Thousands of worshippers gathered along Oud Metha Road on Friday as they visited their respective churches in celebration of Christmas as they attended mass and church services.
Father Tomasito Venerecion, Parish Priest at St Mary's Church, said he was quite pleased with the turnout of the Catholic worshippers who attended Christmas mass on Friday morning.
"The turnout was quite large, possibly because it coincided with the weekend. The mass went in order and was well-organised with the help from over 100 volunteers," said Father Venerecion.
The massive number of worshippers for morning mass exceeded the 1,700-seater church, as well as the hall that seats up to 700 people.
"There were so many people attending mass and they ended up filling the basketball court and football field, and when that became full many more filled up the premises of the school," said Father Venerecion.
"We held 16 services throughout the day and the church was also full," he said.
Reverend John Weir, Senior Chaplin at the Holy Trinity Church, said that a total of 12,000 worshippers attended the Christmas service, including the 550 worshippers who attended the midnight mass on Christmas Eve.
Christmas services were held on Friday throughout the day starting from 6am with
baptisms.
"There are 26 halls and 120 different church groups, so there were people going in and coming out throughout the day, and all the halls were full. Christmas celebrations started since last Saturday, where all the different church choirs sang outdoors under the Christmas tree. There was up to nine different languages, and we are especially pleased that new churches also participated," he said, which included the Chinese church and the Myanmar church.
Workers were also treated to gifts as churchgoers celebrated Christmas with them.
"In the evening of Christmas we visited the workers' accommodation in Sonapur where we held a special mass for the Christian workers, and presented them with telephone recharge cards and gifts," said Reverend Weir. – Gulf News
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