Masses and services are open during the restrictions, but there will be no live nativity scene

Not being able to come together for worship and not being able to experience one of the greatest Christian holidays as something other than a time of shopping, cleaning, baking, cooking, and family time is not something the faithful remember even from the socialist era. Even then, midnight mass was a part of the Christmas season, not only for active believers, but also for the so-called one-year olds - this was the one and only visit to church in the year, and even for many people outside the church. It is not clear what will happen to Christmas devotions this year, at a time of looming coronavirus infection, when the numbers of those testing positive are rising again. But for now, until the fourth Sunday of Advent, people can still visit churches.

The advantage of Holy Family Church in Luhačovice is its size. So even at a time when it was only allowed to be 30 percent occupied, it could practically hold up to 135 people. In Pozlovice it was 90. The prayer room of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren (CBE) in Villa Doubravka, on the other hand, could only invite less than twenty people to Sunday services. This prayer room is also used by the Church of the Brethren (CB), but its members in Luhačovice and the surrounding area have decided not to meet this year because of a possible contagion. This applies to Sunday services as well as Wednesday Bible classes.

From Friday, December 18, the situation will become even more severe and churches will only be able to fill their capacity by 20 percent. Thus, the Catholic church in Luhačovice will have 90 participants, the Catholic church in Pozlovice 60 and the Evangelical church in Doubravka only 10.

"Since the operation of the spa is significantly reduced and the number of guests in the town has decreased, we do not have a problem with the number of believers at Mass this year. Most of them will be around a hundred," said the parish priest of the Roman Catholic parish of Luhačovice, Jan Ston. As in other public areas, people must wear veils, use disinfectant and keep their distance.

In the week before the fourth Sunday of Advent, one Mass a day will be celebrated in the Catholic church in Luhačovice until Thursday, two will be celebrated on Friday and Saturday and three on Sunday. What happens next will depend on the new government regulations.

"There will be no pre-Christmas mass confession, in consultation with the priests of the deanery, this year," the parish tells the faithful on its website. People are to take advantage of the Sacrament of Reconciliation throughout the Advent season. "We are still united in the prayer of the rosary, always at 8 p.m.," the parish website adds.

Due to government measures, the traditional live nativity scene, or Christmas story, performed in front of Holy Family Church, will not take place this year. However, children can individually walk a prepared route with tasks called Wandering to the Christmas Star from 4 to 6 p.m. the day before Christmas Eve.

The CCE Prayer Room will hold services this year on the fourth Sunday of Advent, at 10:30 a.m. and, if possible, at 8 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 27. The traditional January ecumenical event, the Alliance Week of Prayer, which is always attended by representatives of several Christian churches in Doubravka, is likely to take the form of an online meeting for the first time.

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