PANAJI: The pealing of Church bells reverberated all over the State on Thursday night, as the Catholic community joyfully participated in Christmas services to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ.
Second in importance only to Easter in the Catholic calendar, Christmas services began shortly before midnight in all parishes of the diocese, with Archbishop Felipe Neri Ferrao presiding over church services at Se Cathedral in Old Goa.
An air of festivity prevailed across the State as the birth of Jesus was marked with fireworks and traditional fervour. During the midnight religious services, priests recalled that God entered human history two thousand years ago and was born as a little babe in Bethlehem.
The faithful were reminded to let their inner light shine, not only as messengers of the Infant Jesus, but also to embody his message in their daily life and conduct.
The actual Christmas season begins with Christmas Eve and continues till the Feast of the Baptism of Christ, which this year, will be celebrated on January 10, 2016.
After the Christmas services, the Catholic community exchanged greetings and many others continued the celebrations till dawn by participating in musical programmes and dances, organised at prominent venues all over the State.
Commercial establishments such as coffee shops, ice cream parlours and cake shops remained open well past midnight to cater to customers, who flocked in after attending midnight Christmas services.
Village youth were involved in building creative cribs depicting scenes from the nativity reflecting a tradition that was started by St Francis of Assisi in Italy nearly 800 years ago.
“The First Christmas Crib of the history was realized, undoubtedly, by St Francis of Assisi, who in Greccio, Italy, in the year 1223 celebrated the Feast of the Nativity in a new way that led to a new devotional practice. The mind of St Francis was to portray the birth of Christ so that the scene would enter through the senses,” Fr Steve Rodrigues a Capuchin priest said.
