A little flame that carries a large message made its way across the globe just before Christmas last year, all the way from the nativity grotto in Bethlehem to right here in Minooka. Village resident Anne Savickas carried it herself on the last leg of its journey from Palatine to her home in Minooka. It has since warmed the hearts and souls of many others in our area.
Savickas, a school nurse in Plainfield, is active in the Lithuanian Scouts Association out of Lemont, which is affiliated with Boy Scout Troop 113. Her two sons are also active in the troop. Savickas is first generation Lithuanian-American. Her parents, as children, and grandparents fled the country during Hitler and Stalin’s regimes and lived in refugee camps, where the Lithuanian scouting program actually began.
Through the scouting program here, Savickas learned about the Peace Light, which is an eternal flame burning in a small cave beneath the church of the nativity in Bethlehem.
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“It’s a sacred place,” Savickas said. “Below the church, there’s a little cave with this flame.”
The flame can be shared with other lanterns and taken across the globe to spread world peace and love, she said. Savickas decided she wanted to be a part of that. Her flame’s journey began in December, when some Austrian scouts lit lanterns from the eternal flame, then flew the lanterns to New York City, where they were met by Peace Light Carriers, who are scouts from all across the United States.
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Savickas met one of the Peace Light Carriers at a Ukrainian church in Palatine, where they shared the flame with her.
“We lit our torches and distributed the flame to the communities,” she said.
Savickas said her flame was contained in a lantern that she set in a special bucket used to transport it. She still has it burning in her home, and has also shared it with others, such as St. Ann’s Church in Channahon.
“The idea is to bring it to those who need it,” she said. “We all come from this one light and are all connected by something which can never be extinguished. . . They call it the Peace Light because it’s meant to bring peace to all humanity."
Just being around the light has meant a lot to Savickas, herself.
“Personally,” she said, “I can feel the essence of unconditional love through it. The flame helped me remember that my faith is love in action. . . being love and letting it radiate. My desire to serve and be a steward of this light has deepened my faith significantly.”
Savickas said the flame can give a belief in love and harmony and peace to everyone, no matter what their faith.
She hopes to share the flame with the other churches in the area, as well as any hospitals, hospices, or other groups who want it.
“It’s burning all the time,” she said. “I will bring it to whoever wants it.”
Savickas can be reached at the e-mail osavickas@yahoo.com,
