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This blog is full of good stuff on the Joy of Christmas: Facts, Fun and Fantasy, for all those who love and can't get enough of Christmas!

There's lots here, so check the listing in the Blog Archive for the following:

- Traditions
- Story of Christ's Birth
- History of Santa
- World customs
- Scriptures
- Stories- Prose
- Carols
- Meanings, symbols, origins
- Holiday greetings worldwide
- Facts and trivia
- Quotes
- Movie and TV clips
- Much more!

More will also be added. Let me know if there's something that should be here. Comments are appreciated!

To test your Christmas knowledge, see the trivia quiz at the bottom of this page!

12/5/10

Sankta Lucia: A Swedish Christmas Tradition


Imagine this - You're in a small town in Sweden. It is early in the morning of December 13th and darkness prevails. The streets are quiet and deserted, the houses covered in a thick layer of sparkling white snow. The wind is still, but the cold is numbing your frozen feet and fingers. There is no sign of life anywhere. Then suddenly... in the distance, the faint sounds of singing voices. As they grow louder, a shimmering of light moves between the houses.

Then the procession arrives, led by Sankta Lucia, a young woman in a white dress with a red sash. She wears a crown of lingonberry twigs and blazing candles in her long, blonde hair. Lucia is followed by her attendants, girls in white dresses holding lit candles, and the star boys in white robes and star speckled cone hats holding star wands. Everyone joins in singing the Sankta Lucia anthem:

Hark! through the darksome night sounds come a winging:
Lo! 'tis the Queen of Light joyfully singing.
Clad in her garment white, wearing her crown of light,
Sankta Lucia, Sankta Lucia!

Deep in the northern sky bright stars are beaming;
Christmas is drawing nigh, candles are gleaming.
Welcome thou vision rare, lights glowing in thy hair,
Sankta Lucia, Sankta Lucia!

Lucia and the attendants sing favorite Christmas carols, often inviting family and friends to join in the singing. Lucia then gives freely of her Christmas treats: lussekatter or sweet rolls, pepparkakor or gingerbread cookies, juice and hot drinks. Lucia and her attendants will also visit places like schools, hospitals, offices and churches.

On this dark and cold winter day, Lucia, the Queen of Light, has brought the promise that light and warmth will return to the land; a celebration of light in the middle of the deep winter darkness. The hope for light and warmth returning with the sun may be more significant in northern lands where daylight at this time of the year only lasts for a few hours around noon. A deeper religious significance of Sankta Lucia can be drawn with the promise of the greater light and hope that will return with the Son of God, whose birth is celebrated in Sweden beginning with the Sankta Lucia procession.

The Swedish Christmas season has now officially begun.

The Sankta Lucia celebration is a tradition that has been practiced in Sweden for over 400 years, originating from the story of the Italian virgin saint who was martyred. The Swedish version goes that during the early days of Christian persecution, St. Lucia risked her life to bring food to fellow Christians in hiding in unlit tunnels. She would light the way with a wreath that she wore on her head containing lit candles.

A thousand years ago, Sweden’s King Canute declared that Christmas would last an entire month beginning on December 13th, the Feast of St. Lucia to January 13th, St. Canute’s Day.

Sankta Lucia lyrics, Swedish text:
Natten går tunga fjätt, runt gård och stuva
Kring jord som soln förlätt, skuggorna ruva
Då i vårt mörka hus, stiger med tända ljus
Sankta Lucia, Sankta Lucia

Natten är stor och stum, ny hör det svingar
I alla tysta rum, sus som av vingar
Se, på vår tröskel står, vitklädd, med ljus i hår
Sankta Lucia, Sankta Lucia

Mörkret skall flykta snart ur jordens dalar
Så hon ett underbart ord till oss talar
Dagen skall åter ny stiga ur rosig sky
Sankta Lucia, Sankta Lucia

English translation of the Swedish text:
Night time walks heavily, ‘round farm and cottage
On earth that sun forgot, shadows are falling
Our dark house then grows bright, she comes with candle light
Sankta Lucia, Sankta Lucia

Though night is vast and still, hear now a new sound
In all the silent rooms, like wings are rustling
At door and dressed in white, with crown of candle light
Sankta Lucia, Sankta Lucia

Darkness will soon take flight, from all the earth
These words she speaks to us, wonderful tidings
Daytime will come again, rise in a rosy sky
Sankta Lucia, Sankta Lucia

The following photos and videos are from the Young Family Christmas Eve Sankta Lucia, 2007:





See also these posts on Sankta Lucia and Swedish Christmas traditions:

http://joychristmas.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-santa-lucia-sweden.html

http://joychristmas.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-swedish-christmas.html

http://joychristmas.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-in-sweden.html
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Christmas Trivia: True or False?

