Last week, a teenaged girl asked her mother why the family was not going to Church for the Way of the Cross. “Simply because the church is closed dear in view of the 21-day lockdown imposed by the government. And our parish priest, abiding by the recent directives from the Holy See, has cancelled the traditional Way of the Cross on the hillock,” came the prompt reply from the mother.
Perhaps it is for the first time since the dawn of Christianity that all churches around the world will be closed for the Holy Week in the wake of the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic that has infected lakhs of people worldwide and has left a deadly trail of human deaths in many countries.
There will be no procession of palms to commemorate the Lord’s entrance into Jerusalem. There will be no public Chrism Mass where the priests used to wash the feet of the laity and no night Adoration on Maundy Thursday. On Good Friday there will be no public celebration of the Passion of the Lord, no adoration of the Holy Cross. In a way there will be no public celebration of the Paschal Triduum, which begins with the Palm Sunday and culminates with the Lord’s Resurrection on Easter.
It is, as APS Fernandes of Reis Magos said, unprecedented. “This situation is unprecedented, at least in my lifetime. Easter is the most important and spiritually enriching celebration of the Christian faith. Not being able to join the community in remembering the passion and sacrifice of Christ and in praying for renewal and hope, especially in these troubled times, leaves a deep void.”
An attempt to fill that void will be made by technology as it beams masses and services live to people’s homes. But it will never be the same. “There is a certain aura of solemnity and spirituality when you go to church to take part in the Way of the Cross which is not found in the house,” said Elayne Monteiro, a teacher from Panjim. Like her there are thousands of others who will feel the loss of not being able to participate in the services in person.
A young girl, who was scheduled to sing the hymn of “Veronica” during the Santos Passos, could not control her tears when she learnt that the “Holy Steps” were cancelled in her parish. “I used to practise daily with a teacher, who taught me how to sing the Veronica, but sadly my day didn’t come as the lockdown was imposed with the fear of Coronavirus spreading in Goa. I don’t know whether I will be selected next year, which is another year away,” lamented the girl.
Another parishioner, who was practising to sing in her Church choir for the Easter midnight Mass, was also disappointed when she came to know that the Easter Vigil in her church was cancelled.
The teenage girl, deprived of taking part in the traditional Way of the Cross in her parish, is only one of the thousands of teenagers deprived of taking part in the services of the church in the Lenten Season. While many youngsters will be disappointed to know that they will not be part of the ‘servers’ at the altar, others will pray that the ‘jatka’ from God reminding humanity that their sin was reaching to a dangerous level, will end in the same way it arrived in this world. Will the humankind learn about their folly?
The situation also is a major departure from the normal for the clergy. A priest from the society of Pilar Fathers, Fr Tony Fernandes, explained it adequately in these words, “All these years we used to be busy planning and preparing ourselves on how best to celebrate Easter for and with our people. But, this year we will have to celebrate the Holy Week for ourselves, with lot of introspection of our own priesthood and our personal sanctification.”
And, where the laity is concerned who will watch the services on television or on the internet, he said, “It will be a totally different issue. The laity may have at least something better than nothing.”
Will the faithful experience the ‘joy’ of the institution of the Holy Eucharist on Maundy Thursday when Jesus left us with the spiritual nourishment to strengthen us as we make our earthly journey towards heaven till he comes again; the ‘mourning’ of the Passion of the Lord on Good Friday when our Saviour was crowned with thorns, nailed to the cross for our redemption, and died for our sins in the presence of His sorrowful mother, Mother Mary. The feast of the Mother of Sorrows is one of the seven sorrows the God-fearing Simeon told Mary as the parents of Jesus presented Him in the Temple.
The congregation wears black and white or blue, mourning Jesus’ death whereas the title of the day is Good Friday. Francis Fernandes from Borda said, “It is called ‘good’ and we don’t mourn when good happens, we rejoice.” We have to rejoice, he continues, “Because Jesus took all our sins, infirmities, sorrows and nailed them to the cross.”
