was going to bring home from work (yes, he was already called back in after just a day of leave) just weren't going to be the same.   Despite feeling awful, it was so nice to see how much these little feast day celebrations have come to mean to our children.

I somehow managed to pull myself together long enough to bake the bread before my afternoon OB appointment, for the girls to serve (while singing/playing the song Santa Lucia) before bedtime, after our family rosary, Advent Read-a-loud, and Jesse Tree.  It was so worth the extra effort!

Harken unto us, O God, our salvation, that as because of the festival of blessed Lucy we rejoice, so by reason of our feeling of loving devotion may we become better grounded in doctrine.  

St. Lucia, Pray for us! 

Lucia, Saint of Light - Free Audio Book!

Last year I ordered Lucia, Saint of Light to give to our little Chiquita on the feast of St. Lucy.   Since it was backordered, and didn't arrive on time, I saved it to give her this year instead.  Though we had listened to the audio version of this book before, the illustrations in the book are lovely!   I just realized that the link I included to the audio download in Ideas for Celebrating St. Lucia Day! was incorrect.  I updated the link, but thought I would post it for you here as well, just in case any of you would like to listen to it today:

Lucia, Saint of Light

Ideas for Celebrating St. Lucia Day

December 13th is the Feast of St. Lucy, also known as St. Lucia Day (Luciadagen) in Sweden.

In Sweden, the oldest daughter of a family will wake up before dawn on St. Lucy's Day and dress in a white gown for purity, often with a red sash as a sign of martyrdom. On her head she will wear a wreath of greenery and lit candles, and she is often accompanied by "starboys," her small brothers who are dressed in white gowns and cone-shaped hats that are decorated with gold stars, and carrying star-tipped wands. "St. Lucy" will go around her house and wake up her family to serve them special St. Lucy Day foods."  ~ Fisheaters 

Since our second daughter celebrates one of her "namedays" on this feast, she and our oldest share the honors.  :-)

I just noticed that our St. Lucy links and ideas are scattered all over, between our past St. Lucia Day Celebrations (2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 Eve & Morning), our Little Flowers Meeting on St. Lucy, and "L Week" for the Alphabet Path, so I thought I would try and organize them into one post and add a few ideas from others as well.

Note:  I've  had this post in my draft file for awhile now, but just didn't have a chance to finish it up...  I think I have all the links I've added so far in place, but I will probably come back when I have time to add a few more.  Happy St. Lucia Day! 

~ Recipes ~

• Bake Saint Lucia's Braided Bread.
• Serve Cuccia, St. Lucy Wheat, for breakfast.
• Make St. Lucia Buns, Lussekatter.   (I'd love to hear if any one has any tips on where to buy affordable saffron threads.  I had to scratch it off my shopping list the other day when a small packet was priced at $19.99.)
• Bake Gingerbread Cookies.  (We will be having some this afternoon while we color and read a few books!)
• Serve Coffee. 
• For a quick and easy alternative, you can do like we did back in 2007 and serve donuts for as an alternative to the crown shaped sweet bread, or shape canned cinnamon roll dough into St. Lucia Buns. 

~ Sing ~

Sing "Santa Lucia:"

The silver star shines on the sea,

the waves are gentle,

the wind is favourable.

Come to my swift little boat!

Santa Lucia! Santa Lucia!

O dear Naples, o blessed land,

where creation was pleased to smile!

Come to my swift little boat!

Santa Lucia! Santa Lucia!

Sing the following to the tune of "Are You Sleeping?":

O, Saint Lucia,

O, Saint Lucia,

Wearing white,

Lighting up the darkest

Lighting up the darkest

Winter night,

Winter night.

Print a Saint Lucia Puppet Song and Coloring Picture.

~ Story-time ~

In our Basket:

Lucia, Saint of Light

Lucia Child of Light

Hanna's Christmas

Lucia Morning in Sweden

Bells of Santa Lucia

Lucia, Saint of Light is a new addition to our collection this year and it is such a wonderful book to own.  However, we have listened to this story before.   If you don't have access to the book, you can download and/or play a podcast of it here!  (Updated with correct link!)

From the Library:

Swedish Christmas

The Tomten

Kirsten's Surprise: A Christmas Story

Looks intersting:

Swedish Christmas Traditions: A Smorgasbord of Scandinavian Recipes, Crafts, and Other Holiday Delights

~ Crafts & Activities ~ 

• You can make a St. Lucia Day lantern using this pdf excerpt from Ann Ball's Catholic Traditions in Crafts.
• Download a St. Lucia Paper Doll complete with two outfits - and of course - a crown!
• Hand-paint a St. Lucy Wooden Doll!
• I think I am going to paint a couple Star boys to go with our Santa Lucia Doll! 
• Make Santa Lucia Peg Dolls.
• Make a Scandinavian Christmas Crown.
• Sew a beautiful St. Lucy Crown (As Cozy as Spring) out of felt or this one from JOYfilled Family.
• Print and put together paper Santa Lucia Crowns & Hats. (This is the first year we haven't made these! Here is the link to our paper crowns.)

~ Coloring Pages & Copywork ~

• Color St. Lucy of Syracuse and St. Lucia with Star Boy from Waltzing Matilda.
• Create a Saint Lucia Paper Dolls from Paper Dali.
• Fenestrae Fidei: A Coloring Companion for Catholic Mosaic also has a beautiful coloring page, if you own this great resource.
• Copywork Page I created at Writing Wizard using a quote from An Alphabet of Catholic Saints.
• Create a St. Lucy Notebook page highlighting the virtue of Loyalty. 

~ Prayers to St. Lucy ~

Saint Lucy, you did not hide your light under a basket, but let it shine for the whole world, for all the centuries to see. We may not suffer torture in our lives the way you did, but we are still called to let the light of our Christianity illumine our daily lives.  Please help us to have the courage to bring our Christianity into our work, our recreation, our relationships, our conversation every corner of our day. Amen.

O glorious Santa Lucia, who combined the profession of faith with the glory of martyrdom, help us to openly profess the truths of the Gospel and to walk in faith according to the teachings of our Savior.Oh Virgin of Syracuse, be thou the light in our life and the model for our actions so that, after following in thy footsteps here on earth, we can rejoice together with thee in the vision of our Lord. Amen.

Relying on Your goodness, O God, we humbly ask you, by the intercession of your servant, Saint Lucy, to give perfect vision to our eyes, that we may serve for your greater honor and glory. And we pray for the salvation of our souls in this world, that we may come to the enjoyment of the unfailing light of the Lamb of God in heaven. St. Lucy, virgin and martyr, hear our prayers and answer our petitions. Amen.


Sancta Lucia, Ora Pro Nobis!

Santa Lucia Day in the Morning!

On the Eve of Santa Lucia Day

 

 

My children are all so excited to finally use the lovely gifts they recieved last year from our sweet friend Emma and her family, who live in Norway! (Authentic Swedish St. Lucy Crowns, a Maiden Light, and Star Boy Hats and Wands for all our children!)  

Our Santa Lucia bread is ready and I didn't even kill the yeast this year!  Apparently I usually heat the milk too hot, and our bread doesn't rise very well... So, this year, I called Amy and had her walk me through it.   It turned out better than ever and was SO easy to make this year with the help of Amy's old Kitchen Aid mixer!  :-)  

The older girls have their white nightgowns, and are very anxious for morning to arrive!  And I am looking forward to a piece of that delicious Santa Lucia Bread!