Christmas Joy Envelops City
Mangaluru: The Christian brethren celebrated the birth of Jesus, in and around the city by holding Christmas Carols which will later follow by the mass in the respective Parishes late evening on December 24.
Mangaluru is known for its traditional Christmas celebrations and it ushered in joyous celebrations of the arrival of newborn Jesus with the singing of carols at 7:00 PM before the festive mass in all churches in the city.
Fr Edwin Monis blessed the crib along with other priests in the church premises.
At Milagres Church, the festive mass was celebrated by the Assistant Parish Priest Fr Edwin Monis along with the Parish Priest Fr Valerian and other priests.
In his homily, Fr Valerian said, “Today we are celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. God has given his only son to us to save us from our sins. Today we have decorated the crib with lights, stars etc. When we were blessing the crib some said that the crib looks very beautiful. We are decorating the Crib because the Crib is the symbol for us to remember that Jesus became man. We need to invite Jesus into our hearts. When Jesus lives in our hearts there will be positive changes within us”.
Fr Valerian further said, “Today we have illuminated the church premises with lighting’s but we still find darkness in some areas of our premises. Yes, Jesus is the light and we have to prepare ourselves to accept Jesus. We should live a simple life. When we celebrate Christmas, we should learn to love our neighbours. We need to share our Christmas joy with the poor by caring for them. That is how we celebrate real Christmas in our lives.”
After the mass, Fr William Gonsalves cut the Christmas cake along with other priests. Fr Valerian wished all the parishioners a very happy Christmas. The cake was distributed to all the parishioners who were present. Thereafter, there were a number of spot games and housie housie.
I love Christmas season – It is beautiful and relaxing. I’m not a religious guy but I do like putting up Christmas tree and Christmas lights. The music, gifts, happy people – a perfect end to every year. I’m one of those shameless guys who keeps the Christmas lights for another month!
Also, let’s not forget to thank the tolerance of Hindu society where Christianity has prospered for almost 2000 years. No other society on the planet can claim this.
Wish You All A Merry Christmas And Prosperous New Year….