YANGON: A woman gave birth in the early hours of yesterday morning [Feb. 7] while she and 400 other poor people were queuing up outside a church to receive food and celebrate its feast day.

Ma San Oo 45, who gave birth at 1 a.m., said “I can’t express my feelings. I would really like to thank the Church volunteer for helping me. My due date was next week.”

San Oo was among those who queued up for hours ahead of a Mass, procession and benediction to mark the feast of St. Lazarus Church in Yangon. Boxed lunches were later distributed to the people.

Some benefactors had also donated clothes and medicines.

During the Mass, Bishop Justine Saw Min Thide of Hpa-an diocese, told some 3,000 Massgoers, “We need to show devotion to Lazarus [patron saint of the poor and sick] by helping those sitting outside the church compound.

He reminded people to “pray for the sick and poor.”

St. Lazarus Church honors the poor man, depicted in Christ’s parable in the Gospel, as sitting at the gate of a rich man’s house. His feast day is officially on June 21, but this Myanmar parish celebrates it earlier.

The feast day held special significance for the Massgoers as Yangon archdiocese had designated 2010 as the “Year of the Sick.”

Ko Thein Lwin, 35, said he lost one of his legs after stepping on a landmine and he cannot use his hands properly.

“I could look after my elderly mother and three family members before I was handicapped. Now the only way to feed them is by begging. I come here every year and people give us food and donations,” he said.

Daw Tin Cho, 70, said she’s been coming to the celebration for the past five years.

“I’m old and have no relatives to look after me, so without begging I would not be able to live. I’d really like to thank those who organize the feast because I receive a lot of food and money,” she said.

Courtesy: UCAN