st. lucia day.

it’s st. lucia’s day in sweden! and just in time. you see, this week… from today till the 21st (next week) it’s the darkest week of the year. the days are the shortest. the nights seem to go on forever, with darkness swallowing up the sky. but, in sweden we have today as a reminder that there is light even in the dark. that the light always returns and overcomes the darkness.

lucia was an italian christian martyr, who is now remembered every december 13, for her gift of light, faith, & hope to everyone she met. her name actually means light. so, today, we in sweden celebrated light even in the midst of all the dark. we celebrated today, because next week, light begins to return… the days begin to get longer literally bringing more light every day to our lives.

so this morning, and all throughout the day, girls were dressed as st. lucia with a wreath of candles on their head, and joined with others in singing about the light that comes in the darkest time of year. the light that comes with the christmas season.

to celebrate st.  lucia, last night lina & i attended the lucia/christmas concert here in the city. there was a young woman from norrkoping who was st. lucia and a young woman from odense (our sister city in denmark, and ironically the city where lina & i lived!) who was the danish st. lucia. they led a large choir in singing traditional lucia songs about light coming back to the world. there were also 4 young adults who had won scholarships for their musical abilities performing during the evening. 2 girls from odense and 2 guys from norrkoping. this year, 1 of the guys that won is lina’s cousin! it was so awesome to see him perform! he is amazing!

well, night has come again here in sweden, and i must face one more week of darkness before the light begins to creep back into our days. just one more week to hang on, and then (at least psychologically) it feels as if hope becomes reality. we turn a corner & begin our journey toward the light. ahhh… yes.

the lucia concert. cozy with candles & beautiful voices.

the 2 lucias with the candles on their head.

 the danish girls who won scholarships. pretty cool classical music.

 the guys who won. the one with the bass… that’s lina’s cousin. unbelievable jazz music!!!

 cute violinists from age 4 – 15/16. so adorable.

 a song that we all sang. about light coming into the world, of course. hehe.

hang on, my friends. light is on it’s way. the darkness of the world is all around us, but the light… well, the light, always returns. light, love, hope. these are the things that win.

peace.