Christmas - Santa Lucia Sweden

[poffa2]

Fint!

[LoveMusic123211]

Lol "Santa Lucia" :D Det er Sankta Lucia :)

[boatalle]

Stop playing with fire.

[chookiechooks]

How beautiful.

[dancingcedar]

For someone to play the part of Santa Lucia and bring coffee and spiced cookies to people. If in homes, she brings them to the family membersin their beds.. It is for everyone. Once I made a wreath of candles for my head and did this. It was a wonderful feeling to walk in a circle of light radiating from my head. I recommend it but be careful on the flames. Solstice Blessings

[dancingcedar]

Comes then into the night, Glowing with candlelight, Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia.... Where darkness was so still, Soft sounds are crying, And as a joyous song, Rooms fill rejoicing, For on the threshold stands, robed in her gracious love, Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia.... Darkness will soon be gone, from earth's deep hollows, as she in joyous song, bids us to follow. With her we'll sing our song, as the new dawn appears, Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia. It is a Swedish custom, in homes and schools, etc.

[dancingcedar]

I love this. I am half Swedish and I grew up with this. I get tears when I hear this song. The legend in Sweden is that in medieval times there was a famine and on Lake Vanern in Sweden, a boat appeared with a woman radiating light at the bow. She alighted on the shore and gave the people food and clothing, and then returned to the boat and vanished into the lake. A translation: "Night casts its heavy veil, O'er homes and dwellings, And as the twilight fails, Cold woods are calling.

[missyA1958]

Lena, This is beautiful!

[jomerod]

According to tradition, when the saint was very young made a vow to God to remain always pure and untouched, but when it came to youth her mother wanted to marry her to a young pagan. Lucia finally got the permission not to marry, but the young pretender, in retaliation accused the saint being a Christian, religion that was strictly forbidden in those times of persecution. She was called to trial, forced to worship pagan gods, but she remained firm in her faith, only to be decapitated.

[jomerod]

"She is patroness of the poor, the blind, the sick children and the cities of Syracuse (her hometown), Venice and Pedro del Monte. She is also the patroness saint of farmers, electricians, drivers, grinders, cutters, glaziers and writers. “For firmly proclaiming her faith, the martyr's eyes were torn, but the legend says she was still watching.

[milindojerez]

I am american and catholic. I didn't even know this holiday or tradition existed. I wish we had it here in the U.S.! It's really beautiful!

[Massey207]

Hello, its in Sweden.

[magicmoonbeam2]

I don't see any people of colour. In fact, Its hideously white & by default a bit racist.

Remember Diversity is our greatest strength, we should all embrace diversity.

[TheEupot]

@magicmoonbeam2 It's nothing racist about it, we have the right to preserve our culture and traditions like any other culture does. hideously white ? :S that was a bit racist comment..

[stpetric]

@magicmoonbeam2 You'll have this in Sweden! It's an overwhelmingly white country! Hard to believe this could be news to you.

[PBLero]

@magicmoonbeam2 Dafuq?

[Octavice]

@magicmoonbeam2 Troll!

[RevWarRev]

So wonderfull! Lovely and graceful and just beautiful! You've made my Lucy Day!

[satukar]

Merry x-mas from Finland.

[ronjem54]

Beautiful, I really like it........

[LillaDalaHast]

Beautiful -saa fint!

[squamme100]

How do I download this video onto Windows live photo gallery?

[IHasMonkeyable]

We celebrates this in Norway aswell :)

[stefanolov]

is this swedish-finland?

[Trinacria1973]

I am from Sicily and I cant belive this, Santa Lucia is our most popular Holyday in Sicily, we sing the same Song( in italian) how did OUR catholich Santa Lucia get to protestant Sweden?

[stefanolov]

@Trinacria1973 I don´t know.but we swedes have always celebrated st:lucia 13/12. God Jul from stockholm :-)p.s.love your car´s d.s.

[mjonas10]

@Trinacria1973 I don't know, but it has been a big tradition in Sweden since the 18th century.

[fingal61]

@Trinacria1973 The tradition of Lucia in Sweden is a mix of pre-christian and christan customs.According to the Julian calender, December 13 (Dec 21 in the Gregorian calender) was the longest night of the year, (The winter solstice). When Sweden transfered to the Gregorian calender in 1753 we kept Dec.13 as the day to celebrate the night of Lussi. Later on we "imported" the saint Lucia as the bringer of light and incorporated her into our own traditions.

