In view of the ongoing lockdown, priests in churches have asked devotees to stay home and offer family prayers on Easter Sunday.
A couple of churches, however, are using technology to connect with the faithful on the occasion.
“We have been giving live telecast of the special prayers offered at the church for the last three days. The church members join the prayer sessions from their homes,” says Nakka David Raju, Parish Priest of Arogyamatha Catholic Church at Kankipadu.
Fr. David Raju is sad that people are unable to celebrate together on an important occasion like Easter, but adds in the same breath: “We realise that it is for the public good and the situation demands a complete lockdown. However, I am happy that we are able to reach out to the church members by using technology.”
The church has roped in Solomon and Joshi, two youngsters, to video-record and live-stream the event uing Open Broadcaster Software (OBS), a free and open source software. The duo i getting ready to live-stream the special mass on Saturday night at 10 p.m.
Members of Church of South India’s All Saint’s Church on the premises of Bishop Azaraiah School have been joining pre-recorded prayer sessions telecast in the evening hours during the Lent days.
The ‘Holy Week’ for Christians begins on Palm Sunday and ends on Holy Saturday and the days in between commemorate significant events, including the Last Supper and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Good Friday.
For members of the Gunadala Mary Matha shrine, the Bishop’s Good Friday message was uploaded on YouTube but on Easter day, only three pastors will be present in the church as part of the celebrations. “We intend to remain closed until further instructions from the government,” said Fr. William Jairaju Eleti, the church priest.
The city has a sizeable population of Roman Catholics and almost 90% of them have been tuning in to Divyavani, a Catholic TV channel run by the Telugu Catholic Bishop’s Council.
The channel telecasts special sessions of prayers in eight slots, both for Telugu and English languages. Many families were gearing up to join the ‘Saturday night vigil’, a special mass at 11 p.m. that will culminate in Easter celebrations on Sunday.
Monseigneur Muvvala Prasad from St. Peter’s Church in One Town says that the coronavirus pandemic might lead humanity on a better path.
“Man’s greed for wealth has reached a saturation point. Who knows, we may emerge from this lockdown crisis as kinder, humbler and better human beings,” he says.
