Search
-
Special to Horizons
HOMER GLEN, Ill. — The children and teens of Annunciation Parish were at the fore of sharing the true message of Christmas and St. Nicholas to family, friends and visitors Dec. 1-2.
The parish hosted two major events in the Midwest region that weekend. Several hundred people came out to the parish’s 10-acre property on Saturday to enjoy the annual Christmas on the Prairie.
The parish teens put on a play about the life of St. Nicholas. The story of the much loved, but little-known saint was told in stages, as visitors moved from one station to the next. Dressed in full costume, the teens enlightened their listeners with stories of St. Nicholas’ charitable works, unwavering faith, suffering and teachings of the faith. Strolling carolers from a local high school sang Christmas carols.
As every year, the highlight of Christmas on the Prairie was the horse ride with St. Nicholas. The eyes of the children, waiting with excitement for St. Nicholas, opened wide as saucers at the first distant clip-clop of hooves. Soon enough, a white Clydesdale, named “Tom,” trotted up to the church entrance, pulling a Dickensian coach, decked with lanterns and a driver with top hat. In the coach was St. Nicholas, who spent the evening giving rides to the children in his horse and buggy, while the children sang the Hymn of St. Nicholas. The day concluded with Vespers.
The next day, the parish hosted about 150 people for the annual St. Nicholas Banquet, during which three couples who celebrated a wedding jubilee this past year were honored. Bishop Milan Lach, SJ, of Parma was present and celebrated the morning Divine Liturgy, which preceded the banquet.
The banquet was held in a festively decorated heated tent, which was used the day before for Christmas on the Prairie activities. Midwest Byzantine Catholics enjoyed fellowship and a sumptuous luncheon of Eastern European cuisine.
After the luncheon, the celebration moved into the church, where the parish youth put on a “Nativity icon drama.” In this performance, the actors in elaborate costume dramatized and became a human, living Byzantine icon of the Nativity.
The angel ballet performed and choreographed by the girls themselves was a showstopper in its elegance and beauty. The drama ended with the cantors breaking into the resounding hymn, “God is with Us.”
St. Nicholas was so impressed with the children of Annunciation Parish during his horse-and-buggy visit the day before, that he returned to close the celebration held in his honor.
At the sighting of St. Nicholas, a young parishioner, Sophia Thompson, shared her joy.
“He answered my prayer! He answered my prayer!” she said. “I prayed during Christmas on the Prairie that St. Nicholas would come back again the next day and see us and Bishop Milan, and he did!”
Meanwhile, the youth of St. Mary Parish were at the heart of the parish’s evangelization efforts this past Philip’s Fast. Most of them are active in the parish choir, and they took to spreading Christmas cheer and promoting participation in the church’s pre-Christmas events and Christmas services. The group sang in the city’s Christmas parade and lighting ceremony Nov. 30. They also caroled in the city’s main business district Dec. 8, bringing the message of Christmas in song to the patrons and shoppers.
Caption 1: S ome youth of St. Mary Parish in Whiting, Indiana, dressed in full costume to carol through the city’s business district Dec. 8.
Caption 2: The youth of Annunciation Parish reproduce a living icon of the Nativity during the Midwest region’s celebration for the feast of St. Nicholas, held Dec. 2. (Photo: Carrie Thompson)
As published in Horizons, Dec. 23, 2018.
Sign up for the Horizons e-newsletter.
