A Ruthenian community worships on a stretch of restored Illinois prairie in Homer Glen, where Annunciation Byzantine Catholic Church has anchored itself on ten acres since the turn of the millennium. The parish belongs to one of twenty-three Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See in Rome, and it carries the Greek-Catholic heritage of Carpatho-Rusin and Ukrainian immigrants who settled in the region in the early twentieth century. Surrounded by native grasses and walking trails, the church has become a regional center for Byzantine spirituality, environmental stewardship, and a weekly radio program that reaches well past the southwest corner of the Chicago suburbs.
Two Parishes Become One
Annunciation traces its roots to the wave of Carpatho-Rusin and Ukrainian immigrants who began arriving in northeastern Illinois at the start of the twentieth century. The first of its predecessor communities, St. Mary's in Chicago, was founded in 1903, rebuilt after a fire, and expanded in 1926. As Chicago's demographics shifted in the 1960s and 1970s, the parish established a mission in Oak Lawn to serve members who had moved further south and west. At the same time, another Ruthenian community, St. Mary's Assumption in Joliet, was holding its own ground to the southwest. By the 1990s, both communities recognized that they would be stronger together.
On August 11, 1995, the Eparchy of Parma finalized a contract to purchase ten acres in Homer Township from Dr. Phillip DeGregorio. Three years later, parish leadership and the faithful marked the ceremonial beginning of construction on a new church complex with a groundbreaking event that symbolized a unified future for the combined communities. On June 20, 1999, the newly formed community was named Annunciation Byzantine Catholic Parish, remaining under the patronage of the Mother of God and formally uniting the heritage of its predecessor parishes. The first Divine Liturgy was celebrated on September 19, 1999, and Bishop Basil Schott consecrated the church on May 14, 2000, solemnly dedicating the space to worship.
The parish motto, drawn from Luke 5:4, has been putting out into the deep, a phrase used by the community to describe its missionary impulse from the very first days. The parish is featured in Marion Amberg's book Monuments, Marvels, and Miracles: A Traveler's Guide to Catholic America.
The Divine Liturgy and Weekly Rhythm
Annunciation keeps the regular weekly schedule of a Byzantine Catholic parish: Divine Liturgy on Sundays at 10:00 AM, preceded by Matins at 9:00 AM; Vespers on Saturday evenings at 5:00 PM; and Divine Liturgy on Thursdays and Holy Days at 7:00 PM. The current schedule is always posted on the weekly bulletin. Visitors are always welcome, and Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Christians in good standing with their own bishop are warmly received. Attending the Divine Liturgy fulfills the Sunday Mass obligation for Catholics of any rite.
The Byzantine Liturgy is famously immersive. Almost the entire service is sung, and the prayer engages all five senses. Incense, icons, chant, vestments, and the act of standing throughout the service draw the worshipper into a prayer that is intended to feel like a window of heaven. For newcomers, the parish has spelled out exactly what to expect. The Holy Eucharist is distributed by spoon; communicants remain standing, tilt the head back, open the mouth, and receive without extending the tongue or saying Amen. Only Catholics in good standing with the Church may receive Holy Communion.
The traditional fast before Communion is to fast from midnight, although the Church requires only a one-hour fast from food and beverages other than water and medicine. Visitors from other Christian traditions are invited simply to remain at prayer during the distribution.
Services are held in English, with occasional parts in Old Church Slavonic, the traditional language of the Slavic Greek-Catholic tradition. The parish belongs to the Ruthenian Greek-Catholic Church and falls under the Eparchy of Parma, one of the eparchies of the Byzantine Catholic Metropolia of Pittsburgh.
After the Sunday Divine Liturgy, the community gathers for Agape, a shared meal of food and fellowship. All visitors are welcome, and the meal is one of the most reliable ways for newcomers to meet longtime members. The parish's greeting, used instead of "hello," is Glory to Jesus Christ!
Prostopinije: Music of the Carpathian Tradition
Music holds a central place in Byzantine worship, and the parish sings almost the entire Divine Liturgy. The chant style used at Annunciation is called Prostopinije, an ancient form of congregational singing that developed in the Carpathian Mountains and has been passed down through generations of Ruthenian faithful. The word is pronounced proh-stoh-PEE-nee-yeh, and the style is sung entirely without instruments, emphasizing the human voice as the most sacred expression of prayer.
This is not performance music. The melodies are simple, reverent, and deeply moving, and the congregation is the choir. Cantors lead the lines, but the faithful are expected to sing along, lifting their hearts together through chant. The music is not a performance by a choir, but a shared act of worship by the whole assembly. Through this ancient singing, the community joins the eternal worship of the early Church, its forebears from the old country, and the heavenly liturgy celebrated above.
The choirs and cantors of Annunciation have recorded their music on a CD titled THEOSIS, named for the Byzantine theological concept of divine union with God. The CD features the transcendent ancient music heard on the parish's weekly radio program and is available from the parish office for $20.
A Parish Built Around the Land
The ten acres that Annunciation occupies in Homer Glen are as much a part of the parish's identity as the church building itself. The vision for Annunciation is that of a church in a natural environment, a living land that grows with the people who care for it and love it. In Byzantine spirituality, nature is seen as a profound expression of God's creative power, and caring for the natural world is a way to honor the Creator.
The award-winning native prairie on the property has been restored with native grasses and wildflowers, fostering extensive root systems that enhance soil health, capture rainfall, reduce runoff, and improve water quality. Controlled burns are part of the prairie's ongoing management, ensuring the health of the ecosystem. What were once asphalt parking areas are being replaced with permeable paving that allows rainwater to flow naturally into the earth. Vegetated swales planted with native species filter pollutants and support groundwater recharge. Green roofs, made from drought-tolerant plants such as sedums and grasses, absorb rainwater and help cool the environment. Photovoltaic solar panels, geothermal systems, rainwater collection, and cleansing biotopes all work together to reduce the parish's environmental footprint.
