Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, hundreds of Acadiana residents are beginning their Christmas celebration in church.
At the Cathedral of St. John Evangelist, several attendees started their Christmas holiday worshiping, keeping up their tradition despite the circumstance.
Hundreds of people packed St. John's Cathedral to start their Christmas celebration. It's a tradition that Maria Doucet and her family have kept to make their spirits bright.
"We love to come to Mass on Christmas Eve. We can really start off the season with the right spirit of mind. We usually follow this up with a nice dinner and watch Christmas movies and wait for Santa Claus to pass,” Doucet explained.
Because of the pandemic, it wasn't a typical Christmas Eve Mass. Seating was limited to allow for social distancing and tickets had to be claimed ahead of time to enter the church.
"Even though it's been a rough year with COVID, and it's affected so many people economically, we still have to take a moment to stop and count our blessings,” Doucet added.
“With faith, you trust in the Lord, and it will all come out alright in the end,” said Mass attendee Kirk Briggs.
Father Chester Arceneaux echoed that same message of hope during his homily.
"God is with us. To allow the beautiful way that God communicates himself to us through the sacraments to nurture our hearts and souls back to him," Arceneaux said.
Another service will be streamed on the Diocese of Lafayette's Facebook and Youtube page at 9 A.M. Christmas morning.
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