Marivic Sorita’s eyes filled with tears as she spoke of her daughters back in the Philippines. She has seen them only three times in the 11 years she has worked as a housemaid in Abu Dhabi. Her eldest, now 21, recently completed her studies “thanks to the sacrifice” Sorita made by the separation, sending almost all her salary back home.

Maybe one day, when her 14-year-old daughter has also finished her studies, Sorita would be able to go back to Manila and be reunited with her family. But for now, she was enjoying a rare day off work for what she described as a “very, very special” occasion.

Sorita, 40, was one of thousands of people packed into the all-seater Zayed Sports City stadium in Abu Dhabi to celebrate mass with Pope Francis on Tuesday, with many more outside, watching on big screens. It was the highlight of the first ever papal visit to the Arabian peninsula, and for millions of expatriate workers in the United Arab Emirates – many of them devout Catholics from countries in Asia – it was a momentous day.

“I’m very tired, I had no sleep,” said Sorita who, like many of those who had secured tickets to the mass, had been up all night. “But I’m just happy to be here, to see the pope and to celebrate mass.” She rarely went to mass; “There is no time, I am always working,” she said.

Berna Ros, another Filipino working as a manager for an Abu Dhabi company, said seeing the pope was the “most special moment in my life. I am blessed.”

People watch Pope Francis deliver mass during his three-day visit to the UAE. Photograph: Ali Haider/EPA

Her five children, aged between nine and 25, were also back in the Philippines, but Ros managed an annual visit home. She attended mass every week in Abu Dhabi. “We are allowed to worship freely. There is no pressure from the government,” she said.

The pope entered the stadium under a blazing winter sun in an open-sided vehicle, with security guards jogging alongside and a helicopter hovering overhead. People, sporting pope-branded baseball caps and waving Vatican flags that had been distributed by volunteers, pressed against barriers to catch a glimpse of the Holy Father. Most held up phones to capture a picture of the pope; some thrust out babies and small children in the hope of a papal smile or wave.

The 90-minute open-air mass was considered by some to be the largest show of public Christian worship ever seen on the Arabian peninsula, the birthplace of Islam. Hallelujas and chants of “Pope Francis” and “Viva Il Papa” boomed out from speakers inside and outside the stadium.

More than 100 nationalities were represented among the 135,000 crowd, with about 4,000 Muslims in attendance, organisers said.

In his homily, delivered in Italian and translated into Arabic with English subtitles provided on screens, Francis directly addressed many of the expatriate Catholic workers in the stadium and beyond.

“It is most certainly not easy for you to live far from home, missing the affections of your loved ones, and perhaps also feeling uncertainty about the future. But the Lord is faithful and does not abandon his people,” he said.

The pope – speaking in a country famous for its skyscrapers including the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai – said that Jesus “did not ask us to build great works or draw attention to ourselves with extraordinary gestures. He asked us to produce just one work of art, possible for everyone: our own life.”

Prayers were said in multiple languages, including Konkani and Tagalog. The Catholic church has estimated there are 1 million Catholics among the UAE’s expatriate community, which forms 90% of its population.

Christian worshippers attend a mass, led by Pope Francis, at the Zayed Sports City stadium. Photograph: Karim Sahib/AFP/Getty Images

Charmaine Karunaratne, 78, had travelled to the UAE from Sri Lanka to visit her daughter and grandchildren who have lived in Abu Dhabi for four years. A devout Catholic, she said it was “like heaven to see the pope”, adding that she admired his focus on the poor, and his rejection of personal luxuries.

Her enthusiasm was shared by Samira Ahmed Diria Bokhari, a diplomat from Tanzania and a Muslim. “I came to mark this great day of history, a pope celebrating mass in the heart of Islam. Who would miss this opportunity?”

The pope’s three-day visit to the UAE was to mark the Emirates’ “year of tolerance”. On Monday, the pope and the grand imam of al-Azhar signed a historic declaration of fraternity, calling for peace between nations, religions and races, in front of a global audience of religious leaders from Christianity, Islam, Judaism and other faiths.

The document said: “We resolutely declare that religions must never incite war, hateful attitudes, hostility and extremism, nor must they incite violence or the shedding of blood.”

Newspapers in Saudi Arabia, where churches are banned, ran pictures of the ceremonial signing by the pope and the grand imam.

Before Tuesday’s mass, Pope Francis made a private visit to St Joseph’s cathedral. He was due to return to Rome later in the day.