[tjallew]

@Trinacria1973

it's older and more pagan tradition off the dakest day in a year where I come

from north parth off Sweden we see sun in Januari again

Christian traditon seen's 1820 something the light should hunting away the evel

thing's thise dangerous night sorry dyslektiv Swed-Anglo-Amerikan lingvestik

[TinyArts]

@Trinacria1973 we were catholics here in Sweden before the luther reformation back in the early 16th century. This is one of the few traditions that we still have that has survived, it is also influenced by older pagan traditions aswell. such as celebrating the light at the darkest period of the year etc. Sort of a mix btw catholic and old pre-cristian traditions. Hope that helped abit :)

[MainlyNo]

@Trinacria1973 Simple, when christianity came to sweden we had a night of light on the darkest night of the year to ward of goblins and witches. They simply did a bait and switch saying thay had a simular 'holiday' on that day.

[nollsyforever]

Wow, thank alot. My son is also doing a project on Swedish Christmas traditions, and this will look great on his presentation. :))

[henrikhankhagnell]

Sankta Lucia, bed för oss!

[amyclnyman]

Sir/Ma'am,

Please may I use clips of your Lucia video for a presentation at my child's elementary school in Georgia, USA? Please reply as soon as posssible to 4nymans@gmail.com Thank you!

[World777A]

@amyclnyman Hello, sure you can use clips of this video. We wish you luck with your child's presentation.

Greetings from Holland!

[FriendsMusicFashion]

Extremely well-coordinated!

[Niobesnuppa]

Wow, de er flinke til å synge!

[theecrazyartist]

humon has made me so worldly

[ixorafy]

SATW!

[TechnicalJaguar]

@Gunnariffic På Svenska ja, men på Italienska är det Santa och det är där det först började...

[GaladedridDamodred]

Doesn't the wax drip on her head?

[ragrath]

@GaladedridDamodred Nope, these girls usually has a sort of cap that the wreath is woven on top of



[Delokrat]

@GaladedridDamodred it does

[pisse3000]

@GaladedridDamodred It does sometimes, I know from experience, but all you need to do it smile and take long deep breaths and just remove it when you get off the stage! :)

[joinchoir]

This is beautiful. Please message me with info on the choir.

[roidroid]

@arlynruzycki14 i lost both my thumbs in a horrible internet accident :(

[YourCellophaneGirl]

I used to walk in the Santa Lucia procession every year when I was younger :)

[kuramasan]

I remember doing that as a kid! I really had wanted to wear the candles but someone else got to do it. :/

[ccarlosincali]

It is interesting that the feast of St Lucy has a strong Lutheran tradition; this is a beautiful video honoring St Lucy.

[henrikhankhagnell]

@ccarlosincali yes, not even Lutherans can stop praying with the saints.

[PrincipessaDellOpera]

Beautifully sung!!!!!!

[CheeseIsAll164]

strangely, this goes good while listening to the song Chop Suey by System of a Down

[dunespeak]

@CheeseIsAll164 It kinda does.. O.o Though I decided to start this right when Chop Suey starts it's singing, not sure when exactly you had it start though... XD Need a 3 minute 31 second version of this, lol.

[skyethor]

Over here in the USA some lawyer would want to ban this because of a fire hazard

[redstar127]

@skyethor You are 100% right!!!

[redstar127]

@skyethor Or the will take you to court for not having a fire code or fireproof dress code or for not having this or that. It never fails.

[kelceejofarra]

@skyethor

Some people in the US do this too. They can't ban anything having to do with this because it is a religious practice.

[totnesmartin]

@skyethor - in the UK the local council would ban it on health and safety grounds. You can't do anything really interesting these days.

[mcsplivens]

Beautiful video. Just for the record a previous post mentioned this is celebrated in Catholic countries. Actually all the Scandanavian countries mentioned are predominantly Lutheran although Scandanavia and most of the Christian world was Catholic prior to Protestantism. Compare an Episcopal mass to a Catholic mass and I bet you couldn't tell the difference. Here nor there we are all children of God. Merry Christmas and God Jul.

