Celebrating Christmas at Santhome church is beautiful and makes heart brim with devotion and peace.
Chennai: Attending Christmas mass on Tuesday to share the joy of Jesus birth along with the hundreds of faithful gathered at Santhome Church, the historic basilica by the sea, was an experience to remember.
Wearing Christmas caps, we swam through the huge crowd and managed to reach the front. The Tamil carols sounded so much like the temple renderings that they triggered goose pimples.
There were more silk saris than frocks and pants, besides elaborate jewellery on the women, wearing thousand-watt smiles. Girls clad in yellow carried plates filled with flowers and lights.
The priest showed round the ‘sambarani’. Prayers followed in Tamil. With folded hands, scores of devotees uttered fervent prayers. The scene reminded me of standing before Lord Nataraja in Chidambaram temple for the Ushakkala pooja. For a few moments, I wondered if I was inside a Hindu temple.
Though we couldn’t repeat the prayers, we observed and were enchanted by the preaching. Without knowing that it was an offering box, we touched the box with two hands and kept them for a second on our eyes, as we do for the vibuthi thattu brought around by priests in temples. After ‘Kuzhandhai Yesu’ was kept in front of the podium, we knelt down and prayed with full devotion as the others did.
While elements of bhakthi and tranquillity pervade worshippers at a Hindu temple, the Christmas night at Santhome was more of joy and celebration.
What else can we expect at the birth of Jesus, the messenger of love, the Son of God? It was beautiful as much as it made the heart brim with devotion and peace.
Next: Thousands converge at Vailankanni, Tarangambadi
Thousands converge at Vailankanni, Tarangambadi
Nagapattanam: Thousands of pilgrims from several parts of the country and abroad thronged the famous Christian pilgrim centre of Vailankanni, near here, on Wednesday to celebrate Christmas.
Special mass and prayers at the Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health marked the festival. Special prayers were performed in several languages at the specially erected pandal near the Vailankanni church on Wednesday morning. Special prayers were also offered for the tsunami victims.
On Christmas eve, when the clock struck 12 at night, priests of the church came in procession to announce the birth of Jesus. Little children carried candles and the Bible with them. After offering prayers in English and Tamil, Fr Michael, the rector of the shrine basilica, showed the idol of infant Jesus, marking the birth of Jesus.
Similarly, hundreds of devotees participated in the special prayers at the New Jerusalem church at Tarangambadi, built in 1718, and which is the oldest Protestant church in Asia. Besides, there is the famous Zion church, built in 1701, which is an architectural marvel.
Nagapattinam district, called the district of churches and convents, is now wearing a festive look in connection with Christmas celebrations followed by the New Year fete.
The administration and police had made elaborate security arrangements for Christmas Special buses were also operated.
