Peace Light Lantern From Bethlehem Makes Stop In Elgin

ELGIN, IL -- The city of Elgin will house a flame that came all the way from Bethlehem in a peace light ceremony Thursday evening. Each year, a child from Upper Austria fetches the light from the grotto in Bethlehem where Jesus was born. The light is carried in two blast proof miner’s lamps from Tel Aviv Israel to Vienna Austria and over the ocean to the World Trade Center in New York City, according to a news release from the Boys Scouts of America Three Fires Council.

The Peace Light Ceremony will be held at St. Thomas More Church, 215 Thomas More Drive in Elgin, at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 13. The event is open to the public.

“This event brings the community to become ambassadors of peace,” said Eva Nowak, crew
advisor. “We’re sharing the light, brought all the way from the site of Jesus' birth to the Rockford
Diocese and beyond.”

The light will travel through Batavia as well, according to the news release.

“Thanks to trustworthy Scouters, the light will continue to shine,” said Nowak. “The light spreads across North America and Europe thanks to Scouts all over the world.”

The flame has been continuously burning for hundreds of years, just in time for Christmas and
to be shared to anyone that wishes to stop by and light their own flame.

More via the Peace Light website

PHOTO VIA SHUTTERSTOCK