Lucy light, Lucy light,
Shortest day and longest
night.
Weather: If St. Lucy’s day be bright, Christmas
day will be dark with snow; but if the snow falls on St. Lucy, Christmas will
be clear and sunny.
Well, here at Rudd’s Little
Acre+ the skies are clear, the sun shines bright, nary a dismal cloud in sight
– so perhaps we shall have a white (but dark) Christmas, for those who look
forward to that kind of thing…
And if these clear skies
hold for the next twelve hours, I shall have fine (but very chilly) viewing of
the Geminids tonight. Reports
already in of some spectacular sights last night – I hope the same for tonight.
The weather on each of the
twelve days from St. Lucy to Christmas Eve presages the weather for the twelve
months of the coming year.
Go ahead. Keep track if you can, and then compare
the prognostications with the actual weather next year.
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| Lucy takes her mother to pray at the tomb of Saint Agatha |
Relying on Your goodness, O Lord,
we humbly ask You, through the intercession of Saint Lucy, virgin and martyr,
to give perfect vision to our eyes, that they may serve for Your greater honor and glory.
Saint Lucy, hear our prayers and obtain our petitions. Amen.
I wrote about the traditions
of Saint Lucy’s day here, with a recipe for (non-traditional) Eyeball Cookies. This year, I shall try a
dish from Lucy’s home of Syracuse (Siracusa) in Sicily called “PASTA FRITTA ALLA SIRACUSANA” aka Syracusan Fried Pasta. The recipe is here and looks pretty simple.
Cook 1 pound of vermicelli
to al dente; drain and reserve.
In a heavy frying pan, sauté
1 clove of garlic (whole) in 1/3 cup of olive oil, until it just starts to turn
brown (medium heat works for me).
Remove garlic from pan. Remove pan from heat.
Add 3 to 4 anchovies to the
oil and mince in the pan.
Now add your drained pasta
to the pan, dust with about 1/3 cup of breadcrumbs, mix together well, and fry
over very low heat.
Serve.
Ahhhh…. Garlic and
anchovies. Not conducive to a
meaningful social life, but who cares?
Artwork: “Lucy takes
her mother to pray at the tomb of Saint Agatha” from John Gilmary Shea, Pictorial Lives of the Saints (1889) p. 492.
