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Report on Christmas, 25th
December 2005
Bhagavan Baba on 25th December
2005, Prasanthi Nilayam
Christmas is
one of the major festivals of the world that celebrates the
advent of the Son of God – Jesus Christ. At Prasanthi Nilayam,
this festival gains more significance and charm as the devotees
of Christ have the great fortune of celebrating the advent of
the Son of God in His Father's Presence.
On 25th
morning, the beautifully decorated Sai Kulwant Hall was packed
to its capacity with many devotees from India and abroad waiting
for a glimpse of the Lord. At 7 a.m., Bhagawan's car glided into
the Hall amidst the strains of soft choir music and Vedic
chants. After going around the Hall granting Darshan to the
multitudes, Bhagawan alighted from the car and was seated on the
dais. The first programme was a musical presentation by the
students of Sri Sathya Sai Primary school, Prasanthi Nilayam.
The young virtuosos held the audience captive for close to 15
minutes playing on their violins and flutes.
The next item
was a musical offering by the Brass Band of Sri Sathya Sai
Institute of Higher Learning, Prasanthi Nilayam. The band leader
came forward and showed a beautiful card to Swami and sought His
blessings for their programme. They kept the audience enthralled
by playing carols. Following this, the students sang many
popular carols like "All night long I shall burn my Christmas
candle", "Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer, had a very shiny
nose". The songs were preceded by a brief commentary by two
students on the significance of the song. As the song "Jingle
Bells" was being sung, Santa Claus came to the front and after
getting his bag of toffees blessed by Bhagawan, went dancing and
distributing the goodies to everyone in the hall. The morning
session concluded with Arati.
In the
afternoon, Bhagawan arrived in Sai Kulwant Hall at 3.50 p.m.
Devotees from overseas had assembled to present a musical
offering in the form of Christmas carols. The program began with
a short skit which explained the true spirit in which Christmas
is to be celebrated. The skit portrayed how the celebration of
the birth of the Saviour has been reduced to a mere shopping and
merrymaking instead of being imbued with sacred feelings of
gratitude and veneration. At the end of the play, a child
dressed as Jesus Christ came and bowed before Bhagawan and
prayed to Him to bless everyone and guide them along the path of
love. This was followed by the choir by the overseas devotees,
first by children and then by the adults. After the invocation
to Lord Ganesha, the devotees sang a number of carols
celebrating the Yuletide spirit. The sound of hundreds of voices
united as one in adoration of the Divine filled the hall lifting
the hearts of the thousands who gathered there. The songs were
in worship of all the manifestations of Divinity – be it Jesus,
Allah, Krishna, Buddha, Mahavira and Zarathrushtra set to
scintillating music.
The programme
concluded with arati and prasadam being distributed to the
devotees.
Wishing
everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Source:
http://srisathyasai.org.in/Pages/Events/xmas_05_rep.htm
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