The answers to the following can be found within the various posts on this blog...

Holiday Names and Greetings

1. “X-mas” is an irreverent, non-Christian name for the holiday.

2. “Noel” comes from Old French, meaning “new birth”.

3. “Yule” comes from an ancient Viking celebration of the turning of the sun.

4. “Feliz Navidad” directly translated into English means “Happy Birth”.

5. “Mele Kalikimaka” is Hawaiian for “enjoy the holiday feast”.

The Nativity of Jesus

6. Modern calendar years are based on the verified year of the birth of Christ.

7. The number of visitors, known as Magi, Wise Men or Kings, was three.

8. The Wise Men, or Kings, came to see the newborn baby lying in the manger.

9. Early Christians believed Christ was born on December 25th.

10. Shepherds watched their flocks on the cold winter’s night of Christ’s birth.

The Twelve Days of Christmas

11. The Twelve Days of Christmas begin on December 13th.

12. The gifts given on each day in the song represent items at a Christmas party.

13. The “Two Turtle Doves” represented the Old and New Testaments.

14. The last two gifts were 11 lords a leaping and 12 drummers drumming.

Santa Claus

15. St. Nicholas, who preceded Santa Claus, was born in Germany in 1622.

16. Santa’s flying sleigh and reindeer originated from stories in the 1800’s.

17. Although he’s known by many names in many places, Santa is always a man.

18. Kris Kringle was the name of an early Dutch Santa Claus figure.

19. Santa Claus is largely unknown in places like Japan and China.

Reindeer

20. Rudolph’s story was a promotional creation of Montgomery Ward stores.

21. Blixen is the name of Santa’s eighth reindeer.

22. Donner, the seventh reindeer, is sometimes incorrectly called Donder.

23. The reindeer were first named in “Twas the Night Before Christmas”.

24. Instead of reindeer, in Sweden, a goat pulls Santa’s (Tomten’s) sled.

Christmas Trees

25. The custom of decorating trees for Christmas originated in Germany.

26. Before the 1500’s, Christmas trees were considered a pagan custom.

27. Martin Luther is credited with first putting candles, or lights, on the tree.

28. There is no mention of a Christmas tree in Dicken’s “A Christmas Carol.”

29. Hanging the tree upside down from the ceiling used to be popular.

Miscellaneous

30. The first Christmas card was created and sent in London in 1840.

31. The most popular selling Christmas Carol of all time is “Silent Night”.

32. Mistletoe used to be hung for enemies to meet under and call a truce.

33. Poinsettias were first brought to the U.S. from Mexico by Mr. Poinsett.

34. Christmas mince pie contained rabbit, pheasant and partridge meat.

35. “Nog” in eggnog refers to a heavy noggin (head) from drinking too much.

36. The tradition of filling stockings originated in the country of Turkey.

37. Sleigh rides with jingle bells is a favorite Christmas activity in Australia.

38. Celebrating Christmas was once outlawed in Merry Olde England.

39. Candy canes were created to keep children quiet during church services.

40. Swedish Christmas celebrates St. Lucia, who helped needy people in Italy.

Answers:

