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Saint Lucias Day December 13th On December 13th, one of the shortest days of winter, girls in Sweden dress up as Santa Lucia wearing a white dress and a crown of candles . Boys carry a candle and wear a kind of white pyjama. They wear hats that are pointy with golden stars on them. In Sweden we do not wear candles anymore because before girls caught their hair on fire very often. Today we use modern candles with batteries in them. After lunch most schools close on Santa Lucia day around noon. It is a national holiday which comes on the 13th of December. There are also special foods for Lucias Day like spicy gingerbread biscuits. In big cities in Sweden there are beauty contests where some women dress up as Santa Lucia and the judges and the people vote for the Santa Lucia of the year. In schools people sing Santa Lucias song. The words in Swedish and English are in the right-hand column. Who was Saint Lucia? Saint Lucia was a saint because of her kindness and her love. She was an Italian Christian who lived in Sicily in the 4th century. Some people believe she once visited Sweden. December 13th is also her feast day. The way she became a saint was that a man who loved her and Lucia didnt like him, Lucias mother asked her to marry the man but she refused so the man heard about this and he said he would burn her. But Lucia prayed to God to have the power to survive the fire. Because of her kindness to others her wish was granted. The man tried to burn her but she had the power to withstand fire so the man got a sword and stuck it into Lucias throat. Still Lucia survived for three more hours speaking beautiful words. | 
