Tag: saint lucy
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She was Immovable
It was the dawn of the 4th century, and practicing Christianity in the Roman-ruled city of Siracusa was illegal. Already though, inspired by nearby Catania’s Patron Saint, Sant’Agatha, young and beautiful Lucia devoted herself to Christianity. She planned to give her dowry to the poor, yet her widowed and sick mother had already arranged Lucia…
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When Without Wheat
Before I get to the serious significance of the December 13 Feast for Santa Lucia, let’s talk about the really serious stuff: that Palermitani celebrate the Saint by eating arancine. Arancine (as they are known in Palermo; Arancini, if you’re from the east side of Sicily), are rice balls filled with either a beef ragu…
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Mother’s Grain
The Feast of Santa Lucia is celebrated on December 13, which until 1582 when the Gregorian calendar was instated, was the winter solstice. To celebrate the saint, who is the Christian translation of the Greek goddess Demeter, goddess of grain, agriculture, and fertility, Sicilians eat cuccìa, a pudding made of farro (barley), milk (in this…