Moscow, 25 December 2007 (Interfax):
A Solemn High Mass was celebrated in the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Moscow on Monday night. The service started in the overcrowded cathedral with the singing of Christmas hymns. The church was lit with illuminated Christmas trees. After that, the clergy, garbed in golden and white vestments, processed to the Nativity scene. Archbishop Paolo Pezzi, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in Russia, carried a sculpture of the Infant Christ. When the procession reached the crèche, the archbishop placed the figure of Jesus into the manger, said a prayer, and sprinkled the scene with blessed water. “May the Star of Bethlehem shine!” he acclaimed, and the bells started to ring. After a fireworks display, the procession came back to the church, and the Mass continued. The service was attended by Fr Igor Vyzhanov, the secretary for inter-Christian affairs at the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, and many foreign diplomats. The overall number of worshippers in the cathedral was about 2,000.
Interfax-Religion
And it’s wery beautiful in orthodox curch too
Comment by Tatiana — Wednesday, 25 June 2008 @ 13:19