Parishes in Nghe An joyfully welcome Christmas

LIVEparishMy Du Chau Nhan commune (Hung Nguyen), these days, parishioners are gathering at the church to design flower streets, decorate bonsai trees, make gold stars, a nativity scene and a 9m high Christmas tree right in the church grounds.

Pine treeThe 7-color Christmas tree is made of iron, steel and LED lighting system. It is a new and unique product, the highlight of the landscape of My Du parish church during this year's Christmas season.

People of My Du parish (Hung Nguyen) decorate the church to prepare for Christmas. Photo: Huy Thu

Mr. Pham Van Tiep, a young man of the parish, shared: Each color on the pine tree represents a different age of the Eucharistic children. The green color symbolizes the young buds growing up of the innocent, pure age. The blue color symbolizes the strong vitality like the blue sky and the vast sea, the great hope for the future. The saffron yellow color with a red border symbolizes the bright dawn of the age about to enter life. The brown color with a yellow border symbolizes Mother Earth, expressing loyalty to the country and love for God...

The grotto made from scrap is beautifully sparkling at night at My Du parish. Photo: Huy Thu

At Nghi Loc parish in Dien Hanh commune (Dien Chau), parishioners are urgently completing the final stages of projects to welcome Christmas.

In order for the Christmas celebration to take place solemnly, since the beginning of December, young people in the country have carefully prepared, from coming up with ideas, designing, to purchasing materials and construction.

Young people of Nghi Loc parish (Dien Chau) are decorating the "lantern street" to welcome Christmas. Photo: Huy Thu

Continuing the tradition of Christmas decoration from previous years, this year at Nghi Loc parish there will be outstanding works such as a lantern street hundreds of meters long with countless colorful lanterns; a "light" road, a "Christmas lake" withpine tree5 floors, the church grounds are beautifully embellished with small structures such as a grotto, a statue garden, a herd of reindeer, a family of God...

The creatively designed works combine shapes, water surfaces and light, and when completed, will create a magical, shimmering space for the area around the church.

Five-story Christmas tree on the "Christmas lake" in Nghi Loc parish. Photo: Huy Thu

To celebrate Christmas this year, the people of Luu My parish, Tru Son commune (Do Luong) designed a unique Christmas tree made from thousands of masks and a giant medicine pot. The mask tree is placed in front of the parish church, more than 20 meters high, with a base diameter of about 7 meters. The frame is made of steel, standing firmly on 4 square pillars.

The main trunk of the pine tree is round, the outside is covered with thousands of masks from top to bottom, prominently marked with the words "Anti Covid-19", "Pro-Life". The top of the pine tree has a giant medicine pot made of steel and canvas, 2m high, 3m in diameter, weighing 150kg. Using masks as material and the medicine pot - the image of a clay pot of the homeland as a symbol, the people here want to convey the message of joining forces with the world to destroy Covid-19, repel the epidemic, and unite in prayer for world peace.

Christmas tree made from thousands of "masks" and giant "medicine pots" at Luu My parish (Do Luong). Photo: Huy Thu

Compared to previous years, preparations for Christmas 2020 were started earlier by many parishes in the province. Starting from the end of November, some parishes started to construct "huge" and unique projects, such as the masked pine tree (Luu My parish - Do Luong), the conical pine tree (Bo Son parish - Nghi Loc)...

At this time, parishioners are completing special projects for their parishes and parishes. Most of the projects to welcome Christmas are artistic and attractive, expressing new ideas, creative minds, and skillful hands of parishioners.

A pine tree made from more than 1,000 conical hats in Bo Son parish (Nghi Loc). Photo: Huy Thu

Along with decorating the churches, people in the parishes are actively preparing for Christmas in their homes: preparing and decorating Christmas trees, installing LED lights in front of the alley; some households also make a grotto in front of their yard with various images of animals.

Many households have also set up welcome gates and made grottos on the village roads. Performing arts teams from parishes and churches are also actively practicing to bring the most special singing, dancing and music performances to the Christmas Eve mass program. In parishes, people go shopping, clean the village roads, make lanterns, practice performing arts… creating a jubilant Christmas atmosphere everywhere.

Ke Gai Parish (Hung Nguyen) continues to renovate and renew the "giant" grotto. Photo: Huy Thu

These days, many parish associations and groups such as Mother Rosary, Sacred Heart family, volunteer clubs, youth... are also organizing many mutual activities to help families in difficult circumstances. Youth of Luu My parish (Do Luong) are actively collecting scrap metal to raise funds to give gifts to the poor.

On this occasion, some parishes organized exchange activities with local departments and organizations. In Thanh Chuong, on the occasion of Christmas 2020, the youth of Dai Yen parish (Thanh Dong commune) organized a football exchange with the District Youth Union and the District Youth Union.

Football exchange between Dai Yen parish (Thanh Chuong) and Thanh Chuong District Youth Union. Photo: Huy Thu

At the meeting, Thanh Chuong District Youth Union presented 6 bicycles and many notebooks to students in difficult circumstances. At the same time, the Parish Pastoral Council also presented 5 gifts to non-Catholic students of Thanh Dong commune.

Next, Thanh Chuong District Police organized a friendly football match with the youth of Van Thanh Parish (Thanh Giang Commune). The football matches took place in a joyful and open atmosphere, bringing joy to the football teams and tightening the solidarity between the parishes and departments, organizations, and authorities at all levels.

Thanh Chuong District Youth Union presented bicycles and many notebooks to students in difficult circumstances. Photo: Huy Thu

Christmas is approaching, the landscapes of parishes and parishes in the province have been dressed in new, sparkling colors. Many meaningful exchange and volunteer activities are being organized by parishes. With the careful and thoughtful preparation of parishioners, we hope that everyone and every family will celebrate Christmas 2020 in joy, peace and happiness./.