Christians in Temple Town celebrate Christmas with great pomp and gaiety
Udupi: Devotion and joy marked the celebration of Christmas all over the world. The birth of Jesus popularly known as ‘Christmas’ has been one of the important festivals in the Catholic Church. Along with the spiritual preparation through the Advent, people prepare for the celebration of Christmas by cleaning their houses and decorating it with coloured lights and stars, new dresses, preparation of sweets, sharing the joy of Christmas by distributing sweets to neighbours, especially to non-Christian brothers and sisters and putting up Cribs in their homes.
The Christians of the temple district of Udupi celebrated Christmas with great pomp and gaiety on December 24 evening. The Christmas celebration in churches commenced with Carol singing by the choir. Most of the churches had the grand Christmas mass at night. Bishop Rev. Dr. Gerald Isaac Lobo concelebrated the grand mass along with Fr Lawrence D’Souza (Rector of the Cathedral) Fr Canute Noronha (Assistant Parish Priest) at the Milagres Cathedral, Kallianpur.
The churches were decorated with glowing stars and other decorating lights. The Christmas special mass started in different churches from 7.00 pm onwards. Cultural programmes by the members of parishes also added spice to the Christmas celebration.
Cribs were laid out at both churches and homes depicting the birth of Christ and the joy that prevailed with his birth.
Various churches in the district like Mother of Sorrows Church Udupi, UBM Church mission compound, St Lawrence Church Moodubelle, Holy Rosary Church Kundapur and other churches were decorated with colourful lights and festooned with stars. The district wore a festive look as non-Christians also joined the celebrations in large numbers and wished their Christian brethren on this occasion.