Doing some more catching up on random events that we have experienced here in Finland…And without any further ado, the St. Lucia/St. Lucy Celebration. St. Lucia’s feast day is December 13. This tradition comes from the Swedes, but it carried over to Finland. This isn’t really surprising though given Sweden’s long history of controlling Finland in the past.
You can read all about the history behind St. Lucia at Wikipedia. It’s worth the read, she has an interesting history, as most martyrs do.
Back to the present, there is a large ceremony at the Helsinki Cathedral. There are so many people who attend this event that they set up a large screen for everyone in Senate Square to watch, since the Cathedral is jam-packed.
Being outside, watching the screen, you can see everything going on inside of Cathedral. It’s very processional and elegant.
Then the person who will be St. Lucia for the year is crowned.
After the St. Lucia is crowned, with real lit candles, then she heads outside to greet the people assembled.
And boy is there a large crowd assembled.
It’s really quite an interesting tradition to honor a martyr.
My church did (still does?) a Santa Lucia festival. It’s a steadfastly Swedish church in a formerly Polish, now mostly-Hispanic neighborhood, and this is one of two Swedish heritage things they still do (the other being singing “Hosiana” on Christmas Eve).
Here’s a horribly embarrassing picture from many years ago, when I was a star boy for the festival: http://ecumenicallife.com/?attachment_id=2100
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And by “my church”, I meant the church in which I grew up, not the one I currently serve.
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That’s awesome. Great pic too! Thanks for sharing.
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THE PURPOSE OF THE SHED BLOOD OF JESUS? THE PURPOSE OF WATER BAPTISM? BY STEVE FINNELL
According to Matthew 26:28 what was the purpose of of Jesus shedding His Blood?
According to Acts 2:38 what was the purpose of being immersed in water?
Matthew 26:28 “For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. (NKJV)
Acts 2:38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.(NKJV)
The same Greek word “eis” is translated as for in Matthew 26:28 and Acts 2:38.
What does for the remission of sins not mean?
For the remission of sins does not mean Jesus shed His blood because men already had been forgiven of their sins.
For the remission of sins does not mean that men should be baptized because they had already had their sins forgiven.
Jesus did not shed His blood simply as an act of obedience.
Men are not baptized in water simply an an act of obedience.
Jesus did not shed His blood as a testimony of faith.
Men are not baptized as a testimony of their faith to the community.
Jesus shed His blood for the remission of sins.
Men are immersed in water for the remission of sins.
For does not mean because of, it means in order to.
It takes a skilled professional to convince men that baptism is not essential for the forgiveness of their sins.
Posted by Steve Finnell at 1:02 AM No comments:
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Steve, help me out here, I’m a bit confused. I’m not sure how your comments relate to the blog post. As a Lutheran, I certainly don’t have any issue with baptism – it’s one of our sacraments in fact. Your comment would be more suitable to its own blog post rather than a comment that doesn’t really relate to main post.
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