What is Biblical about Saint Lucy's Day?

Saint Lucy's Day (otherwise known as Saint Lucia Day) is a celebration that occurs in many countries across Europe, though it is primarily celebrated in Sweden. The celebration of Saint Lucy's Day happens every year on December 13th. The first part of the celebration takes place inside a local church, where a young woman adorns a wreath with candles, a white gown and a red sash. She then processes out of the church followed by many other young women wearing white robes. The young woman in the red sash then walks all throughout the town handing out food to local charity organizations and less fortunate families. This celebration is one of many that signifies the coming of Christmastime.

Saint Lucy's Day is primarily celebrated to honor the life and martyr of Saint Lucy of Sicily. She was born in about the year 283 A.D. and she was martyred in around the year 310 A.D. when she was approxiamately 27 years old. Though not much is known for certain about Saint Lucy, there are several legends about her that are likely founded on her true history. One of these legends tells of how she risked her life to give food and drink to Christians living in the catacombs of Rome. These Christians were in hiding because the Roman government was persecuting them. Their crime was proclaiming that there was one God and no other gods were before Him (this would remain an offense punishable by death, until the reign of Emperor Constantine in late 310 A.D.). According to legend, Saint Lucy needed to keep both of her hands free in order to carry as much food and drink as possible, so she made a wreath with candles so that she could wear it on her head to light her way through the catacombs. This legend inspires many aspects of Saint Lucy's Day celebration, including the traditional outfit worn by the young woman who leads the procession. The wreath on the young woman's head is worn in accordance with the legend, the white robes represent a Christian's purity through Christ and the red sash represents Saint Lucy's martyrdom.

There are multiple Biblical values shown within the celebration of Saint Lucy's Day. The virtue of charity through charitable giving is demonstrated most prominently in both the celebration of Saint Lucy Day and the life of Saint Lucy. Jesus Himself said truly"it is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35). God commands His children to give charitably to the less fortunate, the way Saint Lucy did. God tells His children, "spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday" (Isaiah 58:10). In the same way the candles of the processors on Saint Lucy's Day light up the dark night, so too does a Christian's charitable giving light up the darkness in this world. 

Our giving, however, does not have to be done on display like it is on Saint Lucy's Day. On the contrary, Jesus tells His followers, "when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you" (Matthew 6:3-4). We know that the reward in store for us, as believers, is greater than anything we could receive on earth. Our reward is this; that one day Jesus will say to His children, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink," (Matthew 25:34-35). Jesus says, "whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me" just as Saint Lucy did (Matthew 25:40).

Sources

• The Bible (New International Version)
• Wikipedia: Saint Lucy's Day
• 25 Important Bible Verses about Charity