Among the many feast days in Advent, St. Lucy's has become a favorite in our home. On the eve of her feast day, Daddy prepares special eye-shaped rolls, which are served to all by the "Lucy Brides" next morning. "Eye-shaped" rolls you may wonder? Legend states that Lucy gouged out her eyes to destroy their beauty from so many admirers. St. Lucy, please help us to embrace holy purity!
In addition to our special breakfast, we've adapted the Hungarian custom(part of mom's heritage)of planting the "Christmas wheat" on this day. The wheat is nurtured and cared for until the Holy Infant's birth. It is then given as a gift to the Christ Child in the manger; symbolic of the Eucharistic gift of Christ giving himself to us.
*Disclaimer ~ We'll not be held responsible for injuries due to lighting of "headwreaths!" (hohoho)
You're not supposed to light the candles!
ReplyDeleteThat reminds me of when I was in Germany for my first feast of St. Blaise, several months after I was ordained...apparently in some places in Germany, the custom is to light the candles for the blessing of the throats. Well, in my case, I refused to light the candles for fear of a mishap...I really couldn't see myself being held responsible for setting some poor woman's hair afire....so I refused...boy did I get an earful after wards. In any case, I assured the person cocerned that the blessing was indeed valid even if the candles weren't lit. Well, to this day, custom or not, I won't light the candles...sorry.
Hope you didn't have any mishaps...