St Lucia - Our Festival of Light (late again)

Part of our celebration of the Feast of St Lucia is to have our own Festival of Light in our home.

After dinner and before sweets, which is another of our own traditions, we clear the table and add our St Lucia Bread and our St Lucia Eyeballs to our table as we set up the candles around our home.

This is our St Lucia Eyeball desert. I actually think it is pretty gross BUT our children invented it and they love it. Of course this makes the feast day more meaningful for them (which is part of the idea anyway) as it has real meaning for them.

So the eyeballs are marshmallows dipped in melted chocolate with white chocolate melts on top, place in a blood custard red coloured custard.

After this we have the candlelight procession through our home, lighting candles as we go and singing~
"Walk in the Light"
The Spirit lives to set us free,
walk, walk in the light.
He binds us all in unity,
walk, walk in the light.

Walk in the light,
walk in the light,
walk in the light,
walk in the light of the Lord

Jesus promised life to all,
walk, walk in the light.
The dead were wakened by his call,
walk, walk in the light.

He died in pain on Calvary,
walk, walk in the light,
to save the lost like you and me,
walk, walk in the light.

We know his death was not the end,
walk, walk in the light.
He gave his Spirit to be our friend,
walk, walk in the light.

By Jesus' love our wounds are healed,
walk, walk in the light.
The Father's kindness is revealed,
walk, walk in the light.

The Spirit lives in you and me,
walk, walk in the light.
His light will shine for all to see,
walk, walk in the light

We actually follow a little tradition before this though:
We gather around the kitchen table with all the lights out in our home.
I light one candle on the table and we begin in silence.........
In the name of The Father and The Son and The Holy Spirit..Amen

Oldest Daughter ~ ( we actually alternate turns): Light has come into the World... Alleluia ------ 2 candles are lit.
All ~ Light has come into the  World who is Our Lord Jesus Christ...Alleluia

Daughter~ God will cause the bright dawn of Salvation to rise on us and to shine from heaven on all those who live in the dark shadow of death------- 4 candles are lit

We now listen to the Story of St Lucy:
The glorious virgin and martyr St. Lucy, one of the brightest ornaments of the church of Sicily, was born of honourable and wealthy parents in the city of Syracusa, and educated from her cradle in the faith of Christ. She lost her father in her infancy, but Eutychia, her mother, took singular care to furnish her with tender and sublime sentiments of piety and religion. By the early impressions which Lucy received and the strong influence of divine grace, Lucy discovered no disposition but toward virtue, and she was yet very young when she offered to God the flower of her virginity. This vow, however, she kept a secret, and her mother, who was a stranger to it, pressed her to marry a young gentleman who was a pagan. The saint sought occasions to hinder this design from taking effect, and her mother was visited with a long and troublesome flux of blood, under which she laboured four years without finding any remedy by recourse to physicians. At length she was persuaded by her daughter to go to Catana and offer up her prayers to God for relief at the tomb of St. Agatha. St. Lucy accompanied her thither, and their prayers were successful.
Hereupon our saint disclosed to her mother her desire of devoting herself to God in a state of perpetual virginity, and of bestowing her fortune on the poor: and Eutychia, in gratitude, left her at full liberty to pursue her pious inclinations. The young nobleman, with whom the mother had treated about marrying her, came to understand this by the sale of her jewels and goods, and the distribution of the price among the poor, and in his rage accused her before the governor Paschasius as a Christian, the persecution of Diocletian then raging with the utmost fury. The judge commanded the holy virgin to be sentenced to a house of ill repute but God rendered her immovable, so that the guards were not able to carry her thither. He also made her an over-match for the cruelty of the persecutors, in overcoming fire and other torments. After a long and glorious combat she died in prison of the wounds she had received,—about the year 304.

Mummy reads an explanation ~ this one or another
She was honoured at Rome in the sixth century among the most illustrious virgins and martyrs, whose triumphs the church celebrates, as appears from the Sacramental of St. Gregory, Bede, and others. Her festival was kept in England till the change of religion, as a holy day of the second rank, in which no work but tillage or the like was allowed. Her body remained at Syracuse for many years; but was at length translated into Italy, and thence by the authority of the Emperor Otho I to Metz, as Sigebert of Gemblours relates. It is there exposed to public veneration in a rich chapel of St. Vincent's Church. A portion of her relics was carried to Constantinople and brought thence to Venice, where it is kept with singular veneration. St. Lucy is often painted with the balls of her eyes laid in a dish: perhaps her eyes were defaced or plucked out, though her present acts make no mention of any such circumstance. In many places her intercession is particularly implored for distempers of the eyes.
Taken from EWTN

Daughter~ Light has come into the World... Alleluia-------6 candles are lit
All~ Light has come into the world who is Our Lord Jesus Christ....Alleluia

Daughter~ God will cause the bright dawn of Salvation to rise on us and to shine from heaven on all those who live in the dark shadow of death.....8 candles are lit

Togther we recite this prayer~ (or another of your choice):

Saint Lucy, you did not hide your light under a basket, but let it shine for the whole world, for all the centuries to see. We may not suffer torture in our lives the way you did, but we are still called to let the light of our Christianity illumine our daily lives. Please help us to have the courage to bring our Christianity into our work, our recreation, our relationships, our conversation -- every corner of our day.
Amen.

Final Prayer~
Lord give us courage through the prayers of Saint Lucy. As we celebrate her entrance into eternal glory, we ask to share her happiness in the life to come.
Grant this through Christ Our Lord... amen

It is now we celebrate by processing through our home singing "Walk in the light" and lighting candles as we go to each room until all are lit.
If you would like you could sing "Santa Lucia"

English Lyrics:

The silver star shines on the sea,
the waves are gentle,
the wind is favourable.
Come to my swift little boat!

Santa Lucia! Santa Lucia!
O dear Naples, o blessed land,
where creation was pleased to smile!
Come to my swift little boat!
Santa Lucia! Santa Lucia!

But we sing our beloved Walk in the Light to celebrate St Lucia and the coming of the Light of the World!!

After completing the lighting of our home we then progress back to the kitchen where we turn on the lights, blow out the candles (before Daddy has a major stress attack about the many candles all over the place.)

Refreshments are  now served~We then complete our evening by enjoying our special St Lucia bread.

This year we lit over 150 tea light candles in our home. The effect was truly amazing and it really does show the image of Christ as the Light of the World very effectively.

I hope you have enjoyed the visit of this family tradition,that we celebrate in our home that we really look forward to each year.
We did have more images but really I think this is quite enough for you to have to endure☺

I pray as we enter the last week of Advent you may truly be blessed by the thought of the birth of our coming Saviour.

Blessings to you and your homes,