Friday, December 10, 2010

A delayed St Nichola craft and SANTA LUCIA!

A bit delayed, but while browsing the Craft Crow for ornament ideas, I came across this lovely St Nicholas Day craft.  Definitely putting it on the shelf for next year!!!

And, now, for one of my FAVORITE Advent days of the year (and, yes, I am biased because I have a very beautiful Lucy Light of my own): St. Lucy's Day (or Santa Lucia!).

You can read about various ways that different cultures celebrate this day over at the Catholic Culture website (a great resource, imho).  We do our own rendition of the Swedish tradition.

After the sun sets in the evening, we have Lucy dress up in a white dress with a red sash and her lovely crown of battery operated candles that her godparents gave her.  She then processes, carrying a plate full of buns shaped in a ring like a crown and gingersnaps, (usually with the help of her siblings) to where we and our guests are sitting and singing Santa Lucia.

This year, we are giving Lucy and her siblings Santa Lucia paper dolls for a gift and will, per usual, tie a red ribbon around a white candle and give one each to our guests in honor of Santa Lucia.

Santa Lucia!  Santa LUCIA!

Monday, December 6, 2010

Happy St. Nicholas Day

I had a sudden thought last night to include a note of encouragement in the girl's St. Nicholas stockings. I hope to remember to do this each year. This time it reads, "Be kind to one another."

We also listened to this podcast of St. Nicholas http://ancientfaith.com/podcasts/saintoftheday