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Level 3 – Intermediate
The festive season
December is the festive season in all Christian countries and in many other countries around the world. In addition to the well-known Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve celebrations there are other lesser known feasts which are celebrated.
In Scandinavia, for example, people celebrate Saint Lucia on 13th December. Saint Lucy was the patron saint of light and in these dark northern countries her day was an important holiday because it was on the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice. After the various calendar reforms, the winter solstice was moved to 21st and finally to the 23rd December but Saint Lucy’s day stayed on the 13th and is still celebrated. It is customary for a girl in a white dress, usually the youngest daughter, to bring coffee and buns to wake the family. In some homes, she wakes the family with a song.
In Britain, the 26th December is an official holiday called Boxing Day. Nobody knows the exact origin of Boxing Day but it is very ancient. Its name may come from the customary gift boxes which rich Lords and Ladies gave to their servants on the day following Christmas. Another possible origin for the name is the traditional emptying of church charity boxes. This took place on 26th December and priests gave the contents to the poor people. On Boxing Day today, it is traditional to give money to people in need and also to people like postmen and newspaper deliverers.
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C2 Mastery
