Carols and lussekatter
My pre-Christmas time has been unusually international this year.
On Sunday, I attended a carol service that was modelled after a proper Anglican Carol Service. At least that's what I was told. It mostly consisted of ten carols sung by different choirs, which were interspersed with nine lessons from the Bible. The carols were all sung in English, starting off with Once in Royal David's City and ending with O come, all ye faithful, which was the only carol I was familiar with. Three of the lessons were read in English as well. The three choirs were excellent, and it was rather nice to have a service concentrating on so much music. And there was no sermon at all. Bliss! ;)
And then last night's Swedish class fell on Santa Lucia's Day, which, I think, is celebrated throughout the country. It seems to refer to both Santa Lucia and the fact that, before the Gregorian calendar was introduced in Sweden, the 13th December was the shortest day of the year. It's all a bit obscure as far as I understood it. Traditionally, people bake lussekatter, some kind of saffron buns, on or for this day, and our teacher, who is actually Swedish, was so kind to bake some and bring them along for us.
On Sunday, I attended a carol service that was modelled after a proper Anglican Carol Service. At least that's what I was told. It mostly consisted of ten carols sung by different choirs, which were interspersed with nine lessons from the Bible. The carols were all sung in English, starting off with Once in Royal David's City and ending with O come, all ye faithful, which was the only carol I was familiar with. Three of the lessons were read in English as well. The three choirs were excellent, and it was rather nice to have a service concentrating on so much music. And there was no sermon at all. Bliss! ;)
And then last night's Swedish class fell on Santa Lucia's Day, which, I think, is celebrated throughout the country. It seems to refer to both Santa Lucia and the fact that, before the Gregorian calendar was introduced in Sweden, the 13th December was the shortest day of the year. It's all a bit obscure as far as I understood it. Traditionally, people bake lussekatter, some kind of saffron buns, on or for this day, and our teacher, who is actually Swedish, was so kind to bake some and bring them along for us.