Service with a warm feeling as St Stephen’s Syrian Orthodox congregation celebrates Christmas

[Sally]

I think this is lovely to see something like this in the Gulf States. Can you imagine if services were being held in Saudi Arabia even in someone's apartment?

Service with a warm feeling as St Stephen’s Syrian Orthodox congregation celebrates Christmas
Amna Ehtesham Khaishgi

December 28, 2014 Updated: December 29, 2014 12:39 AM

ABU DHABI // More than 1,500 Indians from Kerala make up the congregation at St Stephen’s Syrian Orthodox Church in the capital – and they all came together to celebrate Christmas with prayers around a campfire at the church.

“We celebrate Christmas with great enthusiasm in the UAE,” said Rev Babu Neetumkara. “In the Christian religious tradition and Indian cultural tradition, fire is considered to be the ‘seat of deity’.

“Light implies the divine whereas darkness, the evil.”

Continue reading at:

http://www.thenational.ae/uae/service-with-a-warm-feeling-as-st-stephens-syrian-

 

[aris2chat]

good