[19patriot43]

So awesome!! Thanks so much for sharing....Happy Christmas, and here's to a much improved 2011 & beyond.

[wakim117]

Recently our priest's daughter Lucia died of trisomy 18. Pray for her. Thank you.

[BlackLadyHeart]

Uhhi

[jaihill]

Is that Abba? :-) Jokes! My partner sent me this and its lovely

[Guitarscreech06]

Is this saint recognized in other countries?

[chh5555]

@Guitarscreech06 Italy!

[mieroth]

@Guitarscreech06: Definitely all Catholic countries. You mean where her day is celebrated? Primarily in Sweden. She's also celebrated in parts of Italy as well along with Norway, Denmark, and Finland. And you'll find small pockets in northern continental europe (germany, etc) and the balkans who celebrate it as well. But this is generally unknown. :)

[Decebal88]

Lovely.. we used to celebrate Santa Lucia like this in our school in Germany :)

[Shanayas07]

Sooooo beautiful ;o))

[kattjojje]

@WolfSketched hehe,går i kör, man måste utala R:en väldigt tydligt, annars låter det som man sjunger: unt gåd o stua x)

[SubjectOfMatter]

Ugh, saknar sverige.. Flyttade for over 5 ar sedan till australien. har finns det knappt sno :-/

[swedentracknfield]

@SubjectOfMatter Stackare :(

[Starduster1000]

@SubjectOfMatter ,Jo jag känner till hur det kan vara att vara utrikes och hemifrån men Australien har ju en massa annat häftigt som du kan glädjas åt!På nåt sätt så beundrar och håller man hemlandet extra kärt när man bor utomlands och det är ju liksom ändå en fin känsla och något positivt.

Take care & ha en riktigt fin Jul down-under!

[Trygve12345678987654]

Hvor er lusekattene? :)

[psaile93]

denna viden skickade mej te humon :P japp

[douma234]

Heaven forbid that one girl trips.

[Fatalnightshade]

@douma234 no i want to make one trip just for the lol when they all go up into flames

[lafeeclair]

thank-you humon, this is lovely!

[BunnieVamp]

i love how everything that was mostly thumbed up involves humon.

[vispec]

thumb up if you were sent here by humon-

[25ostaf]

@arlynruzycki14

Humon?

[byt4n]

@25ostaf humon.deviantartcom

it's a danish cartoon writer who, in some of her cartoons, has the scandinavian countries as main characters. in her latest scandinavia and the world cartoon (30.11.2010) she did a cartoon strip about the scandinavian christmas traditions and she linked this video when she tried to explain the wjhole lucia thing :)) I would have posted the link directly but YT wouldn't let me :(

[andrielisilien]

the song sounds close to something I would hear on a gondola in Italy

[KamiKaZantA]

@andrielisilien Only difference is a hairy italian man singing instead of blonde girls in their 20s, hurr hurr!

[TheOnlyGhostGirl]

@KamiKaZantA actually, their like 15 :)

[KamiKaZantA]

@TheOnlyGhostGirl *they're. And ok.

[mieroth]

@andrielisilien: Melody is Italian as Saint Lucia was Italian. They celebrate her (to a lesser extent) in Italy as well and you can find this song in Italian as well. ;)

[MeraMeraWolf]

@mieroth yeah, and she had dark hair, not blonde ;D

[mieroth]

@MeraMeraWolf: Yeah, and Jesus had dark skin and hair but that doesn't stop most people from not potraying him looking like that in plays/pictures/movies. Who the hell cares if a Lucia is blonde?

[nelliexlovett]

I want to see them all bust out in an epic rap.

[25ostaf]

@nelliexlovett

First why?

Second, epic? Rap? Never thought i would see those two words used in the same sentence.

[nelliexlovett]

@25ostaf Because it would be so unexpected that it would be hilarious.

White and Nerdy is an epic rap.

[NinjaFoxKitty]

absolutely beautiful

[Hijinata]

what are they syaing?

[ea1power]

@Hijinata roughly they're singing that the night is very dark and quiet, and that there are shadows everywhere. That's like the verse. And then in the chorus they sing that Lucia comes and brings light to the darkness. To us ot reeeeally makes sense, because it is incredibly dark here right now ^^

[mieroth]

@Hijinata: Official, not literal, translation: 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,/ Santa Lucia, Santa 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./ Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia!

