Merry Christmas Eve

(Baonghean) - Like many other localities in the country, the joyful atmosphere of welcoming Christmas Eve every year in Nghe An has become familiar. In the sweet cold weather, this year's Christmas is still warm, bringing love, faith and new hope of parishioners in all parishes in the province to join the prosperous, peaceful and happy life of the homeland...

Vinh City people happily celebrate Christmas.

The cold but not rainy weather created favorable conditions for people to enjoy a joyful and bustling Christmas Eve. On the streets of Vinh, the shopping malls and gift shops were brightly lit with lights and decorated splendidly with the typical red and white colors; in the parishes, dioceses, large and small churches were decorated with beautiful nativity scenes, sparkling pine trees, and the religious neighborhoods were happily hung with flags and lanterns...

Coming to Tuong Son commune, Anh Son district, where Hoi Phuoc parish and Quan Lang parish are located, the atmosphere is bustling with Christmas. In the sound of hymns echoing from the church, parishioners eagerly await the moment of the birth of Christ. At Mr. Ho Chi Huong's family, a grotto was also built with colorful lights and flowers. Mr. Huong is very proud of this project: "For the whole week, my family and 470 other households in Hoi Phuoc parish have cleaned the house, yard, and carefully prepared a lot of food to invite family friends to the party. We also renovated the church and practiced performing arts for the night of the festival." In a joyful mood, he added: "As we take care of religious matters, we also take care of worldly matters. In recent times, the parishioners have been very active in participating in production and building new rural areas. People contributed 150 million VND, 2,358 working days of digging, filling, pouring aggregate, and pouring concrete on 6 km of roads and 1.5 km of intra-field roads.

Reindeer sleigh in Nghi Phu (Vinh City). Photo: TL

The Christmas atmosphere in Tan Ky district was equally joyful. The houses on both sides of the road leading to Quy Hau Parish Church were sparkling with colorful lights, Christmas trees, and beautifully decorated mangers. The parish church became more splendid and crowded when people came back and excitedly welcomed Christmas, especially the young people. Ms. Nguyen Thi Lien, Hamlet 3, Ky Tan Commune, came here very early. Ms. Lien said: "For Catholics, Christmas is the season of hope, Christmas Eve is "Tet". We gathered at the church to pray for the country to always be prosperous, for everyone, for every family to be safe". On this holiday night, Mr. Dau Dinh Nam, Vice Chairman of the Catholic Solidarity Committee of Tan Ky District came to congratulate and share the joy. He shared: In 2014, Tan Ky achieved many good results in economic development with 17/21 targets achieved and exceeded the plan, culture - society had many improvements, national defense - security was maintained. This result is thanks to the great contribution of Catholics. They have united well and actively participated in patriotic emulation movements.

On Christmas Eve, one could clearly feel the joyful atmosphere and mysterious colors in the parishes of Nghi Dien and Nghi Phuong communes (Nghi Loc district). All the parishes were filled with joyful songs and festive lights. The Tan Yen Parish Church in Nghi Dien had just been completed, and people were able to celebrate their first Christmas in this new church, adding to the excitement - Mr. Nguyen Van Xuan, Chairman of the Pastoral Council of Tan Yen Parish said. And it was even more joyful because this year, the Catholic and non-Catholic people of Nghi Dien commune had achieved many great results in hunger eradication and poverty reduction. The number of well-off and wealthy households increased by 5% compared to last year, the poverty rate decreased to 12%, 7% of households had cars, and 99% of households had audio-visual equipment. Last year, 2 parishes had 12 children admitted to universities, and 82% of households achieved the title of "Cultural Family". The joy of Christmas in Tan Yen is therefore to shine with more love and hope... Leaving Nghi Dien, Provincial Road 534 leading to My Yen parish is crowded with people, especially young people...

Children of Yen Dai Parish.. Photo: TH

Together with the cadres of Dien Hanh commune, Dien Chau district, visiting and congratulating the family of Mr. Nguyen Van Sang, in hamlet 4, at the Christmas ceremony, we saw the joy of warm reunion. This year's Christmas, like previous years, his 4 children, one from the North and one from the South, all returned to gather with their parents to celebrate Christmas and welcome the New Year. All family members gathered to eat together, sharing words of heart... The spirit of sharing and solidarity is the tradition of the Catholic people in Dien Chau in general and Dien Hanh commune in particular. On this Christmas night, in front of the altar of Our Lady, a music festival took place with the participation, contributions and performances of all Catholics and non-religious people. The music festival and the Mass were very crowded with tens of thousands of people and tourists coming to visit. The youth of the parish and the security committee, the commune's youth union actively participated in guiding and maintaining order so that the Christmas ceremony took place safely and joyfully.

Like many other localities in the province, 12 parishes with 31 chapels in Quynh Luu district were lit up with thousands of sparkling Christmas lanterns. Everywhere was bustling and exciting, but peaceful and serene. Every look, smile, and blessing were filled with goodwill and goodwill - that's all we felt when witnessing the rituals, religious activities, traditional games, and the Christmas music night with many musical performances and scenes in this coastal area. Right before Christmas, working groups of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Quynh Luu district coordinated with local departments and authorities to organize delegations to congratulate priests and pastoral councils in the area; at the same time, they visited and gave gifts to some families with preferential policies and households in difficult circumstances to encourage and support them to enjoy Christmas. The flower baskets and gifts are small but meaningful, thereby creating solidarity and a close relationship between the government and the people. There were families of parishioners who were moved to tears by this precious sentiment…

Christmas Eve at Cau Ram Church.

As the center of the province, Vinh City is more bustling on Christmas Eve. The "breath" of the important moment of Christmas spreads everywhere, dispelling the cold. The lobbies of hotels and restaurants are decorated with bright colors; Christmas songs are played from cafes, restaurants, and shops. On a joyful Christmas night, all shops offer discounts and organize game shows with prizes such as scarves, decorative stars, and cute Santa Claus hats. At 8:00 p.m., the streets are increasingly crowded, converging towards Cau Ram Church. On Phan Dinh Phung Street, traffic police officers actively regulate traffic flow, avoiding congestion... "Christmas is a time for fun. But it is also a time for us to think about our wishes. I go to church to pray for luck and peace for my family" - Mr. Tran Minh Hoa, Hung Binh Ward confided. This Christmas, Mr. Hoa brought his daughter, Tu Anh, a first grader, along. These days, she has been eagerly waiting for Christmas, because her parents gave her gifts and promised to take her out. Looking at the Cau Ram Parish Church, sparkling and magical with lights, to Tu Anh, Christmas Eve was magical, as if all the wishes of children came true in the joy and happiness of adults.

As the night wore on, the flow of people continued to flock to churches to enjoy the peaceful atmosphere of a new Christmas season. Everyone felt peaceful. For the young people in the “Student Association for Collecting Scrap for Charity”, this year’s Christmas was the happiest yet. Student Le Thi Thuy, Faculty of Cultural Management, Vinh University boasted: From the money from collecting scrap, today we organized the program “Christmas Warming Love” to give 10 gifts to children with serious illnesses, families with policies affected by Agent Orange in the two districts of Nghi Loc and Thanh Chuong… Tonight, attending Christmas, the young people of the “Student Association for Collecting Scrap for Charity” all received joy. They sang a Christmas song to each other: “Wishing everyone in this world happiness/ Wishing the children without a warm home/ Wishing the elderly a long life/ Wishing everything the best”.

And, the most sacred moment of the sparkling Christmas night has come, blending a joyful, peaceful atmosphere with many good hopes for tomorrow of a peaceful, progressive life of the homeland and country...

PV Group