Salve Regina holds annual Christmas Tree Lighting and Luminaria event

‘Tis the season to be jolly, and what better way to celebrate than Salve Regina’s third annual Christmas Tree Lighting and Luminaria event? On Wednesday, Dec. 8, at 5:30 p.m., Salve Regina will be offering a celebration that will include Christmas music, a visit from Santa Claus, hot chocolate and so much more.

For the second year, Salve Regina will also welcome the holiday season with a display of paper lanterns. The lanterns started in December 2020 as a way to bring the Salve Regina community together safely during the pandemic with an outdoor event, the luminaria event captured the hearts of many and is becoming a new campus tradition.

This year’s event will feature 1,000 paper lanterns, many of which will shine in tribute for a Salve Regina community member’s loved one. For a small donation, participants submitted the names of loved ones to honor or remember, and each lantern will be inscribed with a tribute.

Luminary decorated the grounds of the Salve Regina in 2020. 

Students from Sigma Phi Sigma are providing volunteer hours to prepare the lanterns and lay out the display on Dec. 8. In November, Sigma volunteers scooped over 800 pounds of sand into plastic bags to weigh down the lanterns and to help preserve the sand for next year. The students will place two thousand tea lights into the bags the day of the event.

The luminaria will be lit prior to the event’s official start, and they will be located in the vicinity of McAuley Hall. The lanterns will remain lit for the remainder of the evening, and visitors are welcome to view the lanterns any time that evening. Street parking is available nearby.

Hot chocolate and Christmas cookies will be served during the entire event. If there is inclement weather, the luminaria will be inside Our Lady of Mercy Chapel, and the Christmas Tree lighting still take place with covered viewing available at McAuley Hall or the O’Hare Academic Building.

Faculty and staff families can have dinner at the Miley Cafeteria in Miley Hall following the ceremony if they wish. Vouchers will be available at the tree lighting.

Annual Christmas Tree Lighting and Luminaria
Wednesday, Dec. 8, at 5:30 p.m.
McAuley Hall Walkway and Lawn

5:30 p.m. – Everyone gathers on the McAuley Hall Walkway and Lawn.
5:35 p.m. – Welcome from President Kelli J. Armstrong.
5:40 p.m. – Blessing from the Mercy Center for Spiritual Life.
5:45 p.m. – Christmas music/sing-a-long.
5:55 p.m. – Santa Claus arrives to hand out coloring books with crayons to children.
6:05 p.m. – Lighting of  the Christmas Tree.
6:10 p.m.  – Lanterns stay lit the remainder of the evening for visitors to enjoy.

The Salve Regina choral group Pitches with Attitude performs at the First Annual Tree Lighting in 2019.