Three Kings Day procession in Belmont Cragin celebrates unity, diversity in the faith

Clad in paper crowns and winter coats, Northwest Side Catholics marched along Belmont Avenue on Sunday afternoon to celebrate Three Kings Day.

The holiday, celebrated on Jan. 6, honors the day the three wise men visited the baby Jesus and presented him with gifts of frankincense, gold and myrrh.

Sunday's festivities began with a Mass at St. Ferdinand Church mainly in Polish, but there were readings in English, Spanish and Tagalog.

"Today, the whole community is taking part in this manifestation of our faith by going to the streets and walking with the three wise men, three kings, three Magi," Peter Gnoinski, a pastor at St. Ferdinand, said in his sermon.

Hundreds of parishioners then lined up on Belmont Avenue for a procession led by three men on horseback dressed as kings and the other characters from the Nativity story: the holy family, angels and shepherds. A band played and sang Christmas carols in Polish as the crowd walked down the street to St. Ladislaus Church.

Celebrating Epiphany is a sacred tradition for Gosia Rula, who has been attending the service and procession for at least 10 years.

"Every year I come back," Rula said. "This honors the three wise men who decided to make the trip without knowing where the baby Jesus was born. We need that, we need more belief, we need more trust."

Three Kings Day is a national holiday in Poland — everyone has the day off and spends it with family, Rula said. Though Sunday's procession in Belmont Cragin is bigger than the celebration in the small village Rula is from in Poland.

"It's almost like another Christmas," Rula said.

Three Kings Day also celebrates the different places the wise men were from, Gnoinski said during his sermon. They came from Persia, Arabia and India, bringing their gifts of frankincense, gold and myrrh.

That diversity is also reflected in the St. Ferdinand parish community, where many of the congregants are Polish, but there are also Latino and Filipino members.

"Today we come as united nations at St. Ferdinand parish. That's why we have this celebration in Polish, Spanish and a little bit of Tagalog," Gnoinski said.

Virgie Laspinas has been attending services for 35 years. The multilingual Mass is also a celebration of the parish's diversity.

"We appreciate being recognized as Filipino, as Latin American, and as a part of this community and this church," Laspinas said. "We feel the unity through the different cultures, the different languages."

Laspinas attended the parade and services with her friend, Mary Ann Cabrera. Celebrating the three kings' journey is a chance to unite with people, regardless of where they're from, Cabrera said.

"Those three kings came from different parts of the world, so it doesn't matter what language they speak. When it comes to Christ, they come together as one, united, peaceful," Cabrera said.

"We are one under God. There's no division. And we need more of that unity today."