Christmas 2019

Christmas 2019 

Christmas has also arrived in Bozoum! 

Fresh nights (around 13 degrees) and days over 35 ° are the norm of this time in the dry season. 

Christmas, although having prepared for some time, arrives, blossoming almost suddenly, like a bud expected and unexpected at the same time. The grace of God made man, made flesh, made child and once again amazes us! 

While the altar boys decorate the Church, the nun prepares the altar, the other fathers prepare to celebrate midnight Mass in nearby villages, the children dream of the Baby Jesus, and I divide myself between the kitchen, the confessional and the church. 

On Tuesday evening, just before 7, we began the celebration of midnight Mass (here for various reasons, of safety and tradition, we prefer to celebrate this way). The church is lite by a few candles and by the lights of the crib, where I placed the baby Jesus, between Mary and Joseph. 

The celebration continued in joy and awareness of what happened and happens on this holy night: God chose poverty and fragility to become man, so that none of us, fragile and poor, could be afraid of it. 

Wednesday was Christmas! We celebrated Mass at 8.30, animated by dances and songs, which literally explodef in the "Gloria in Excelsis Deo" which we sang after communion. 

But Christmas is also a moment of sharing. Children and adults brought agricultural products and food to the offertory, which after the Eucharist we  distributed to the poor. 

It was a wonder to see so many children, happy and happy for a small gift received: a doll, a toy car, a shirt, a whistle. And all because we have just received the greatest Gift, God made Man, Jesus.

Festa di Natale al Centro orfani "Arc en Ciel)
Fete de Noel au Centre des orphelins "Arc en Ciel"

Erode e i suoi sgherri
Herode et ses sbires

Presepe, con tanto di cometa
La crèche

Peuls, pastori in transumanza
La transhumance

Presepe e offertorio di Natale
Crèce avec les offrandes de Noel

Orti di Bozoum
Les jardins potagers de Bozoum