A St. Lucy's Christmas Wheat Meditation~Dec 13

“Advent is the season of the seed” ~Caryll Houselander

One of the things I love to do is introduce people to meaningful cultural traditions that deepen and give more form to our Faith.
 
Every year I try to tell someone new about St. Lucy's Wheat for her feast day on Dec. 13th, or give them an actual seed starter, or the sprouted new shoots of wheat on Christmas day as a gift.
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The general tradition is a Croatian* one.  As a child, we'd sometimes visit a Croatian church particularly during the Christmas season.  I think my mother loved to hear and sing the Christmas carols in her native tongue, and I grew to love their sweet unique melodies, too.  

One thing that always struck me as odd though, was seeing a patch of grass in a Croatian nativity scene. 
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I never saw that in the regular American churches. After seeing it appear each year in our local Croatian church and realizing it wasn't an accident, but rather something intentional that someone meant to include as part of the crèche scene, and even placed very near the infant Jesus, I finally asked my mother what it was. She said very matter-of-factly "It's Christmas wheat, St. Lucy's Christmas wheat." I said, "But why? It doesn't fit." I have never seen it anywhere else. Matter-of-factly, like it was common knowledge, she said "it symbolizes Jesus, He is the "new wheat."

I think I was breathless.  I thought to myself, "how can I have gone this long and not have known about that?"  My brain and heart were exploding.  What a beautiful symbol that foreshadows both the Cross, in the crushing of the wheat to make bread, and Eucharistic bread for our spiritual food and His continued presence for us on earth. 
 
The Cross and Christ's Eucharistic Body, represented in tender, new, spring green, shoots of wheat grass, were so powerful to contemplate next to the infant Jesus as part of the Nativity scene.
 
A scene that we display habitually each year to remind us of His birth, but perhaps without directly linking the fact He came to save us through dying on the cross, and was crushed, ground like wheat, for our inequities. The juxtaposition of tender, vulnerable baby Jesus, and tender, vulnerable crucified Christ is arresting, but kindly veiled in the form of tender spring wheat.  It points us to the direction of Good Friday without directly taking us there just yet. 
 
We can also ponder that the wheat will be made into food for us, as a taste of heaven, through His Body in the Eucharist.  It is fitting, as well, to note that Bethlehem, Christ's birthplace, actually means house of bread. The image of wheat is beautifully reinforced  in the name of that 'little town'.
 
So, why Saint Lucy?  My mother explained (yes, very matter-of-factly), her feast day, Dec. 13th is about the two-week mark before Christmas and the seeds are planted then, so that the new shoots have enough time to grow to at least a few inches tall.  I wondered if there could be more to it than that, but it was a practical enough reason at least.
 
From then on I was hooked and committed to hunting down winter wheat seeds each year and growing them myself and placing them at every image of Jesus in my house.  I also loved finding new people to introduce to this super sweet, but rich in meaning, Croatian cultural tradition.
 
But it got better.
 

One year recently, after gifting a little planter of fresh Christmas wheat to my pastor, on Christmas day, I was blown away by yet another layer of symbolism in the 'giving' of the wheat. I've never given this to a priest before, so the imagery in the experience was new and striking for me. 
 
Here I was, presenting, holding out in my hands, some simple earthy green wheat against the backdrop of the priest's white and gold Christmas vestments, that just gave the impression of the glory of the risen Christ. ​

 
I was gut struck by the poverty of my humble gift, merely wheat.  It would never be anything more than wheat -from my hands.  Yet, he as a priest can take that wheat, and through the sacred words of Consecration, transform it into the very Body of Christ, that little baby we venerate in those nativity scenes. 
 
I gave a priest simple wheat, merely the symbol of Jesus and he gives me back the actual Body of Jesus, under the appearance of wheat in the Eucharist. 
 
What an uneven exchange!
 
If the priest eats my wheat, nothing changes in him, yet the Bread of Life he gives me divinizes me. 
 
