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HOMER GLEN, Ill. — Warm winter weather drew the largest crowd yet to the fourth annual Christmas on the Prairie, held at Annunciation Parish Dec. 2.
About 400 people attended the event throughout the afternoon, organized to celebrate the life of the real Santa Claus — St. Nicholas of Myra, patron saint of the Byzantine Catholic Church.
Parents, grandparents and children followed a marked path on the church grounds that led to four stations, where the parish teens acted out scenes from the life of St. Nicholas. The path included a pit stop for cookies and hot apple cider.
A few hundred visitors milled in and out of a large white tent to partake in various Christmas and colonial crafts and to listen to a live band and then to the student choir of Chesterton Academy of the Holy Family sing Christmas carols.
Dozens of visitors walked into the church to look at the icons and pray, while children pasted together small icons of St. Nicholas in a room off of the narthex. Dozens more assembled in the parish hall for a cookie sale, coffee and hot chocolate.
However, the afternoon’s biggest attraction was St. Nicholas, who arrived on a horse-drawn carriage. He greeted visitors under the tent. The children then lined up for a carriage ride with St. Nicholas. The line-up lasted until after the sun set.
Nick LaBanca from Lockport, Illinois, was among those waiting in line with his wife and two sons, aged 1 and 3. It was their first time at Christmas on the Prairie.
“It’s so big. There is so much stuff to do,” said LaBanca, remarking on the quality of the event. “The kids got a kick out of seeing St. Nicholas.”
LaBanca, who splits his Sundays between Annunciation and St. Joseph Roman Catholic Parish, described the event as the “New Evangelization in action.”
“The church is reaching a lot of people through this event and bringing people together around something real. We’re not talking about a Coca-Cola commercial. This is about the real St. Nicholas; what Santa Claus is based on,” he said.
Kelly Fisher and her family have been to every Christmas on the Prairie since it began.
“It’s such a good time,” said Fisher, who is a parishioner of St. Michael Parish in Wheaton, Illinois. “It’s nice to have a holiday party that is Catholic and faith-based.”
She and her husband homeschool their children, aged 3 to 10, and taught them about St. Nicholas.
“We call Santa Claus St. Nicholas in our home. We teach them that it’s not just about bringing gifts,” she said.
“We’re grateful (Annunciation) parish opens it up to everyone. The parish is so generous in letting everyone share in this. The kids look forward to it every year,” she said.
Bishop Milan Lach, SJ, apostolic administrator of Parma, attended the festival as well. He walked around the grounds, meeting adults and children and giving them prayer cards of St. Nicholas. He presided at the 6 p.m. Vespers service in the church, which closed the event.
Caption: Children enjoy one of the many crafts under the large white tent at Christmas on the Prairie. (Photo: Father Thomas Loya)
As published in Horizons, Dec. 24, 2017.
