Mangalore: Christmas celebrated with joy and devotion across parishes
Pics: Brijesh Garodi / Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore
Mangalore, Dec 24: The Christian community across parishes in and around the city flocked to their respective churches to partake in the celebrations on Christmas Eve.
Churches across the city wore a festive look, all adorned with twinkling stars, colourful lights and attractive cribs in celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.
Rosario Cathedral
St Sebastian Church, Bendore
Infant Jesus Shrine, Bikarnakatte
Holy Cross Church, Cordel, Kulshekar
The churches brimmed with faithful turning up in large numbers to attend the special Mass. Choirs, Christmas trees and decors added more charm.
In Rosario Cathedral, the Eucharistic Mass was led by bishop of Mangalore Dr Aloysius Paul D'Souza with Fr J B Crasta, parish priest of Roasario Cathedral and other priests as the concelebrants.
In his homily, the bishop exhorted the faithful to follow in the path of Jesus Christ and said that, "Things like Christmas trees, stars, carols and kuswars give us happiness superficially, but we must celebrate Christmas meaningfully and feel it within us by following the teachings of Jesus Christ. Give space in your hearts, open the doors of your houses for others. Jesus Christ gave us the message of love, brotherhood and peace."
He added, "God sent his Son to convey His message to us. We must live together as god's children. Jesus Christ died for us, which indicates how much he loves us, and so we must love each other. We must inculcate Christ's message in our daily life, live like him, follow him and abolish discrimination between the rich and the poor. We must treat everyone equally.
"Jesus is the prince of peace, and peace gives us happiness. Jesus was born in a poor family, he lived with the poor and died for the poor. Love for the poor reaches god. Pope Francis has shown us this through his work, and we should follow his example," the bishop said.
The bishop also wished everyone a very happy and peaceful new year.
Watch Videos
Christmas Eve Mass at Rosario Cathedral
Part 1
Video streaming by Ustream
Part 2
Video streaming by Ustream