[mieroth]

@Hijinata: @Hijinata: Literal translation: Night walks with a heavy step/ Round yard and hearth,/ As the sun departs from earth,/ Shadows are brooding./ There in our dark house,/ Walking with lit candles,/ Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia!/ Night walks grand, yet silent,/ Now hear its gentle wings,/ In every room so hushed,/ Whispering like wings./ Look, at our threshold stands,/ White-clad with light in her hair,/ Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia!

[aragornfan22]

Some how that seems a bit dangerous...having a flaming candle hat on your head...cool tradition though. =)

They're singing is absolutely lovely. ^^

[DorkSideIndustries]

@arlynruzycki14

yup. gotta love humon.

[NightBane345]

I like the old traditions but not when they forced me to be on it when I was younger :P

[FioryMir]

This is really pretty. :)

[D3unan]

There are actually three diffrent songs written to this melody; "The night walks with heavy steps" (the one sung here), "Outside's dark and cold" and "Bright Illusion". None of which are in any way a translation of the original italian song. xP

[kathrinehoegh]

I love Lucia. I've been a Lucia Bride a couple of times ^^ It's awesome.

[apornakmr]

i LOVE lucia, it's so cozy and it really lights up the dark here in sweden :)

[Maiia]

The best thing with Lucia is when you get up at like six in the morning and eat saffron buns, drink hot cocao, light candles and watch the Lucia train on TV.

En av de mysigaste högtiderna enligt moi! :)

[SQUAD11ELEVEN]

Sankta Lucia Natten går tunga fjät runt gård och stuva. Kring jord, som sol'n förlät, skuggorna ruva. Då i vårt mörka hus stiga med tända ljus Sankta Lucia, Sankta Lucia. Då i vårt mörka hus stiga med tända ljus Sankta Lucia, Sankta Lucia. Natten är stor och stum. Nu 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. Se på vår tröskel står vitklädd, med ljus i hår Sankta Lucia, Sankta Lucia.

[Huineng10]

I knew nothing about the Festival of Light, nor about Sankta Lucia's meaning in Sweden.

The story and the exquisite rendition of the song touched me deeply.

[prangerl2f]

Could you post English lyrics please?

[19patriot43]

@prangerl2f This is the internet...look the words up yourself! Leave this video alone. It is hauntingly beautiful...

[alsantiesteban1]

GRACIAS SANTA LUCIA POR LLEGARME AL CORAZON¡ SALUDOS A TODOS LOS BUENOS CATOLICOS DEL MUNDO¡¡¡

[blitzkriegahsofar]

This is realy very beautiful! Thanks Matilda (where are you?) for sharing. Merry Christmas everybody!

[allaboard70]

Oh yeah, the time for Lucia is very nice every year here in Sweden!

[svenmichael24]

such a beautiful, elegant tradition

saknar dig, sverige!

[Fechteli]

Vad kul!

Ha en skön luciadag!

[Zeuxis5511]

I grew up in Sweden and my memories from there are still active in my back brain.

Excellent! Congrat Miss Lucia of Stockholm and all other chosen Lucia in the rest of the country.

[jazzgermany]

So wunderschön!!!

They can sing! Endlich...Luciasängerinnen, die auch singen können.

Danke. Takk!

[livlig70]

SANTA LUCIA :-*

[InsideCellardoor]

Jag älskar lucia!

[Beautyfugl]

i always wanted to be the bride... but i guess i'll never be that tall... even with ligts on my head xD

i'll just stay in the back as always and let those tall girls stand in front of me... ;) they have egos as big as themselves... it's crazy xD

[sillychad18]

wow never heard it in Swedish before but I like it! I love how they took an Italian song and used it more chorally in another culture.

Venite all'agile barchetta miaaa, Santa Luciaa. ♫

[marikesl]

this is just BEAUTIFUL!!! i LOVE lucia!!!

[mratcl]

I studied Swedish at university and we had to sing this one December brings back many memories

[sk8kategirl1123]

wow i used to do thisi sang this song in sweedish,

its a family tradishan