Christmas in UAE: Churches announce special mass timings, services in up to 16 languages

Dubai: Churches across the UAE are preparing for one of the most significant occasions on the Christian calendar, with special Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services scheduled to accommodate the country's diverse Christian community.

The UAE's churches reflect the multicultural tapestry of the nation, offering services in up to 16 languages ranging from English and Arabic to Malayalam, Tagalog, Tamil, Sinhalese, Urdu, French, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Korean, Ukrainian, German, Portuguese and Konkani.

This linguistic diversity ensures that worshippers from across the globe can celebrate Christmas in their native tongue while maintaining cherished traditions from their homelands.

From traditional midnight masses to unique cultural celebrations like hot chocolate with a Christingle twist, Christmas activities for children including evening with Santa and neighbourhood carol singing, places of worship are creating memorable experiences that blend reverence with festivity.

Many churches have already begun their celebrations with festive decorations. Some congregations are hosting special events including carol singing sessions.

Most churches have announced their complete schedules for Christmas-related prayer services, with detailed timings available on their respective websites. The services span from Christmas Eve through to New Year's Day, ensuring ample opportunities for worship during the festive season.

One of the largest churches in the UAE, St Mary's Catholic Church in Oud Metha, has announced an extensive programme of Christmas services. On Tuesday, the church hosted the penultimate Simbang Gabi mass, drawing more than 20,000 Filipino worshippers to the nine-day series of Roman Catholic masses traditionally observed in the days leading up to Christmas.

On Christmas Eve, December 24, morning masses will be celebrated at 6am and 6.45am. Evening services will be held at 3.30pm (English), 5pm (French), 7pm (English), and 9pm (Arabic), following the midnight mass liturgy. Carol singing will commence at 11.15pm, followed by the solemn high midnight mass in English at 12am.

On Christmas Day, December 25, morning services will be held at 5.30am, 7am, 8.30am and 10am (all in English), with an Arabic mass at 11.30am. Evening services will take place at 3pm, 4.30pm, 6pm and 7.30pm (English), with an Arabic service at 9pm.

The church in Jebel Ali will hold English masses on Christmas Eve, December 24, at 11am, 3pm, 5pm and 7pm. A Portuguese mass will take place at 1pm in the church, while a Malankara mass will be held at 1pm in the hall. A Malayalam mass is scheduled for 9pm in the church, followed by an English midnight mass at 11pm.

On Christmas Day, English masses will be held at 6am, 8am, 10am, 6pm and 8pm. Multilingual services include Italian (10am in the hall), German (11am in Room 8), Sinhalese (11.30am in the church), Korean (11.30am in the hall), Tagalog (1pm in the church and classrooms), Ukrainian (1pm in the hall), Spanish (2.30pm in the church), Tamil (2.30pm in the hall) and Arabic (4pm in the church and hall). A Polish mass will follow on December 26 at 10.30am.

A Christmas Holy Communion service in Malayalam will be held on December 24 at 8pm. On December 25, an English Christmas Holy Communion service will take place at 7am. The parish will also host neighbourhood Christmas carols on December 28 at 6pm.

Christ Church will host a Christmas Eve Holy Eucharist service on December 24 at 10.30pm, followed by a Christmas Day Holy Eucharist at 10am on December 25.

Evening prayer starts at 6pm on December 24 followed by night prayer, Christmas service and Holy Communion.

The church will hold a Christmas Eve service on December 24 at 11.30pm. Christmas Day services on December 25 are scheduled for 8am, 9.30am and 7.30pm.

The cathedral will offer multiple Christmas Eve masses on December 24, beginning at 4.30pm (English), followed by services at 6pm, 8pm, 10pm and midnight (all in English), with carol singing 40 minutes before each service.

Christmas Day will feature an extensive schedule starting with a Malayalam Syro-Malabar mass at 4am. English services will be held at 6.30am, 7am, 9am, 10.30am, 12 noon, 4pm, 5.30pm and 7pm. Other language services include Malayalam Latin (7.30am), Konkani (9am), Arabic (10.30am and 7.30pm), French (10.30am), Italian (12 noon), Spanish (4pm), Ukrainian (4pm), Tamil (5.30pm), Urdu (5.30pm), Sinhala (6pm), Polish (7.30pm) and Filipino (8.30pm).

Masses of the Christmas Octave will continue on December 26, 29 and 30 at 6.30am, 9am and 7pm (all in English).

The cathedral will hold evening prayer at 5.30pm on December 24, followed by a Service of Fire at 7pm and Holy Qurbana at 7.45pm. A Christmas get-together is scheduled for December 28 at 6.30pm, preceded by evening prayer at 6pm and followed by a love feast at 9.30pm.

Christmas Eve Mass on the 24th at 8:30pm, followed by Christmas Day Mass on the 25th at 12pm

Christmas Eve services on December 24 will include English masses at 5.30pm, 7pm and 10.15pm, a Malayalam mass at 8.15pm, and an Arabic mass at 10pm at Assisi Chapel. Carol singing will begin at 11.30pm.

On Christmas Day, December 25, the schedule includes a Syro-Malabar mass at 3am, Syro-Malankara service at 5am (Parish Hall), and English masses at 5.45am, 7am, 8.15am, 9.30am, 5.30pm and 7pm. Additional services include Urdu (8am at Assisi Chapel), Tamil (10.45am), Konkani (10.45am at Parish Hall), Arabic (12 noon), Tagalog (12 noon at Parish Hall), African (1.30pm at Assisi Chapel), Sinhalese (2pm at Parish Hall), Syro-Malabar (3pm) and Malayalam (8.15pm).

Holy Qurbana services will be held on December 24 at 7.30pm and December 25 at 5am.

The church operates services across three locations: Jazeera Church, Nakheel Church and Umm Al Quwain.

On December 22, a Malankara service will be held at 7.30pm at Nakheel Church.

Christmas Eve, December 24, at Jazeera Church will feature English services at 6.30am and 7pm, with carol singing at 11.15pm followed by midnight service at 12am.

A Malayalam service (with carols at 8.45pm and Latin mass at 9.30pm) and an Arabic mass at 5pm will also take place. At Nakheel Church, services include English (6.30am), Tamil (7pm) and Sinhalese (9pm). An English service will be held in Umm Al Quwain at 9pm.

On Christmas Day, December 25, Jazeera Church will hold English masses at 6.30am, 10am, 12 noon and 7pm. Nakheel Church services are scheduled at 6.30am and 7pm (English), while Umm Al Quwain will have a Malayalam Syro-Malabar service at 7am.

New Year's Eve services on December 31 and New Year's Day celebrations on January 1 will continue across churches, with detailed schedules available on the websites.