European Churches" "
The celebrations of St. Lucy, the metrical hymns deriving from ancient medieval compositions, the Christmas crib, the prayer meetings in Catholic schools, in the mixed Catholic-Lutheran form: these are just some of the highlights of Advent in Denmark, a country in which Catholics form a tiny, albeit very lively minority (only 35,000 out of a population of 5.3 million). “Preparation for Christmas explains Erik Christiansen of the episcopal curia of Copenhagen is mainly conducted by the parishes (51 with some 80 priests in service, both diocesan and regular)”. A particular feature of the Catholic presence in Denmark consists of Catholic schools, of which there are now some thirty. They have a high reputation, even among Lutherans. “Catholic schools explains Christiansen are confessionally mixed and in preparation for Christmas, for example, special liturgies are celebrated, often with the presence of the local Lutheran pastor. The ‘treasure’ of our Christmas is represented by the metrical hymns, which we share with the Lutherans. Some of these have been translated from the ancient medieval hymns; others were written after the Reformation to substitute the Catholic Latin liturgical texts; others are even more recent in composition, dating to 100/200 years ago. To grasp their religious and cultural significance, it should be recalled that the Lutheran Church exclusively uses this type of metrical hymn in its own celebrations”. Another event that the Catholic community shares with the Lutheran faithful is the celebration of St. Lucy, a festivity that came to Denmark from Sweden. It includes a procession of girls dressed in white with candles in their hands. The bishop of Copenhagen Czeslaw Kozon emphasises that “the effort of the Church, in Denmark too, is to proclaim and prepare the true significance of the Nativity of Our Lord, because here, as elsewhere, we are subject to the ‘commercial Christmas’ that begins as early as November”.