Is this not how we need to view the spiritual life and our relationship with Christ?    
 
I, in my own mere mortal self, have nothing, and can be nothing without Him.  His very Spirit is keeping me in existence with every breath I take.   Without His Life, I have no life. 
 
So, what can I possibly give Jesus as a gift? 
 
Just myself, as I am. 
 
I have no merit, really, that was not somehow His to begin with.  He wants me to see myself as simple, limited wheat.  Limited, which is my actual human nature, and then hand that limited nature back over to Him, so that He can make me divine.  It's a daily miracle that I didn't merit, and yet, He freely gives it. 

And even more surprisingly, more divine grace is given to us the more we see ourselves as merely plain, limited wheat.  It's our awareness of our limitation that creates the space for the grace.  The greater the awareness, the greater the grace.  

As St. Paul says, "I boast in my weakness... for when I am weak, I am strong". [2 Cor 12:10]
 
My takeaway from that Christmas day was: come as you are and be eager to surrender the poverty within you. 
 
There is no shame or weakness in acknowledging the poverty within me, it's actually what He wants from me. 
 
It is precisely why He came. He wants to take and transform our poverty. It's the very reason why we celebrate the nativity of Jesus.  

I don't need to prove myself worthy before I let myself come to Him, whether to the stable or to the Cross.  I can never 'make myself' worthy. That's what He does.
 
He came in that blessed 'hour and moment' so that He can take us one day into His very flesh, nice and secure, as He returns us to the Father.
 
That's what I saw in the Christmas wheat.
 
Like the boy with five loaves and two fish, it's a humbling, uneven exchange.
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*I have since learned that other European countries as well have a tradition of planting Christmas wheat with variations of meaning and interesting stories of miraculous events associated with it.  If this was part of your Christmas tradition, please do share your stories!​

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St. Lucy Christmas Wheat Growing Kits!

Your kit comes ready with all you'll need to grow your own Christmas wheat ~without the guesswork!  You'll just need to add water.

Get your own kit from the SHOP.

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Tips on How to Grow your own Christmas Wheat

• If you'd like to grow your own, you need just a few things, like a little plastic cup or ramekin dish, a little dirt or potting soil, about an inch deep, and raw hard winter wheat seeds enough to line your container.  (I usually just grab some dirt from the garden or a planter outside I have, and get about a cup of raw seeds at a grocery store that typically sells nuts and grains from bulk containers.)

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• Soaking the wheat seeds overnight can give them a nice head start, especially if you don't have a warm, sunny window to keep them in while they grow.  Plant the seeds, lightly covered in damp soil, and keep them very moist, but not drenched. Don't let the seeds and soil dry out, especially as the seeds are germinating.  They'll need more water as they grow, but usually I start with a few spoons of water a day to maintain even moisture. ​

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•  It's a great prayer activity for kids to plant and watch the wheat grow, like a little image of themselves, that they can place next to baby Jesus on Christmas day, and one day envision being transformed into Him.  Great First Communion mediation activity too. 

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• A simple prayer as you water them and watch them grow can be, "Lord help me to surrender my life into Your hands and be renewed with Your Spirit." or, "Help me to see that I am nothing without Your Love" or, "Help me to see You transforming me when I receive You in the Eucharist" or, "Help me trust that I can surrender my life to You completely."

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• If you miss the 13th, don't worry!  Christmas is a 'season'.  (I actually plant several rounds to keep fresh shoots going throughout the traditional 40 days of Christmas feasting until the last Christmas feast day of The Presentation on the 2nd of February! And yes, I have my Christmas lights out that long!)  So you have time!  And... you may even find 'wheat grass' sold in the produce section of your local grocery or health food store.  If you can't find it but you see them selling other micro greens, just ask them about ordering 'wheat grass that is still growing'  (vs. cut)  and they might be able to order it for you for their next delivery.  Then just display it in your favorite little planter in your nativity or on your table, and keep watering it. ;-)

Many blessings to you as you meditate on this special devotion!