Sankta Lucia – A Scandinavian festival

Many of us go along to carol services at this time of year but last night we went to something truly special at York Minster.

At the beginning of the Sankta Lucia service the lights in the minster dimmed to near darkness and from the back a procession of choristers carrying candles make their way through the congregation.

At the head of the chorister is Lucia, a young woman or girl bearing a crown of candles.

As they proceed the choir sing the Sankta Lucia carol which is a tune many of you will be familiar with. Their unaccompanied voices soared to the heights of the minster and it was a breathtaking moment.

Sankta Lucia or A Festival of Light is a merger of pagan and Christian traditions. According to the Julian calendar which was used in Sweden until 1753, the night between 12th and 13th December was the longest night of the year when it was believed extra protection was needed against darkness and evil. The custom was to eat and drink and to stay up all night.

The advent wreath

December 13th is also the saint’s day of Lucia, St Lucy. The 4th century Lucia was martyred in Sicily for refusing to marry a pagan nobleman. She miraculously survived attempts to kill her and did not die until she received the last sacraments.

Lucia’s story and name became synonymous with its associations with light and the story spread via Germany and England to Sweden.

Lucia has a special place in the hearts of the Swedish people, and on December 13th a Lucia and her attendants appear in almost every home, school, church and office.

Her crown of candles may symbolise a halo and her red sash martyrdom. The tradition of Lucia processions spread to other Scandinavian countries and some Baltic countries.

Sankta Lucia is a family-friendly event held at York Minster in partnership with York Anglo-Scandinavian Society (YASS) which  aims to promote friendship and understanding between Britain and Scandinavia.

Of course, there are strong historic and cultural links which York has with Scandinavia – the Vikings, The annual Yorvik Festival and the Yorvik Centre all pay homage to York’s Nordic heritage.

The choir taking part in the procession, Chorus Pictor, is from Stockholm and tours in Sweden and abroad. They were joined at by members of the YASS Lucia Singers who are Scandinavian and English girls from the York area. Members of Vaxholms gosskor (the Vaxholm boys’ choir), the ‘starboys’ in the procession.

In a distracting multi-media age where so much is commercialised it’s not always easy to find something original or authentic – and that costs nothing.

Sankta Lucia at York Minster is a wonderful experience in a magnificent setting and is a lovely way of taking time out from the headlong rush to Christmas Day.

A weekend away

We are just back from a weekend in the south west, staying with my brother near Cheltenham. I spent a few years of my childhood here, near Cirencester, so it is familiar territory. As I moved around quite a bit as a child, I always find it reassuring to return to places where I grew up and to re-aquaint myself with them.

My brother has a stream in his garden so of course the boys spent hours digging and re-channelling the water. I wonder if we had our stream, would they spend as much time in it or is it the novelty factor here that is the draw?

Paddling fun

On Sunday we spent the day in Bristol, a city we all decided we’d like to return to as there seemed so much to see and do here. It’s got quite an edgy feel to it with lots of shack-style cafes teaming with hip-looking twenty and thirty somethings.

Bristol’s waterway

The waterfront is where it is happening with lots more cafes and bars right spilling onto the water’s edge. We took the regular commuter riverboat from Temple Quay down to the MShed further down the river. Traffic does clog up the roads here so this is seems like a good way to travel and you get a good look at the city at the same time.

Me and Ted on the riverboat

The boys admiring the view

Could this be Amsterdam’s Herengracht canal?

Check out that cafe on the waterfront

The MShed is Bristol’s new museum, housed in a dockside transit shed, on Princes Wharf beside the floating harbour. It’s free admission and is a good place to learn about the story of Bristol from its great engineering projects and its creative input in the world of art, music and industry as well as its role in the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

A talking crane

There’s a light and spacious family-friendly cafe here too with big glass windows so you can look out onto all the river action. Coffee and brownies were the order of the day.

We walked back through town past the Bristol Old Vic Theatre which I explained to the boys had been the training epicentre for many of our well known actors and actresses. The theatre is in a charming cobbled street lined with a host of olde worlde pubs – plenty of choice for a post-show bevvie. I bet they’ve got some stories to tell……

We definitely want to return here as there was so much we didn’t get to see in just one day. It’s the sort of place you could come for a few days, spending time in the city as well as getting out into the countryside around it.