Buffalo Gal

The other tradition from Sweden that I wanted to write about is “Julotta” which translates: “Jul”: the Swedish word for Christmas and “otta” means the time just before dawn.
The traditional “Julotta”meant that people would rise as early as 4:30 a.m. in Sweden in times long past, and proceed to the churches for the celebration on Christmas morning.
Later, according to Swedish Church Law dated in 1686, the Julotta was to start at 6 a.m.
Today most Swedish churches began at 7 a.m. on Christmas morning.
“Mid-December is the darkest time of the year in Sweden and in the ‘old days’ people came to church carrying torches. The burning torchews were thrown in a big pile in front of the church entrance where people could warm up before entering church. {Many old churches were not heated at all or very poorly heated, at best} Even if it was important to be in church in time for the service, it was even more important not to arrive too early for the Julotta.
It was believed that the dead were performing a mass in the church on Christmas night and if you entered the church too early , the dead would rip you to pieces. {plenty of old folklore still abounded} After the service, people raced back to their houses with their horse-drawn sledges. The winner (of the race home) was thought to become the first to harvest their crops next year.”
(information from the Swedish American Chamber of Commerce, Texas)
Today the Swedish tradition of “Julotta” is kept alive in the town of New Sweden which is about 10 miles east of Austin, Texas. The Julotta service is held every Christmas morning at 7 a.m. at the Evangelical Lutheran Church which was founded by Swedish immigrants on February 23, 1876.

Another place where Julotta is observed is at a Swedish Covenant Church in Sioux Falls, SD. A friend of mine from childhood days is a member of that church and sent me an invitation to their Julotta this year. Sioux Falls is a bit too far away to drive there for the 7 a.m. Julotta service but it was fun to think about it. The people at that church also serve a festive Swedish breakfast after the Julotta service where traditional Swedish food is served to all who come for the breakfast. A picture of the set tables showed an abundance of food and many lit candles burning brightly to chase away the gloom of the late December darkness.
One of these years I want to make the trip to Sioux Falls and surprise Roger and Martha by showing up for the festive Julotta service early on Christmas Day morning.