The dreary, freezing Finnish winters are not without their joys! In Finland, like many other countries around the world, the winter season also means the arrival of seasonal fun and heartwarming holidays.
St. Lucy’s Day is one such holiday, acting as a symbolic light in the dark for the country. In this article, you’ll learn about the origins of this holiday, how it’s celebrated today, and more fun facts.
Are you ready? Let’s get started.
1. What is Saint Lucy’s Day?
In Finland, St. Lucia’s Day is a Catholic holiday that takes place each year on December 13.
It’s observed in commemoration of Saint Lucy, a fourth-century Christian martyr often associated with valo (“light”) and well-known for her good deeds. She is also known as being the patron saint of the blind and the visually impaired.
According to legend, Lucy had taken a vow of virginity, but her mother wanted her to marry and arranged a marriage for her. Lucy angered the man she was to marry by openly rejecting the idea of marriage, driving him to inform the government officials of her Christian status. She was then poorly treated and murdered for her beliefs. Another story claims that she once helped other Christians who were hiding in dark catacombs by wearing a crown of lighted candles on her head and bringing supplies to them.
Today, Finns see St. Lucy as being light in the pimeys (“darkness”), a connotation especially powerful in a country that often sees long days of darkness contrasted by long days of light. In fact, the name “Lucia” is derived from the Latin word for light: ‘lux.’ The saint’s name could also be translated, in Finnish, as Valotar.
This holiday is more popular in other Nordic countries than it is in Finland. The Finns were introduced to this holiday by the Swedes, who had been introduced to it by Christian missionaries years before. Even today, St. Lucia’s Day tends to be more popular among Swedish-speaking areas of Finland than anywhere else in the country.
- → Do you want to brace yourself for the cold winter days of Finland? See our vocabulary lists for Winter and Winter Clothes!
2. How to Celebrate St. Lucia’s Day
There are several St. Lucy’s Day celebrations and traditions in Finland.
The most important of them all is the choosing of the Lucia-neito (“Lucia-maiden”), a young woman chosen from a selected few. She dresses in a valkoinen (“white”) dress with a punainen (“red”) sash; the white represents purity and light, while the red represents St. Lucy’s martyrdom. The chosen Lucia-maiden is crowned on the steps of the Helsinki Cathedral and then proceeds to participate in the procession around Helsinki. Later, she goes on to perform a number of good deeds, such as visiting hospitals, prisons, and children’s homes to sing and hand out Lucia buns. Finally, the maiden is able to visit the President of the Republic.
Throughout the country, schools often have their own unofficial contests for Lucia-maiden. The winner will dress similarly to how the official maiden does, and take part in a local procession or play.
The Lucia pulla (“bun”) is the most popular food item on this holiday. These St. Lucy’s Day buns are made with saffron and are often handed out to loved ones to make the holiday more enjoyable for everyone!
- → Curious to learn more about Finnish sweets? Check out our Culture Class lesson on Finnish Sweets and Desserts. 😉
3. Songs of the Sea
Each year, the crowned Lucia-maiden sings a song called Santa Lucia. You may be surprised to find out that this song doesn’t refer to the saint at all!
This was originally an Italian tune sung by fishermen to describe the beauty of Santa Lucia’s seascape.
4. Essential Finnish Vocabulary for St. Lucia’s Day
Let’s review some of the vocabulary words from this article!
- Valkoinen – “White”
- Punainen – “Red”
- Tonttu – “Elf”
- Pyhimys – “Saint”
- Valo – “Light”
- Kynttilä – “Candle”
- Pimeys – “Darkness”
- Pulla – “Bun”
- Kulkue – “Procession”
- Lucia-neito – “Lucia maiden”
Remember that you can find each of these words along with their pronunciation on our St. Lucy’s Day vocabulary list.
Final Thoughts
While St. Lucy’s Day isn’t as popular in Finland as it is in other Nordic and heavily Catholic countries, it still marks a significant date for much of the country.
We hope you enjoyed learning about St. Lucia’s Day with us, and that you were able to take away some valuable cultural information. If you want to learn even more about Finnish culture and the language, FinnishPod101.com has several blog posts we think you’ll find interesting:
- Itsenäisyyspäivä: How to Celebrate Finnish Independence Day
- Loppiainen: The Feast of the Epiphany in Finland
- Laskiaissunnuntai: Celebrating Shrove Sunday in Finland
- Summer Solstice Celebration: Midsummer Day in Finland
- Essential Vocabulary for Life Events in Finnish
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Happy St. Lucia’s Day from the FinnishPod101 team!
