Next time one of your loved ones starts acting like a bloody Christian martyr because of holiday stress, tell them that post has already been filled.
Every December 13, folks in Sweden celebrate the life of St Lucia as the kickoff of the Christmas season. Lucia was a fourth century Sicilian girl who gave away her generous dowry to impoverished Christians. Her fiancee was duly pissed, renounced her as a Jesus-lover and turned her in to the authorities, who ordered her burned. (In some versions of the story, the bad guys gouge out her eyes first; St. Lucia is the patron saint of the blind.) Nuts. Since Dec. 13 was the Winter Solstice on the Julian calendar, the pagan festival of lights celebrated on that date eventually morphed into St. Lucia Day.
According to legend, Lucia would go about distributing her belongings to the poor illuminated by a wreath of candles in her hair, thus leaving both her hands free to carry—and give away—more. On St. Lucia Day, pretty girls in Sweden dress up in white robes and blazing headdresses (sadly, most are now battery-powered), and awaken the locals by distributing hot coffee and fragrant saffron buns known as Lussekatter (or Lucia Cats).
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