The result is a campus designed to be a spiritual and environmental gathering place for Homer Glen and beyond. Visitors walking the trails can see rainwater captured from green roofs gently spilling into water gardens alive with lilies, rushes, and native fish. Overflow is funneled artistically through chains and runnels, feeding underground cisterns that recycle water for irrigation and fountains. Even the grotto on the property is fed entirely by rainwater from the church roof, flowing softly over a shimmering mosaic of Christ in the Jordan.
What was once a mowed detention basin is now a wetland learning center, visited by schoolchildren and nature lovers alike. Educational signage explains wetland ecology and the native species thriving there, proof that sustainability and spirituality can flourish together. The parish is one of the founders of a growing broadband broadcasting effort for information on the Eastern Catholic Churches and of an outreach movement within the Byzantine Catholic Church in America.
Light of the East on the Radio
The pastor of Annunciation, Father Thomas J. Loya, STB, MA, is also the host of Light of the East, a weekly radio program that has aired for years on EWTN Radio affiliates, Ave Maria Radio, and the Guadalupe Radio Network, and that is heard in northeast Chicagoland on 88.5 FM WSFI Sundays at 10:30 AM. With more than a thousand recorded episodes, the program teaches about the beauty of the Eastern Catholic Church and reveals how the riches of the Eastern Catholic tradition, its liturgies, spirituality, and relevancy, are a gift to the whole Church and to today's world. Episodes can be heard through the parish's online podcast page.
Father Loya is a member of the Tabor Life Institute for the education and formation in the theology of the body, and he is a conference speaker for TOBIA, the Theology of the Body International Alliance. He writes a monthly column in the Homer Horizon newspaper and a bi-weekly column in the Horizons newspaper of the Eparchy of Parma. Through his media presence, Annunciation has reached audiences far beyond its own community. Other programs and recordings from the parish can be found online, including homilies, music, and reflections shared on YouTube.
Christmas on the Prairie
In Homer Glen, the celebration of the Feast of St. Nicholas, observed on December 6 each year, is a venerable tradition at Annunciation. Every December, the parish hosts Christmas on the Prairie, a four-hour indoor and outdoor family event that weaves the true story of the original St. Nicholas together with the heritage of prairie settlers. Participants walk the prairie paths to learn about St. Nicholas, take part in frontier-era Christmas crafts for children, experience the mystical beauty of a Byzantine church, browse a homemade Christmas bake sale, and visit with St. Nicholas himself, complete with a ride on his horse-drawn carriage. The event is the parish's largest annual family gathering.
The parish also opens its grounds to the broader community in other seasons. Independence Day brings the Stars and Stripes Concert, a free community concert featuring the Southwest Community Concert Band. The afternoon offers live patriotic music, food from a local taco truck and concession stand, tours of the prairie during peak summer color, and open dancing on a floor provided by Theology of the Dance. Inside the church, visitors can be immersed in the floor-to-ceiling paintings that tell the story of Christ in line and color.
During Great Lent, the parish offers the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete, a deeply moving Lenten service in which Biblical accounts of sin and redemption are chanted in hauntingly beautiful melodies as the assembly immerses itself in the bright sadness of repentance through full body prostrations. The Sacrament of Confession is available throughout the service. The week before Pascha, called the Week of the Bridegroom or Holy Week, is marked with services almost every evening, many of them livestreamed on the parish's Facebook page. Pascha itself, the Byzantine celebration of Easter, falls on a different Sunday than the Western calendar and is the high point of the liturgical year.
Tabor Life and the Theology of the Body
The Tabor Life Institute, which functions out of Annunciation parish, organizes seminars, retreats, teacher training, and supplies materials for education and formation in the Theology of the Body, presenting the entire world of human sexuality and relationships through the sacramental liturgical worldview delivered by Pope John Paul II. The teaching has shaped the parish's evangelization efforts and draws students and lay people from across the country.
Annunciation also participates in ByzanTEEN, an organization that brings together Byzantine Catholic teenagers from throughout the United States, and in the annual Byzantine Assembly, hosted by one of the parishes of the Eparchy of Parma. Parishioners are also active in the local pro-life movement, and the parish is one of the founders of Oriental Lumen Television, a source for streaming video of Eastern Catholic services and presentations.
What to Expect When You Arrive
The church sits at 14610 S Will Cook Road in Homer Glen, Illinois, with parking on the property. The phone number is 708-645-0241 and the parish email is annuncbyzchurch@aol.com. Weekly bulletins are posted online as downloadable PDFs, with the full liturgical year archived going back several years. Divine Liturgy is livestreamed on the parish's Facebook page, and giving is accepted online.
For a first visit, plan to arrive a few minutes before 10:00 AM on Sunday for Matins, or simply arrive at 10:00 for the Divine Liturgy. Stay afterward for Agape, the shared Sunday meal, where the community welcomes visitors with food and fellowship. Modest, comfortable clothing is appropriate, and there is no expectation about dress. Visitors of all backgrounds are received warmly.
From its founding through two predecessor parishes, to its consecration in 2000 and its present life on a restored Illinois prairie, Annunciation Byzantine Catholic Church has built itself around three commitments: the ancient prayer of the Byzantine tradition, the education and formation of the people entrusted to it, and the care of the land on which it stands. Visitors who come for a Sunday Divine Liturgy will find all three waiting for them.