FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 2024
Alexandre Moniz Barbosa
Across Goa tiny flames flickered in the soft breeze and under the pale moonlight that struggled to reach past cloudy skies, as the Easter Candle was lit outside Church and then taken within late Saturday night. The Liturgy of Light, the first part of the long Easter Vigil, took place as usual in churches across Goa on this ‘most holy’ of nights, yet it was definitley not the same. There was a vast and discernible difference. The priests entered darkened and empty churches with the lit candles, which is the practice, but then they closed the doors behind them, something that is never done. There were also no people waiting to light their candles from the Easter flame, and so the darkened Church didn’t slowly begin to sparkle with tiny flames by the time the priest reached the altar to proceed with the rest of the celebration of the Easter Vigil, which he did to empty pews, and in some cases a camera that was live streaming the service for the benefit of the people at home.
Goan Christians, the Catholics in particular, have this Holy Week and Easter turned into stay-at-home pilgrims. They participated only in the services via the electronic media, did not physically venerate the cross, did not receive Holy Communion, and were not blessed with Holy Water. It has been an Easter like no other that Goa has experienced. The celebration of the resurrection of Christ, has turned into neither a holiday from the lockdown, nor a reason for people to venture out of their houses. Years from now, Goan Catholics will recount the Holy Week that was spent not in the parish churches participating in the services and undertaking penances, but seated in front of the television. What a change, as ironically, there are those among the laity who during Lent make it a point to stay away from the television as part of their penance, but this time the television – and the internet as services were also live streamed – became an essential part of the Holy Week services across the world. Decades from now, today’s youth will possibly be recounting to their grandchildren how during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic that killed lakhs of people across the world, they were forced to sit at home and follow the services on television and on the internet. But, this has also kindled a different kind of spirituality, as people understood more of the services and rites, than they perhaps otherwise did.
So different is the situation today in the State, that on the social media there are posts asking people with long memories to jot down their experiences of World War II. There won’t be many who would be able to do so now, as those who can remember that time may not be net savvy, but this is a far different experience from what occurred during the wars. The situation we are living in today is fraught with another danger, which is not of bombs, nor of soldiers dying. This can affect anyone. What occurred during the wars cannot compare with the situation, at least not in the Goa of today. Goa, then a Portuguese colony, had remained quite insulated from the wars. On the other hand, the Coronavirus pandemic is a frightening reality that has not spared Goa, though it has been lenient towards the State. Goa has been fortunate that there have been just seven positive cases detected till date. One of these has recovered, but the person is still in quarantine as per protocol. And, though what is happening across the world is also a war, it is not one being waged between countries, but a war nations are fighting against a virus that is devastating the entire world, and there is no knowing of where the deadly virus will strike next.
Fortunately, Goa has till now escaped the wrath of the virus, as positive cases in the State are relatively few, but that should not lead to complacency of any kind. Easter, which is being celebrated this Sunday, is when people would go to Church and then partake in a meal with the extended family. That isn’t going to happen today. The vigil has been watched on television last night, and those who missed it will have ample opportunity to watch masses during the day and the recorded videos of the vigil that will be retelecast or uploaded on the net. Also, the celebrations at home will be subdued and made up with whatever supplies are available in the local store. There will not be grand dishes on the dining tables in many houses. Meats in particular, are in short supply, and the fish that is available is beyond the reach of the common man, especially in these times of the lockdown. For the children, there will be no gaily decorated Easter eggs or bunnies. What they will get are homemade goodies. In a way the Easter lunch will perhaps be more healthy.
The Easter celebration, therefore, will be a close family affair in the midst of the lockdown. Yet, it will also be meaningful, but of a very different kind, and not just spiritually. Easter is the light of hope, the light that comes after the period of Lent. It is significantly the resurrection after the death on Good Friday and the silence of Holy Saturday. In the current situation, it was not just the Christian Church that was silent on Saturday, but entire nations across the world that are in lockdown and so in silent despair and prayer for a better tomorrow. So the hope and light of Easter bring the flickering flame of the candle as a symbol of change for the better, as Goa, India and the world await the destruction of the virus and the return to normalcy. The peal of the Church bells this Easter will announce the resurrection of Christ from the dead; will it also sound the beginning of the end of the pandemic that is gripping the world?
