Thiruvananthapuram, April 1 (Inditop.com) With daily mass and special prayers, Christians in Kerala are gearing up to celebrate Easter Sunday, which is round the corner.
Daily mass and special prayers began Thursday, known as Maundy Thursday commemorating the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles.
The Easter mass takes place in the wee hours of Sunday. Christians believe that Jesus was resurrected from the dead on this day – the third day after his crucifiction.
Starting Thursday, devout Christians spend a lot of time every day in prayers.
Seventy six-year-old Susy Thomas from Kottayam told Inditop: ‘I am into 63 years of observing the 50-day Lent, when I forgo non-vegetarian food, milk and eggs. And from today (Thursday) I will have only kanji (rice gruel) for lunch and dinner.’
Christians account for 23 percent of the 3.20-crore population of Kerala and are mainly concentrated in the central districts.
With Thursday’s mass over, preparations are being made at all churches for the Good Friday mass.
The Good Friday mass symbolises the crucifiction of Jesus Christ. Most churches take out processions with the parishioners in tow behind the priests.
‘Our service begins around 8 a.m. and goes on till 3 p.m, when the parishioners have kanji with mango pickle. This has been our tradition for several decades at this church,’ K. Thomas, trustee of an orthodox church in Kottayam said.
Saturday is a day of little activity in the churches and it is more or less a preparation for the Easter Sunday mass.
