Who is Sainta Lucia ?

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Image Title: Who is Sainta Lucia ?

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By: Paul de Beukelaar
Copyright ©2008

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Photographer	Paul de Beukelaar {Karma:26449}
Project	#62 Equal and Opposite	Camera Model	Nikon D90
Categories	Historical Stage People	Film Format	Digital JPEG
Portfolio		Lens	AF-S DX VR Nikkor 18-200
Uploaded	12/15/2008	Film / Memory Type	JPEG
		ISO / Film Speed	3200
Views	459	Shutter	1/125
Favorites	0	Aperture	f/5.6
Critiques	26	Rating	6.19 / 8 Ratings
Location	City - Stavanger State - ROGALAND Country - Norway
About	Lucia Day -- 13 December -- Festival of Lights Who will be Miss Santa Lucia this year? The left hand is encouraging the winner as the right hand is protecting the loser during this Sainta Lucia Contest. Optional some historical background of this celebration, as separate from Christmas still to come. For over 1,000 years, Christians in Scandinavia have celebrated Saint Lucy, symbolizing both the enduring spiritual light of faith and the return of the sun's physical light. The current Lucia day tradition began over 100 years ago in Sweden’s wealthier farming districts and has spread through much of Scandinavia. In recent years, the Lucia tradition very popular in Sweden has become more of a public celebration, and some sort of a Miss Beauty (S)election, now popular in all Scandinavian countries. There are processions and contests in almost every school and town. There are processions in hospitals, offices, factories -- -- even on SAS flights! The celebration of Santa Lucia in Scandinavia has ancient roots in distant places. According to apocryphal writings, the original Lucia was a beautiful, well-born maiden in Sicily during the early days of Christian persecution under the Roman Emperor Diocletian. A Christian convert, Lucia is said to have carried food to fellow Christians who hid from persecutors in the dark catacombs, lighting her way with a crown of candles. In 304 AD, she was martyred for her belief on the day of the winter solstice, December 13th according to the Julian calendar then in use. Her body was taken to Constantinople and later Venice, where her bones reside at the Church of Santa Lucia. Death, however, proved to be a catalyst for her fame. Lucia is mentioned in Roman writings and in an inscription at Syracuse dating from 400 AD, less than one hundred years after her death. Far from fading with time, her veneration among Christians grew and spread abroad: two churches founded before the 8th century in Britain are known to have been dedicated to Saint Lucy at a time when the populace there was more pagan than Christian. Some historians hypothesize that Viking invaders may have brought back the Lucia custom to Sweden where it took hold. To this day, some Scandinavians believe that midnight on December 13th is a time when miracles happen. For Scandinavian Christians, Lucia symbolizes hope and light in the coming birth of Christ, the Light of the World. The name Lucy actually means "light" and she is sometimes referred to as the Queen of Light. The Lucia maiden’s lighted crown and even the yellow saffron buns, are also symbols of light. She inevitably became associated with the eyes, the "light" of the body. Lucia Day was also intertwined with the far older light-and-fire Yuletide customs from the pre-Christian era. In addition to its religious associations, the festival represents the returning of the sun as days begin to get longer. The renewed sense of faith, hope and growth that the Lucia festival brings is welcome indeed in a land where daylight hours are scarce at this time of the year!

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There are 26 Comments in 1 Pages
1

Paul de Beukelaar {K:26449} 1/3/2009

Chère Ania. Glad to hear from you that you liked the photo and the background story.
bisous,
Paul

Paul de Beukelaar {K:26449} 1/3/2009

Merci Jacques,
bonne année à toi et ta famille,
voyager à 6 cela nécessite (restant au Canada), la location d'un autocar entier, l'embauche d'un nounou et la mobilisation d'un guide etc, etc.
Pour aller en europe: Il faut presque penser à organiser "un charter flight" et négocier une réduction à l'agence de voyage en tant que bon client :-)

Ania Blazejewska

{K:23981} 12/29/2008

beautiful image and very interesting "about" dar Paul
my best regards
ania

jacques brisebois {K:73883} 12/28/2008

J'ai des amis en France, et c'est sûrement une des destinations que j'aimerais visité dans un avenir pas trop lointain... Mais il demeure que voyager en Europe à 6 c'est assez dispendieux :)