Lights and smiles mark the coming of Christmas
As Christmas Eve turns into Christmas Day, lights in every color shine through the night around the world. Colored bulbs decorate buildings from Ahmadabad, India. Candles illuminate the faces of the faithful at a church in Beijing, China. And Santa Claus floats on a boat full of twinkling lights near Genoa, Italy.
Here’s a gallery of images from Christmas celebrations in Pakistan, Italy, China and elsewhere.
Indian Christians light candles at a Sacred Heart Cathedral on the eve of Christmas in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2014. Christmas is a national holiday in India, marked by millions of all religions and faiths. AP
A man stands next to a neighborhood shrine to the Virgin of Guadalupe built on a street median in Mexico City, Friday Dec. 12, 2014. Every year thousands upon thousands of faithful flock to the Basilica of Guadalupe to pay their respects but just as importantly, little shrines built in parking lots, places of work, street medians, playgrounds and any imaginable corner of a world of concrete and asphalt are colorfully decorated with flowers, balloons and confetti on the Virgin’s feast day as neighbors gather around the altars to share a small breakfast, sing happy birthday to the Virgin, light fire-crackers and some just come to have a quiet prayer. AP
Rachel Boelke sings “Silent Night” with her daughter, Lilja, 7, and the rest of the congregation at the end of the Intergenerational Christmas Eve Service at Pilgrim Lutheran Church in St. Paul, Minn., Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2014. AP
A man dressed as Santa Claus lights flares as he stands on a boat in Imperia, near Genoa, Italy, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2014. AP
Children dressed as angels take part in a Christmas Eve mass at the South Cathedral official Catholic church in Beijing, China, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2014. AP
Priests and clergy attend the Christmas celebration midnight Mass at the Cathedral-Basilical in Vilnius, Lithuania, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2014. Over 80 percent of Lithuanians are Christians who celebrate the festival of Christmas on Dec. 25. AP
A man dressed as the Virgin Mary with baby Jesus poses for photographs during the early hours of Christmas Day celebrations in the Causeway Bay shopping district in Hong Kong Thursday, Dec. 25, 2014. AP
Pope Francis kisses a statue of Baby Jesus as he celebrates the Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2014. AP
Iraqi Christians attend a Christmas Eve mass at Our Lady of Salvation in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2014. Iraqi Christians gathered for Christmas Eve services amid tight security. AP
Chinese bishop Joseph Li Shan places a statue of baby Jesus in a replica of a stable as he takes part in a mass on the eve of Christmas at the South Cathedral official Catholic church in Beijing, China, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2014. AP
A woman shops for Christmas decoration items in central Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2014. Although the number of Christians has dropped in Iraq, Christmas, a national holiday in Iraq, is very popular in the capital. AP
Pakistani Christians prepare a Christmas tree in preparation for Christmas in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2014. AP
Liberian men shop for a Christmas tree at a shop in Monrovia, Liberia, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2014. The deadly Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone means no festive parties at the beach and no carolers singing at night. Authorities this year have banned any activities that could further the spread of the highly contagious virus now blamed for killing more than 7,000 people in West Africa over the past year. AP
Pakistani vendor Maqbool Mashi sells Santa Claus balloons ahead of Christmas in Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2014. AP
Volunteer Patty Shook takes a phone call from a child asking where Santa is and when he will deliver presents to her home, inside a phone-in center during the annual NORAD Tracks Santa Operation, at the North American Aerospace Defense Command, at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2014. Patty and her husband, Bryan, who is retired from the Air Force, have been volunteering at NORAD each Christmas Eve for five years, fielding calls from children from all over the world eager to hear about Santa’s progress. AP
A Palestinian girl dressed in a costume joins a Christmas Eve celebration at Manger Square outside the Church of the Nativity, built atop the site where Christians believe Jesus was born, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2014. Christian pilgrims from around the world have begun to gather in the biblical town of Bethlehem for Christmas Eve celebrations in the traditional birthplace of Jesus. AP
Pakistani Christians gather in an alley of a Christian neighborhood decorated with festive lights for Christmas in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2014. AP
In this Friday, Nov. 28, 2014 photo provided by the Los Angeles Zoo, guests view the first night of a lighted adventure, the inaugural “L.A. Zoo Lights” experience. The holiday season show transforms the zoo from its daytime persona to a nighttime environment of a series of animal escapades rendered in led lights, lasers, 3D projections, spectacular sets and interactive displays. Guests take a self-guided 60- to 90-minute tour through select areas of the zoo while the animals themselves are asleep. A troop of animated LED “monkeys” guide visitors to an illuminated “Reggie the alligator,” an origami “rhino,” singing “elephants,” and a party of musical pink “flamingos” and their DJ leader, among others. The show is open nightly through Jan. 4 except Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. AP
