Spiritual exercises to experience the passion of Christ

Various activities have been organised – retreats, pilgrimages, Stations of the Cross, daily Eucharist, special meditations and sermons – to experience intensely of Lent.

Colombo (AsiaNews) – Various parishes and schools are offering spiritual exercises to Catholics to help them make Lent a more significant experience this year, including retreats, pilgrimages, Via Crucis, daily Eucharist, special meditations, and sermons.

Since this year has been dedicated to Saint Joseph Vaz, consecrated "perpetual slave of Mary" in 1677, many Catholics are also making a pilgrimage to his birthplace of Goa (India).

Speaking to AsiaNews, some priests said that most of the faithful are used to taking part in the Via Crucis on Good Friday, but not the Sunday mass. “Thus it is our responsibility to bring them to church at least during Lent, so that they can be witnesses of Christ's passion and learn the value of attending Sunday service."

"Forty days of meditation are very intense,” said Shirani Cooray, a community leader at St Francis Xavier in Wewala Archdiocese of Colombo. “For Lent, Fr Sumith Kumara is working hard to help people prepare spiritually. He offers Lenten reflections, celebrates Mass and gives blessings twice a day, morning and evening.”

“On 2 April, our parishioners will go on pilgrimage to the Calvary in Hiniduma, which is very old and located in the Southern Province. On the night of 7 April, there will be traditional Pasan hymns” about the Passion of Christ.

On 18 March, the Diocese of Batticaloa (Eastern Province) also held its annual Lenten pilgrimage to Mount Hingurana with people coming from all of the parishes in the diocese.

On 29 March, students at the Bambalapitya Holy Family Convent took part in the Via Crucis and Lenten meditation under the guidance of Sister Deepa Fernando. Convent staff and their children also joined in.

"This year,” the nun said, “the children and our staff have had the opportunity of meditating at each station of the cross about their daily life, and the link between their life and that of others."

Last week, under the guidance of Frs Joseph Indika, Dilantha Fernando, Prasad Harshana, Anton Dinesh and Eranga de Silva, the community of the Legion of Mary at St Paul's Church in Waragoda Kelaniya, in the Archdiocese of Colombo, took part in the annual spiritual retreat for Lent.

On Monday, pilgrims with the National Secretariat for the Year of Joseph Vaz left for the Lenten pilgrimage to Goa. The ten-day trip includes stops in Goa, Mangalore, Vallankanni, Poondy, Mysore, Bangalore and Chennai.

About fifty pilgrims and four priests are taking part in the trip, one of the pilgrims, Helen Perera, told AsiaNews. The bishop of Kandy, Mgr Vianney Fernando, is accompanying the pilgrims. The latter will be hosted in various places of worship and will be guided by Goa priests.