Faithful commemorate Christ’s sacrifice and love

Commemorating Jesus Christ’s unconditional love for humanity and His death on the Cross, lakhs of devotees attended mass at churches and also took out processions at different places in Ernakulam district on Friday.

Prayer meetings too were organised in different places, where speakers highlighted how sacrificial love could bring about a better and peaceful world during the turbulent times when greed, mistrust and violence dominate.

A few thousand people from different districts also climbed up the ancient St. Thomas Archdiocesan Shrine at Malayattoor in the suburbs, having walked barefoot from far away places, some of them bearing heavy wooden crosses. Elaborate arrangements were made to prevent littering on the route to the pilgrimage centre and to ensure that devotees adhered to eco-friendly norms.

Churches organised morning and evening mass. The ‘Way of the Cross’ procession and sermons based on it were held. Here, devotees commemorated the torment that Christ underwent before and during the Crucifixion and the last seven words that Jesus Christ said on the cross.

Rice gruel (kanji) was distributed at a few churches in the afternoon. The ancient Pask ritual was staged at a church in Pallimukku. It depicted the pain that Christ underwent while on the cross, displaying movement of his eye, head and limbs. It was after a 40-year gap that the ritual was staged here.