Dr Silvano Dias Sapeco, former professor and head of the Forensic Medicine and Toxilogy Department at GMC, Bambolim, is grateful to EWTN and other channels for the live broadcast of the religious services from the Vatican and the Bishop’s House. The laity in Goa, the doctor says, “Are very faithful to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church as envisaged in the Canon Law.” The doctor, former assistant director of the Diocesan Family Service Centre, Panjim, says he is grateful to the religious and ecclesiastical authorities for granting dispensation to the mandatory obligation of hearing Mass on Sundays and other obligatory days.
There are some parishes, which convey the daily mass to their parishioners via the Internet. One example is the St Thomas Church, Aldona. The parish priest has a system, which allows him to broadcast the services he has in private inside the church to his faithful in the village.
Other places which telecast their services include, Our Lady of Snows Raia, St Francis Xavier Church Chicalim and Carmelites Monastery in Aquem, Margao. The Holy Week services at Our Lady of the Rosary, Caranzalem, will be telecast on Herald’s online channels.
“Our Christian faith encourages us to turn to God with trust in moments of trial and difficulty,” says Sr Rosy Mascarenhas of Auxilium Convent Carona, Aldona. “It is true that a church is the Temple of God, where God dwells, where His grace is found, where His beauty is found, where His abundance of life is found (Ps 36:8) and where His shining and radiant face is found,” she adds.
She says that the wholehearted spiritual participation in the celebrations of the Holy Week will help people to carry their crosses more joyfully; follow Jesus more faithfully and live with the assurance of eternal life and a future with God.
“As we long for the time when the situation comes back to normal and are praying daily for the victims of the virus, their families, the hospital staff and the government authorities all over the world, we are also staying connected to each other and nourishing ourselves spiritually through the online medium – Masses, Missions, spiritual talks, etc, each family is to have personal and shared prayer, remembering especially to keep the sacredness of Sunday as the day of the Lord,” Sr Rosy recommends.
“These trying times,” Sr Rosy concludes, “have brought the world and each other closer through a common experience of pain and suffering. This is the real miracle God is giving us. Let us hold on to our faith and firmly believe Goa id among us no matter what the circumstances may be.”
In his letter “Celebrations of the Holy Week 2020” date March 27, 2020, the president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI), Rt Rev Filipe Neri Ferrao, Archbishop of Goa and Daman, recommends that “Every diocese is encouraged to live-stream their celebrations”…which “should aim at fostering a sense of belonging of the faithful to the local church.”
Due to the complete lockdown in India for fear of the spread of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, almost everything and everyone is affected and normal life has come nearly to a standstill “…our social, economic and religious lives are painfully hit by what is now called as ‘social distancing’ which is indispensable to curtail the transmission of the virus,” he added.
In the context of this extraordinary situation, the Holy See has offered the directives to the Universal Church for the celebration of the Holy Week. CCBI has also offered the same to the Indian dioceses, by adapting them to the situation in the country.
“Given the prevailing critical situation, we would like to reiterate that the prescribed social distancing, hygiene protocols and sanitation of the spaces for the liturgical should be strictly adhered to.” (Recommendations II).
CCBI, among other things, says prayer is an essential tool for healing and an excellent source of comfort, courage and strength for those who are suffering. It also urges the faithful to pray fervently and ask Our Lord to bring strength and protection to the medical personnel who are struggling in the front line and to bless the officials and volunteers worldwide who are involved in various forms of selfless service.
But hope does spring, even in the midst of the gloom brought by COVID-19. “Easter is the feast of hope. There is nothing in this world that can put off the light of faith. God’s love is so wonderful that we cannot measure it or fathom it… With St Peter let us also say ‘Now we are witnesses to His resurrection’,” said Fr Franky Fernandes, OFM Cap, of St Francis Xavier Church, Pirna.
