NAGAPATTINAM: This year’s Lent season turned out to be the toughest for the faithful in the past several years even as it is about to end. They are all set to miss the commemoration of Holy Week and Easter celebrations due to the coronavirus scare and lockdown.
Lent is a time when Christians across the globe observe intense prayer, which ends on Holy Saturday. They are in their holiest week of the year and Passover. All would see only muted celebrations due to the lockdown.
“We are a joint family of three generations. In all my 70 years, this year has been the toughest, with people unable to worship together. We had to increase family prayers in the absence of mass in churches. It has been difficult missing the wonderful things of the Holy Week,” said M Melchior (79), a former revenue employee from Tiruchy.
His 21-year-old granddaughter and MBA student T Anne Monica said, “We have not given up on our faith during these testing times.”
Lent season began on February 26 when the number of coronavirus cases was only in single digit in India. It has risen to over 6,000 in 40 days. Churchgoers said they would be able to worship in church without contact safely. However, they never thought they would miss the celebrations, including Good Friday. Now, they are about to miss their most important festival - Easter Sunday to end the 46 days of abstinence.
“We are in awe of how much we enjoyed being around the church since childhood. It feels so agonising to miss everything for the first time, but we must accept this physical detachment is necessary,” said J Jeyapandiyan (59), a retired clerk from Nagapattinam.
“Science and technology help to maintain prayer life in the spirit. We miss being physically present with other believers,” said D Edwin Samuel (47), a school vice-principal in Karaikal. Coronavirus has been hard on priests as well. They hear confessions in church, anoint sick churchgoers in their homes and give sacraments. They have been unable to visit anyone, even the sick.
“We miss conducting mass before churchgoers. We have to do it without them, but we also understand the necessity to avoid public gatherings and public movements,” said T Kashmir Raj, a priest from Mayiladuthurai.
Pastors of Pentecostal churches are dependent on offerings from believers. They are starting to connect with the churchgoers more through electronic means of communication.
"We lead our services more for faith. The believers reach out to us via phone calls. We pray for them. We also stress to them how important social distancing and staying home are. We believe in God, and we will overcome this soon," said RK Franklin, a Karaikal-based pastor and Bethel Fellowship Ministries coordinator