Dubai: Churches in the UAE are gearing up to celebrate Christmas with special masses and services, singing of carols and special get-togethers beginning December 24 to mark the birth of Jesus Christ.
Across the city, a number of masses and worship services will be held to accommodate Christian worshippers on the two most important dates of the year, December 24 and 25.
“Christmas is the most important feast for Christians all over the world because of the birth of the son of God as man. The message of Christmas is mankind is in desperate need of a saviour; this is why Jesus had to come,” Fr Lennie J.A. Connully OFM Cap, parish priest at St Mary’s Catholic Church in Dubai, told Gulf News.
St Mary’s Church, the largest Catholic parish in the region, will hold Christmas day liturgy at all masses from 3.30pm on December 24. Three more Christmas masses will be held beginning at 5pm in English, French and Arabic, followed by a carol singing at 11.15pm.
The midnight solemn high mass, which sees crowds by the tens of thousands annually, is at midnight.
On Christmas day, 10 masses will be held at St Mary’s from 5.30am until 9pm.
At the St Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Jebel Ali, two English masses are scheduled from 6.15am on December 24 plus a German Christmas mass at 11am. Afternoon celebrations will start at 4.30pm. The Christmas vigil mass starts at 11pm.
Some 12 masses are scheduled on Christmas day from 6.15am until 8pm in different languages.
Also in Jebel Ali, the United Christian Church of Dubai (UCCD) will have a special Christmas service on December 25 at 10am. Pastor John Folmar, senior pastor at UCCD, said: “Christmas is the best news imaginable because Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners and that’s the best news for everyone.”
At the Holy Trinity Church Dubai, Rev Harrison Chinnakumar said this year’s theme is ‘God’s greatest gift’ because the gift “did not come in a ‘wrapped box’ but in the form of a human. That’s what we are celebrating — the birth of Jesus”.
Throughout the four worship services from December 24 at 7.30pm and 11pm and on December 25 at 8am and 9.30am, special intercessory prayers will be offered for people who are “going through difficult times, in war zones, in danger, going through severe health crises, financial difficulties”.
In Abu Dhabi, Reverend Canon Andy Thompson of St Andrew’s Church said the church will be hosting several different congregations for Christmas mass and he will be presiding over a congregation of 1,000 people.
“It is a special day for us as Christians, and has a very important spiritual significance. For the occasion, we will reflect on the year that’s gone by and pray and look forward to a better 2018. It is also a time to ask what God means to us, and how his message resonates with us,” he told Gulf News.
For Bapu Kulathackal, vicar of Mar Thoma Church Abu Dhabi, the Christmas mass event will be on Sunday, December 24, at 8.30pm with an expected attendees of nearly 3,000 people.
“It is a spiritual time for us; the message of the day will be about strengthening our faiths, and to also reflect on our lives, and to hope for a better future for all of us.”
Both religious leaders expressed their gratitude to the UAE for allowing all faiths to practise their religion in the UAE.
