Advent in Madonna House is one of the loveliest times of the year. The Mass readings and songs touch the deepest longings of our hearts, and several childlike feast days emerge like flowers from the purple background.
St. Nicholas, the Immaculate Conception, Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Lucy, plus, (for us) December 14, the anniversary of death of our foundress, Catherine Doherty.
Let us tell you about one of these feasts and how we celebrate it—the Feast of St. Lucy on December 13th.
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On this day, we follow the customs of two nations — the Hungarian custom of planting wheat and the Swedish custom of — well, if you continue to read, you will soon see.
The Hungarian custom is an easy one for anyone to follow. Use a wide flower pot or container of earth and plant the wheat evenly over the whole surface.
Keep it in a warm room and water it daily. The person who waters the wheat says this little prayer: “All ye things that spring up in the earth, bless the Lord!”
Then throughout the rest of Advent you can watch it grow — an instance of new life when the earth lies dormant under the cold and snow.
At Christmas, this pot of beautiful new green wheat grass is placed at the foot of the crib which, of course, is the centerpiece and center of our life during Christmastide. It stands there until Epiphany.
St. Lucy’s day comes in Advent because her name ties her with Christ, the Light that comes at Christmas, the Orient from on High, to light those who dwell in darkness.
Because of this, she is the patroness of the blind and hers is the Feast of Light in many countries, such as Sweden. In fact, the name Lucia, or Lucy, means light.
Her feast falls near the shortest day of the year, to remind us that although the daylight may be short, the Light of the World, Christ, is soon coming into the world.
We observe the Swedish custom of making a crown of something solid (strong cardboard, wood, metal, plastic, etc.) into which small candles are placed.
One of the younger women is costumed in that crown and in a long, white dress, as the virgin martyr, St. Lucy. She can come during any meal but in our house she comes during breakfast, a breakfast made special with coffee cake.
St. Lucy makes her appearance in the dining room. If it can be darkened — something more easily done at supper — so much the better.
Her crown of candles glows, representing the Light of Christ. (You can use electric lights as well — not as beautiful, but safer.)
The crowned St. Lucy walks throughout the room and with a taper, lights the candle at each table, thus passing the light of Christ to everyone.
This custom is another way of teaching that Christ the Light will come to bring light into our darkness and that of the whole world.
Adapted from Donkey Bells, (2019), pp. 72-73. publications.madonnahouse.org/products/donkey-bells
