Lucia

How about St Lucy then? Saint Lucy's Day (Sankta Lucia, Saint Lucia) is the Church feast day dedicated to St. Lucy and is observed on December 13. In traditional celebrations, Saint Lucy comes as a young woman with lights and sweets. It is one of the few saint days observed in Scandinavia. Lucia was a young, Sicilian girl from Syracuse who in 304 AD was martyred by the then not-yet-christianed Romans on December 13th, which before the reform of the Gregorian calendar in the 16th century, fell close to the winter solstice on the Northern Hemisphere. The historians are all fairly sure she did exist, and there are several stories told about her. In one, she is betrothed to a man who is so upset she gives her dowry away to poor Christians, he shops her to the Romans, who first try to drown her without success, then burn her, but the flames do her no harm and lastly stab her with a sword and the blood that runs down her dress is now illustrated by the red ribbons Lucia wears. In another story, Lucia's Christian friends are hiding from the Romans in the catacombs, and when she brings them food and drink, she places candles on her head, to light her way, and hey presto! Modern Lucias have lights in their hair.
In the third, more fairy tale like story, Lucia is known for her beautiful eyes and a prince falls in love with her. Lucia however refuses to marry him, since he is not a Christian, but sticks her own eyes out to give them to the prince. Her gesture makes him understand how much she loves God and he becomes a Christian too. Lucia gets a new pair of eyes from God, even more beautiful than her old ones and she is forever known as the protector of Eyes.
The St Lucy celebrations as we know them now have their origin in the mid 1600s, where the day marked the beginning of Christmas fast and the day where the pig for the Christmas feast was slaughtered. The modern day Lucia with candles, saffron buns and her pretty maidens started in the 1800s. It retains traditional forms of celebration mainly in Scandinavia, parts of the United States and southern Europe. It is celebrated in Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Norway, Finland, Italy, Bosnia, Iceland, and Croatia. In the United States, people in areas of Minnesota and other states with Scandinavian roots continue to celebrate the holiday, often centered around church events.
In the UK you can see Lucia clebrated in The Swedish Church on Harcourt Street, In the Swedish Seaman’s Church and in St Pauls Cathedral/Southwark Cathedral alternative years. Please check on the Swedish church website www.swedish-church.org.uk/ for more information and tickets - they are usually gone by early November!