Patriarch Raï: Palm Sunday Mass and prayers to God for the end of pandemic

Across the country, empty churches welcomed the start of Holy Week celebrations. Traditional costumes, candles, processions canceled to avoid gatherings. The cardinal recalls the growing number of families living in poverty. In some villages, families let their children wear festive costumes, while respecting isolation.

Beirut (AsiaNews / OLJ) - The new coronavirus, which has claimed tens of thousands of victims worldwide and forced half the population to remain at home, has turned Holy Week celebrations that began yesterday with Palm Sunday upside down. Maronite patriarch Beshara Raï celebrated mass in an empty church, as priests did in all the parishes across the Land of the Cedars.

Traditional customs, candles and processions have been canceled due to the risk of possible gatherings. The faithful of Lebanon, as in many other parts of the world, from Europe to Asia and the United States, followed the masses on television from their homes, publishing family photos on social media to keep ties alive despite isolation.

In empty churches, prayers rang out for an end of the pandemic that has revolutionized the lives of entire nations. Card Raï celebrated mass in the church of Our Lady in Bkerké, without any faithful from outside. During the homily, the cardinal recalled the ongoing health crisis and the growing number of families living in poverty. "We pray to God - he said - to forgive our sins and save the world from coronavirus, so that life on earth can return to normal”.

In Zahle, the archbishop of the Greek Catholic community Msgr. MgrIssam Darwiche celebrated mass in the church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. “It is the first time in recent history - he underlined in the sermon - that this feast takes place without faithful and children, who fill the church with their cries of joy. I want them to know they are in our heart."

The same scenes were repeated in the churches of the Bekaa valley: in some villages the priests toured the streets in a car, to bless - from afar - families and children.

In Kobeyate, the largest Maronite village in the region, families respected the isolation orders, but wanted to dressed their children in traditional costumes lit the candles. In the parishes of Kobeyate and the other villages of Akkar, such as in Tripoli, Zghorta, Batroun, Marjeyoun, Bint Jbeil, Saïda, Nabatiyé, Jbeil, Kesrouan, Metn ... all the masses were celebrated without faithful, in a surreal atmosphere.