1. False. “X” comes from the Greek letter that start’s Christ’s name and represents Christ.
2. True. Oui, oui. Noel is tres French, an old word which is related to the nouvelle, meaning “new”.
3. True. The word “yule” is old Norse for wheel, meaning the wheel in the sky that turns to give more light.
4. True. “Feliz” means “happy”. “Navidad” translates to nativity, which also means birth.
5. False. It means nothing in Hawaiian. It is an attempt to spell English “Merry Christmas” using Hawaiian letters.
6. False. There is no historical verification to the year of Christ’s birth. Some scholars believe it was in 2 to 4 B.C.
7. False. Three gifts are mentioned, but no number of the visitors is given. Some believe there were 12 or more.
8. False. They arrived well after Christ was born, and most likely saw him inside a home in a regular bed.
9. False. No exact date was known. When Romans became Christian, the Dec. 25th date replaced a pagan holiday.
10. False. Shepherds were not in the fields with their flocks during winter. This most likely occurred in the spring.
11. False. They start on Christmas Day, Dec. 25th, and last until Jan. 6th, the Eastern Orthodox Christmas Day.
12. True. In Old England, a party was held on “12th Night”. All the gifts were represented through food or fun.
13. True. The gifts and numbers were created to represent / disguise gospel principles for early persecuted believers.
14. False. There are 10 lords a leaping, not 11. Correct answer: 11 pipers piping, 12 drummers drumming.
15. False. St. Nicholas was born in Asia Minor, now known as Turkey, sometime during the 3rd Century.
16. False. The idea originated from early legends of Viking gods flying through the skies on animal-pulled sleighs.
17. False. In Italy, the gift giver is an old woman known as La Befana. In parts of Russia, she is known as Babushka.
18. False. Kris Kringle is an Americanization of the German gift giver “Christ-kindl”, or “Christ Child”.
19. False. Santa Claus has become a popular holiday figure in both Japan and China, not necessarily for Christmas.
20. True. It was a 1939 promotional gimmick given to those who did Christmas shopping at Montgomery Ward.
21. False. The name of the eighth reindeer is spelled Blitzen, not Blixen.
22. False. The original text of “Twas the Night Before Christmas” spells the seventh reindeer’s name as Donder.
23. True. “Twas the Night Before Christmas” by Clement C. Moore was the first text that named the eight reindeer.
24. True. Although many reindeer are in Northern Sweden, Tomten rides a sled through the forest pulled by a goat.
25. False. The Germans adapted modern tree traditions from customs of the ancient Romans and Celtic druids.
26. False. 7th Century Catholic monk St. Boniface used the indoor evergreen’s triangle shape to teach of the Godhead.
27. True. Legend claims Martin Luther first put candles on his tree, to represent the light of Christ for his children.
28. True. Christmas trees did not become popular in England until after Dickens wrote “A Christmas Carol”.
29. True. Many trees were originally hung upside down in Old Europe and in early Pennsylvania settlements.
30. True. John C. Horsley created his own card in 1840. The idea caught on, and his card was re-printed in 1843.
31. False. Although “Silent Night” is popular in many countries, Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” is the top seller.
32. True. Used for many things, mistletoe brought people together, including those who needed to kiss and make-up.
33. True. Joel Roberts Poinsett, Ambassador to Mexico, introduced the “Holy Night Flowers” to the U.S. in 1825.
34. True. Originally, mince pie was a meat pie. Fruits and spices were later added, and then the meat was dropped.
35. False. “Nog” is another term for “grog”, which is a rum-based drink. Eggnog is sometimes served with rum.
36. True. St. Nicholas, who lived in Turkey, is claimed to have assisted the needy by leaving gold coins in stockings.
37. False. Christmas in Australia occurs during summertime. A beach barbecue is a popular Christmas Day event.
38. True. From 1645 to 1660, because of Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans, celebrating Christmas was illegal.
39. True. A Cologne Cathedral Choirmaster gave shepherds crook-shaped candy to kids during long nativity services.
40. True. Though celebrated in Sweden, Lucia’s legend began with her Christian services and martyrdom in Italy.

Correct Answers Rating:
40 - Cheater, you peeked! Not even Santa knew all of these.
35 to 39 - Next in line to be Santa. How’s your “ho, ho, ho”?
30 to 34 - A true Christmas elf. Santa’s looking to promote you.
25 to 29 - On Santa’s Nice List, but you could do better.
20 to 24 - Rockin’ around the Christmas tree, but you’re missing some good stuff.
15 to 19 - You like Christmas, but your favorite holiday is Halloween, right?
10 to 14 - Christmas is coming, and you haven’t got a ha’penny. God bless you.
Less than 10 - Bah humbug. You need to pay more attention if you want more than coal in your stocking. Better watch out or you’ll get run over by a reindeer.