Devbrat Patnaik

Bhubaneswar: A lethal pandemic this year has, for sure, dampened the true Christmas joy among the worshippers to some extent, but the festive fervour remains the same on the solemn occasion.

The uncertain times everyone has gone through in the past few months has forced majority to adapt to new normal keeping in view the safety of all and sundry.

While most of the churches across Odisha have allowed congregation of worshippers at the Church, a few have decided to join Mass celebrations virtually because of the restrictions in place owing to the contagious lethal disease - COVID.

In Bhubaneswar too, people are geared up for the festival but strict protocols have been imposed for hassle-free celebrations at the city’s two biggest churches, one of which has decided to allow physical worship and mass.

Despite Covid challenges, the Catholics at St. Vincent’s Pro-Cathedral in Satya Nagar area of Bhubaneswar are looking forward to celebrating this annual event with all its human and religious meanings. However, the restrictions have limited the attendance to 140 or less in each mass prayer.

The first Holy Mass is scheduled between 7:30 AM and 8:30 AM, the second, third, fourth and fifth Holy Mass would be held subsequently for an hour each, till 12:30 PM.

  • All of these will be combined mass. The management has requested the main celebrants to finish the Mass within 45 minutes so that the next Mass begins on the time fixed.
  • All are requested to maintain discipline and cooperate with volunteers.
  • With ‘No Mask No Entry’ rule in place, all have been asked to wear masks.
  • Sanitize hands soon after entering the church premises.
  • Only three persons will be allowed to take a seat in one bench.
  • This year, no faithful would be allowed to kiss the Baby Jesus.
  • Those who are unwell should stay at home.
  • Only 140 persons allowed for each mass.
  • As soon as the mass gets over, worshippers should leave the Church premises in order to prevent gathering and allow others to come in for the next holy mass.
  • Entry through Church main gate and exit through Archbishop’s house gate.

For the protestants, who visit the Church of Christ (Union Church), there has been a transition from physical worship to digital medium this year. Christmas 2020 is observed in a subdued manner in view of the Covid pandemic, which means packed prayers have been scaled back and are organised virtually.

On the functions this year, CoC member Sandeep Kumar, who is also the admin of media channel, said “The government has allowed celebrations but this year we have decided to organise everything – mass, carols, worships - virtually because CoC every year sees a huge crowd and encouraging that, might be riskier. The sole aim is to conduct prayers, that's being done whole-heartedly and the whole tech team has joined hands to organise it in a successful manner.”

[caption id="attachment_504011" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] Union Church Bhubaneswar[/caption]

“Carols usually have a minimum of 30-35 members, but this time voices and music have been recorded and the same would be played during the virtual presentation. Twice on Christmas day, there will be worships and mass - one in the morning at 10 AM and the afternoon session is scheduled for 4 PM. A decision on reopening the Church is most likely to be taken in January,” said Sandeep.

“This for me is the favourite time of the year. Normally, preparations start from Day 1 of December with worships, prayers, special programmes, carols, baking cakes, making other delicacies, spending time with friends and relatives. But this time it’s different because of the pandemic. Meet and greet is restricted to telephonic conversations, video calls. Church programmes are now online. Grand celebrations might have taken a back seat this year, but the spirit of Christmas is not completely missing," says Nupur, a resident of Bhubaneswar.

But true, for all the Catholics and the Protestants this will be a December they may not want to remember.

scrollToTop