Jamshedpur : People in the city celebrated Christmas at the stroke of midnight on Sunday as churches held special masses to signify the birth of Jesus Christ and to spread the message of love and universal peace.
Almost all the churches in the city started their first prayer service between 11 pm- 11:30 pm yesterday night. The St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Golmuri, the biggest church had one of the biggest crowd of 2200 people attending the midnight mass at night.
Bishop Father Felix Toppo at the prayer service in midnight led the child Jesus and placed him on the crib inside the church. This is a normal tradition and has been followed every year by the church.
The carol singing at the St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Golmuri and other Roman Catholic churches started between 10:30 pm and 11 pm yesterday.
The churches in the city were specially decorated for the occasion as Christians started to gather at the church in the night to participate in the candle-lighting ceremony and the prayer that followed. Christmas trees and stars and depicted the scene of nativity.
Prayers were held at the popular churches in the city, Beldih Baptist Church, St Joseph Cathedral and St. Anthony’s Church to mark the birth of their savior. Devotees lit candles and prayed for humanity.
The devout filled the prayer halls as the priests delivered the messages. Bishop conducted the prayer at St Joseph Cathedral church Golmuri and delivered the message. He called upon the devotees to uphold the qualities of compassion and love which were the messages of Jesus.
Bishop Father Felix Toppo at the prayer service in midnight led the child Jesus and placed him on the crib inside the church. This is a normal tradition and has been followed every year by the church. The carol singing at the St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Golmuri and other Roman Catholic churches began at 10:30 pm yesterday and the prayer service began at 12:15 am.
The air reverberated with chimes of bells. The impressively decorated churches lent a festive spirit to the occasion of celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.
The people also distributed sweets and burst crackers. Midnight payers were organised in all churches in the district.
All the six Roman Catholic churches in the city started their programmes in the evening. Lupita Hall, Telco started their mass at 12 midnight. Before a week, members of the Lupita Hall, Telco roam around the Christian families of the area and gave them messages of love and peace.
The mass at night was conducted in Hindi but the morning prayer service will be conducted in English. All the Roman Catholic Churches in the city started their morning prayer services from 6.30 and the second one started at 8 in the morning.
�Lord Jesus identifies with the downtrodden. He came into the world to teach us to love selflessly and to help us find a meaning to our worldly existence.
We should try to find a meaning in everything we do. Christmas should not be limited to a selfish kind of celebration but must spread message of love and universal brotherhood in the society,� said Dominic D�souza, a social worker.
