It was a special Palm Sunday sans usual religious fervour, gatherings and processions, in the Central Travancore area on Sunday, thanks to the 21-day nationwide lockdown, as part of the Governmental efforts to check spread of COVID-19 outbreak.
All places of worship have been remaining closed for religious gatherings since then and only routine ritualistic practices and service with bare minimum staff are permitted during the period, strictly adhering to the principle of social distancing to prevent the pandemic.
“While the church doors remain closed for the annual gatherings during the Lent, God opened a browser window for the faithful so that they will not miss the special services during the 41-day Lent,” says Dr. Kurien Oommen, senior medical co-ordinator of the Kozhencherry-based Mar Chrysostum Healthcare Trust.
For the first time, Churches in India took advantage of the live streaming technology and met over YouTube, Facebook, and various Church websites to celebrate the Passion Week .
The Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar headquartered in Thiruvalla, was in the forefront to utilise modern technology.
Joseph Mar Thoma Metropolitan, supreme head of the Church with 1,000-odd parishes across the globe, led the holy communion attended by only five persons, at the chapel attached to the Pulatheen Bishop’s House in Thiruvalla at 9 a.m.
15 lakh people
Fr. K.G.Joseph, Church secretary, told The Hindu that as many as 15 lakh Church members watched the live streaming of Palm Sunday service from across the world. He said the Church has already sent the time schedule of various services to be streamlined during the Lent to all its parishes so that the believers could watch it from their homes.
The schedule services to be streamlined from the Pulatheen Bishop’s House is as follows: April 6, 7: Lent evening worship, 8 p.m; April 9: Maundy Thursday holy communion, 8.30 p.m.; April 10: Good Friday Service, 9 a.m.; April 12: Easter holy communion, 9 a.m.
