Michelle Samartino | The Michigan Catholic
Julia Rossi, 4, watches the Our Lady of Sorrows Christmas pageant while dressed as an angel.
Metro area — Sometimes for children, it’s not about the man in the red suit or the bright lights or the sparkly decorations. Logan Rich, a preschooler at Divine Child Elementary School in Dearborn, said his favorite part of Christmas was saying his speaking line: “My name is Joseph. I’m a carpenter.”
Divine Child was one of many area schools and parishes who celebrated the season of Jesus with a pageant honoring the day He was born. Divine Child held theirs on Sunday morning in the school cafeteria.
Cindy Rich, Divine Child parishioner and mother of Logan, said, “It’s teaching him what Christmas is really about. Not just about the presents.”
Mary Anne Mitchell, religious education director at Divine Child Parish, said, “It’s a Christmas tradition. The kids build up to this all year…At Divine Child, this is Christmas.”
It was evident how proud the parents were, craning their necks to catch a glimpse of their little one, followed by the sea of flashing light when photos were taken. Later, Santa came by to pass out candy canes.
Parents take photos during the pageant at Our Lady of Sorrows.
Jan Fitzgerald, grandmother of two participating preschoolers who played angels in the pageant, Mitchell and Joshua Fitzgerald, said, “It puts the actual meaning of Christmas right to your heart,” she said. “When you watch these little ones perform with all their innocence, and all their love, and all their enthusiasm… it makes you really realize how important Jesus is in everybody’s life and how we should all be attentive to that every day of the year.”
She added, “It is so wonderful to see all the families and all their children here.”
Roman Wonsul, whose young son is Luka Wonsul, agreed, and said it’s never too early to start learning about the spirit of the season. “It’s really good to get them started at an early age, to learn the true meaning of Christmas is not just about Santa Claus and presents, but about the other aspects of Santa Claus and the birth of Jesus.
“He’s only 3, so he’s just starting to understand,” he said. “He’s starting to understand who Jesus is, and that’s just going to come with time.”
Our Lady of Sorrows in nearby Farmington held their pageant with the children’s choir on Sunday afternoon.
Andrea Rossi, mother of Julia, 4, said, “It helps her learn what Christmas is really about, and not just about Santa and presents. It’s about Jesus, right, Julia?”
Julia, who was also a participant in the pageant, responded with “I’m an angel – a queen angel.”
Children gather around St. Nicholas – played by local Catholic Bobby Hankins – to learn about the saint and the Christmas season in dearly December.
Schools were not the only ones to celebrate the season with special events. About 120 people came together for breakfast on Dec. 3 at the Solanus Casey Center in Detroit, where children gathered with “St. Nicholas” (played by regular visitor Bobby Hankins) for an informal discussion.
A violinist dressed as Fr. Solanus appeared and led the children in a rendition of “Silent Night” while Fr. Webber also relayed stories of old.
“This was for our 10th anniversary celebration… one of the stories well-known about Fr. Solanus was that he loved to go up into the choir loft when the friars were in bed and play Christmas carols to Jesus in bed,” he said.
 “We wanted to have breakfast with St. Nicholas – not Santa Claus,” said Fr. Larry Webber, OFM Cap., director of the Solanus Casey Center. “I told of how when we were little we waited for St. Nicholas to come, and we talked about saints.”
“St.Nick” also participated in the discussion, telling the children about who he is as a saint, and how people got him confused with Santa Claus, Fr. Webber said.
“He talked about what all saints really want to do is to lead people to Jesus,” he said.
Joe Kohn contributed to this report
