The city’s Christian community on Sunday celebrated Jesus Christ’s resurrection that marks Easter.
Churches belonging to different denominations were decked up for the occasion and a large number of devotees thronged the midnight mass that culminated in celebrations amidst prayers offered for ‘Christ has risen’.
Easter is one of the holiest festivals in the Christian calendar as it is believed that Christ rose from the dead on this day after he was crucified.
Special mass
The special mass of the day focuses on the love, sacrifice and the compassion of the Christ and urges all Christians to take a leaf out of his life. In many churches, the devotees took out a candlelight rally as part of the celebrations.
The day marks the culmination of the 40 days of Lent, a period of fasting, prayer, and penance to commemorate the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert. Easter follows Good Friday, the day Christ was crucified. Christian families bond over prayer and feasts that follow on this day.
However, a pall of gloom later descended in the city as reports of the terror attacks on churches and hotels in Sri Lanka began coming in. Hundreds of Christians who had gathered in churches to celebrate Easter were killed in the attacks, along with many tourists at hotels. Christians in the city held prayers for the deceased and their bereaved families.
People said that it was highly unfortunate that people who had gathered to celebrate a festive occasion were brutally killed on one of the holiest days of Christianity. “We are absolutely shocked and saddened,” said a denizen, shaking his head in disbelief.