In the nine days leading to Christmas, Cristine Pascual goes to bed early as she needs to rise at around 2:30 am instead of 6:00 am like the rest of the year.
Pascual, 42, a Catholic mother of three children aged 14, 13, and 9, finishes her household chores quickly and rushes to the St. James the Great Church in Cavite in the southern part of the Philippine capital Manila.

From a Railway Platform to the Altar: Abandoned Child Becomes a Priest
Twenty-eight years ago, a frightened five-year-old boy was found alone at Shoranur railway station. He had no memory of his parents or a family to