Bloomingdale church receives Bethlehem Peace Light

The Bethlehem Peace Light was delivered to a Ukrainian Orthodox church in Bloomingdale on Sunday, giving members of the congregation a chance to add a symbol of hope and love to their holiday celebrations.

The Peace Light — flame retrieved from the Grotto of the Nativity in Bethlehem, where Jesus was born — arrived Sunday morning at St. Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The congregation celebrated with a short service.

Glendale Heights resident Yuriy Zajac brought the flame to the church Sunday in a mining lantern and presented it to the congregation.

“I’ve been doing this for awhile, and it still fills me with awe,” Zajac said. “The flame inside here is older than the United States of America. It’s a piece of living history.”

The Peace Light tradition began in the mid-1980s. Each year, a child from Austria lights two lamps at the grotto from the flames, which have been burning for centuries. The lamps are transported to Vienna, and from there the living flame is distributed all over Europe and North America.

The first time the Peace Light arrived in America was in 2001, when it has brought to ground zero in New York. Since then, it has arrived in the states nearly ever year.

Zajac presented the flame Sunday with his 8-year-old son, Andriy. Both are members of PLAST, a Ukrainian scouting organization. Scouts from all over the world have traditionally taken the lead in transporting the flame from place to place.

“It’s a wonderful example of cooperation among all the scouting groups,” he said.

The Peace Light will burn continuously at St. Andrew through Ukrainian Orthodox Christmas on Jan. 7, 2014.