Lucy's feast is on 13 December, in
Advent. Her feast once coincided with the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, before calendar reforms, so her feast day has become a festival of light. Sicilians recall a legend that holds that a famine ended on her feast day when ships loaded with grain entered the harbor. Here, it is traditional to eat whole grains instead of bread on 13 December. This usually takes the form of
cuccìa, a dish of boiled wheat berries often mixed with ricotta and honey, or sometimes served as a savory soup with beans. Celebration of St. Lucy's day is particularly seen in
Scandinavian countries, with their long dark winters. Traditionally, a young girl is dressed in a white dress and a red sash (as the symbol of martyrdom) and wears a crown or wreath of candles on her head. In Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and parts of Finland, girls and boys dressed as Lucy or different roles associated with Christmastide, such as carry
Saint Stephen or
gingerbread men, walking in procession as songs are sung. Lucia celebrations are held in various places such as schools, churches, offices and hospitals, traditionally combined with eating
saffron buns and
gingerbread cookies. It is said that to vividly celebrate St. Lucy's Day will help one live the long winter days with enough light. A special devotion to St. Lucy is practiced in the Italian regions of
Lombardy,
Emilia-Romagna,
Veneto,
Friuli-Venezia Giulia,
Trentino-Alto Adige, in the North of the country, and
Sicily and
Calabria, in the South, as well as in the Croatian coastal region of
Dalmatia. The feast is a Catholic-celebrated holiday with roots that can be traced to Sicily. On the 13th of every December it is celebrated with large traditional feasts of home-made pasta and various other Italian dishes, with a special dessert called
cuccìa, made of wheatberries, butter, sugar, chocolate, and milk. The large grains of soft wheat are representative of her eyes and are a treat only to be indulged in once a year. In
North Italy, Saint Lucy
brings gift to children between 12 and 13 December. Traditionally a bouquet of hay is put outside of the house for Lucy's Donkey and food in the house for Lucy to refresh them after the long night bringing gifts to every kid. In small towns, a parade with Saint Lucy is held the evening of the 12th when she goes through the main streets of the town munching sweets and candy from her cart, always together with her donkey. A Hungarian custom is to plant wheat in a small pot on St. Lucy's feast. By Christmas green sprouts appear, signs of life coming from death. The wheat is then carried to the manger scene as the symbol of Christ in the
Eucharist. The day is celebrated in the
Philippines as well. Villagers from
Barangay Sta. Lucia in
Magarao, Camarines Sur, hold a
novena to St. Lucy nine days before her feast. A
procession of the saint's image is held every morning at the
poblacion or village centre during the nine days leading up to St. Lucy's Day, attracting devotees from other parts of the
Bicol Region. Hymns to the saint, known as the
Gozos, as well as the Spanish version of the
Ave Maria are chanted during the dawn procession, which is followed by a
Mass. In Barangay Sta. Lucia, Asturias town in midwestern
Cebu, thousands of devotees used to visit her parish to celebrate and venerate her sainthood. Along with their veneration to her are the hope in faith that her Holy water is instrumental in channeling Almighty God's grace and blessings in the form of protection, purification and healing from illness particularly eye disorders to them as she is best known for being the Patroness Saint of the blind. The feast day is also commemorated in Barangay Sucad in
Apalit Pampanga after the traditional nine-day novena, where a whole day celebration is observed through Eucharistic Masses, festivals and the procession of the religious sculpture of Sta. Lucia in the evening before the evening Mass. Saint Lucy also figures in the
American horror flim The Nun II (2023) where the main protagonist (who is revealed to be a descendant of her family) utilises the power of her eye relics concealed in a
deconsecrated chapel at France's
Tarascon to defeat a
demon nun. Saint Lucy acts as an ability for
Fuuka Yamagishi in the video game
Persona 3 (2006). ==Namesakes==