Lucy, Lucia, Lux – it means “light,” and a celebration of light is certainly appropriate to Advent.  Santa Lucia, a young Sicilian girl, was martyred in the 4th Century.  Various stories about her have been handed down, but she is associated with light and with eyes.  Art depicting her often shows her holding a dish with two eyes on it.

Saint Lucia’s Day is celebrated on December 13.  Now if you enjoy math, astronomy, and history, you can figure out when the winter solstice (the darkest day of the year) would have occurred on the old Julian calendar and how the feast of St. Lucy used to fall on a day even shorter than the 13th.  Personally, I’m happy just noting that St. Lucy’s day comes at a very dark time of year, unless you live in the Southern Hemisphere.

If you live in the far Northern Hemisphere, say in Sweden, the darkest day of the year is quite dark indeed.  The will rise in Stockholm at about 9:00 a.m. and set at 3:00 p.m.  Naturally the Swedes have a particular affinity for Santa Lucia.

So what does Philadelphia have to do with any of this?  That’s quite simple, really.  Philadelphia is home to Gloria Dei Old Swedes’ Church, founded by Swedish Lutherans in 1646.  It is the second oldest church in continuous use in the United States (the oldest being the Old Swedes’ Church in nearby Wilmington, Delaware).

Today, Gloria Dei occupies a peaceful oasis in inner-city Philadelphia.  Its rich history attracted me as I was planning my new program on America’s Artistic Heritage, but I could not have anticipated finding such a wonderful and generous group of people.  They have several stories to tell in the new program, and their celebration of Saint Lucia Day is just one of them.

Image: Luciafeier in einer schwedischen Kirche by Claudia Gründer – Creative Commons