Decorations & Spiritual preparations for Christmas; ’Green Christmas’ to be celebrated in Indore with use of only reusable & recyclable items
Christmas is coming and the entire city especially Christian community is overjoyed for the upcoming festival. The preparations in all the churches are in full swing.
Most churches are putting last touches to the crib for baby Jesus. What’s different this year? It is the decorations in churches.
All the decoration and preparation in churches are being done keeping environment in mind. Revenant Chacko Thottumarickal SVD, bishop of Indore, said, “This year, we are celebrating ‘Green Christmas’ so we want to ensure that environment is not negatively affected by our celebrations.”
He feels proud to be in Indore, which has won the award for being the cleanest city of India for three years in a row. “Everyone has understood the consequences of their actions, especially the use of one-time plastic,” Thottumarickal said.
Hence, he has instructed the entire community to ensure that one-time plastic is not used in any form. “Even decorations should be used such that they can be recycled or reused,” Thottumarickal said.
Spiritual preparation at St Theresa Church
Christmas is not just about the decorations and presents, it is a time to welcome Christ. Hence, spiritual preparation is must as explained by Revenant Father Philip, Parish Priest of St Theresa Church. As a spiritual preparation, devotees were invited to the church for the Holy Eucharist celebration and confession on the weekend.
“Anytime you have a major liturgical celebration such as Christmas or Easter, or even before a solemnity of some kind, there’s always a vigil, there’s always some kind of preparation,” Fr Martin Kujur said.
“We come before the Lord with the acknowledgement and the awareness that we’re really unworthy to be present there, so it’s a desire to really claim our poverty of spirit and be open to the gifts the Lord has for us,” Fr Irudaya Raj said.
Following spiritual preparations, devotees celebrated pre-Christmas with children. Children staged a play about the birth of Jesus.
Christmas Trees
The gigantic Christmas trees with gifts, ornaments, ribbons and candy canes can be seen in every part of the city. Most of the trees are artificial made using ribbons, but some establishments having real Christmas trees have also decorated them.
The most important part of Christmas tree decoration, the top angel can be mostly found in church decorations.
Other striking decorations
In some parts of the city, we can see traditional decorations with wreath and Christmas trees. Bringing another themed concept tailored for children is the combination of dinosaurs with Santa. Yes, it might seem out of the blue, but it has amazed and attracted most children in the city.
Most churches are putting last touches to the crib for baby Jesus. What’s different this year? It is the decorations in churches.
All the decoration and preparation in churches are being done keeping environment in mind. Revenant Chacko Thottumarickal SVD, bishop of Indore, said, “This year, we are celebrating ‘Green Christmas’ so we want to ensure that environment is not negatively affected by our celebrations.”
He feels proud to be in Indore, which has won the award for being the cleanest city of India for three years in a row. “Everyone has understood the consequences of their actions, especially the use of one-time plastic,” Thottumarickal said.
Hence, he has instructed the entire community to ensure that one-time plastic is not used in any form. “Even decorations should be used such that they can be recycled or reused,” Thottumarickal said.
Spiritual preparation at St Theresa Church
Christmas is not just about the decorations and presents, it is a time to welcome Christ. Hence, spiritual preparation is must as explained by Revenant Father Philip, Parish Priest of St Theresa Church. As a spiritual preparation, devotees were invited to the church for the Holy Eucharist celebration and confession on the weekend.
“Anytime you have a major liturgical celebration such as Christmas or Easter, or even before a solemnity of some kind, there’s always a vigil, there’s always some kind of preparation,” Fr Martin Kujur said.
“We come before the Lord with the acknowledgement and the awareness that we’re really unworthy to be present there, so it’s a desire to really claim our poverty of spirit and be open to the gifts the Lord has for us,” Fr Irudaya Raj said.
Following spiritual preparations, devotees celebrated pre-Christmas with children. Children staged a play about the birth of Jesus.
Christmas Trees
The gigantic Christmas trees with gifts, ornaments, ribbons and candy canes can be seen in every part of the city. Most of the trees are artificial made using ribbons, but some establishments having real Christmas trees have also decorated them.
The most important part of Christmas tree decoration, the top angel can be mostly found in church decorations.
Other striking decorations
In some parts of the city, we can see traditional decorations with wreath and Christmas trees. Bringing another themed concept tailored for children is the combination of dinosaurs with Santa. Yes, it might seem out of the blue, but it has amazed and attracted most children in the city.