authored the following recently published article.
If you missed celebrating St.Lucy's Feast, you
have another chance on
December 21, it's original date (before the change
to the Gregorian Calendar) [;-)
===============================================
The Feast of Santa Lucia: December 13th
According to the Julian calendar, the winter solstice began
on December
13th. It was the shortest day of the year.
The pagans knew what to do during dark Decembers:
to insure the sun’s
renewal, they made offerings, decorated trees, and lit fires, symbolic
gestures that begged the light to return. A sacred figure Lucina,
the Sabine
goddess of light, was worshipped on the darkest day. In
her role as
midwife, Juno-Lucina was the deity who brought the miraculous sun-child
into
the light at Yule/ Jul [or “wheel”].
The party didn’t stop there. By the third
century, December 25 was
established as the birthday of the "Invincible Sun" -- part of a festive
fortnight of wild Roman celebrations honoring Saturn, also known as
Saturnalia
.
By the fourth century, these Roman solar feast days were
Christianized.
No religion can succeed without a full holiday schedule.
The easiest way
to create Catholic holy days was to reform or renovate pagan practices.
Coincidentally, Lucio, a wealthy father in Syracuse (then
the capital of
Sicily) had a chaste teenage daughter Lucia during the reign of the
Roman
emperor Diocletian, the height of the Christian persecution.
Spurning
marriage, sex, and worldly goods, Lucia carried food to rebels hiding
in the
catacombs. An angry suitor reported her, and the young virgin
was put to
death. After her martyrdom on December 13, 304 A.D., because
of various
traditions associating her name with light, Lucia came to be thought
of as
the patron of sight and the harvest. Medieval artists depicted
her carrying
a sheaf of wheat and a dish containing little cakes, mistaken later
for her
eyes.
Although the Catholic Church attempted to suppress any
feminine aspect of
the divine principle, this young Sicilian virgin-martyr was one of
the
earliest Christian saints to achieve popularity, having a widespread
following before the 5th century. Perhaps because
missionaries repeated
tales about her martyrdom and chastity, Santa Lucia’s cult spread to
Scandinavia, the West Indies, and elsewhere. Miracles were ascribed
to her.
Legends told of a famine, when Saint Lucy’s name was invoked in prayer
-- and
then a ship appeared, laden with golden wheat.
Later on, the early Church made Lucy a saint. Caravaggio
and others
painted her. Songs and poems were composed in her honor.
The Great Caruso
sang “Santa Lucia,” a Neapolitan barcarole. His admirer, Mario
Lanza
recorded this folksong, too. Lanza’s lifelong fan, Elvis Presley,
also
recorded it.
Not many teenage martyrs have their own theme songs
as well as popular
desserts prepared on their on their feast day.
Traditionally, on December 13th, "Cuccia" is served instead
of bread to
commemorate the saint who brought wheat to the starving Sicilians,
and who
watches over those with eye disease. [The Sicilian word "Cuccia"
comes from
the Arabic kiskiya (earthenware or grain).]
[Note: The winter solstice now falls on December 21, with the
change to the
Gregorian calendar in the 1300s.]
To visit Saint Lucy and her church in Sicily, contact
the Tourist Board of
Syracuse (AAPIT Syracuse):
Via San Sebastiano, 43 - 96100 Syracuse; Tel: (0039)
0931 - 481200;
Fax: (0039) 0931 - 67803
Information Desk: Via San Sebastiano, 47 - 96100 Syracuse;
Tel. (0039)
931 - 67710
===================================================
RECIPE 1 - - - -St. Lucy's Day Cuccia (Sicilian Cuccia: a Dessert)
Ingredients
1 pound wheat
berries
1/4 teaspoon
salt
1/2 cup corn
starch
2 1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon grated
lemon zest
1/2 cup semisweet
chocolate bits
1/2 cup candied
citron
Method:
Soak wheat berries in water overnight. If you aren't cooking
them in the
morning, the wheat berries can continue to soak, but change water in
the
morning. Drain wheat and place in a wide-bottomed
soup pot with water to
cover by two inches. Add salt and simmer for three hours (or
until tender).
Add water if necessary. When tender, drain excess water. Set
aside, covered.
In a small bowl, whisk cornstarch with 1/2 cup milk until
cornstarch is
dissolved and smooth. Put in a saucepan with remaining milk, lemon
zest, and
chocolate bits. Cook over low flame, stirring continuously, until milk
thickens. Be careful the milk does not boil. Remove
from heat and mix with
drained wheat. Add citron just before serving. Serves 12.
RECIPE 2 - - - -Cuccia - St. Lucy's Day Soup
Ingredients:
1 lb wheat
1 lb Fava beans
1 lb Ceci
1 clove of Garlic
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp Crushed Red pepper
1/3 cup Olive Oil
Method:
Each ingredient is soaked overnight, rinsed, and cooked
separately, since
these items cook at different rates. The wheat has a good consistency
if
cooked 3-4 hours depending upon if it is winter wheat or summer. The
fava
beans take about 2 hours and the ceci takes about 1 hour. The water
should be
salted with a teaspoon of salt. Garlic can be added to each as well
as a bay
leaf. Crushed red pepper can be added to taste. After ingredients
are
cooked separately, they are combined. Olive oil is added to form a
thin layer
on top, about 1/3 cup. The Cuccia is then stirred and served hot in
a soup
bowl. Some towns added cooked dried peas and/or corn as well.
In Isnello, Palermo, Sicily, the recipe called for just
soaking the wheat
(1 pound) overnight, rinsing it the next morning, and boiling it for
hours
until it was tender. It was served with milk and sugar, similar
to oatmeal.
RECIPE 3 - - - - Santa Lucia Crown
[Makes 1 crown.]
Ingredients:
1/2 cup warm water (100--110 F)
1 package active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm milk (100--110
F)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine,
softened
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon saffron powder
4 1/4 to 4 3/4
cups all-purpose flour
3 eggs
powdered sugar frosting,
optional (recipe follows)
red and green candied cherry
halves, optional
6 candles, optional
Method:
Place 1/4 cup warm water in large warm bowl. Sprinkle
in yeast; stir
until dissolved. Add remaining water, warm milk, sugar, butter,
salt,
saffron, and 1 1/2 cups flour; blend well. Stir in 2 eggs and
enough
remaining flour to make soft dough. Knead on lightly floured surface
until
smooth and elastic, about 6--8 minutes. Place in greased bowl, turning
to
grease top. Cover; let rise in warm, draft-free place until doubled
in size,
about 1 hour.
Punch dough down. Remove dough to lightly floured surface;
reserve 1/3 of
dough for top of crown. Divide remaining dough into 3 equal pieces;
roll
each to 25-inch rope. Braid ropes. Place braid on greased baking sheet.
Form
braid into circle; pinch ends together to seal. To shape top of crown,
divide
reserved dough into 3 equal pieces; roll each to 16-inch rope. Braid
ropes.
Place braid on separate greased baking sheet. Form braid into circle;
pinch
ends together to seal. Cover braids; let rise in warm, draft-free
place
until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Lightly beat remaining egg; brush on braids. Bake at 375
F for 15 minutes
or until done (small braid) and 25 minutes or until done (large braid),
covering large braid with foil during last 10 minutes to prevent excess
browning. Remove braids from baking sheets; let cool on wire racks.
To decorate, make 6 holes for candles in small braid.
Place small braid on
top of large braid. If desired, drizzle with powdered sugar frosting
and
garnish with candied cherry halves. Insert candles in prepared holes.
Powdered Sugar Frosting:
In small bowl, combine 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted; 4
to 5 teaspoons
milk; and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. Stir until smooth.
