Devotees celebrated Easter Sunday by catching up with relatives and savouring delicacies.
According to the Holy Bible, Easter marks the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his crucifixion at Calvary. It is the culmination of the Passion of Christ, preceded by Lent - a 40-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance.
The Easter celebrations started with a Midnight Mass, also referred to as vigil mass across different churches in the city on Saturday night. The Archbishop of Patna, William D'Souza, did not lead any mass, as he had gone to a parish at Gulni village in Nawada to lead an Easter vigil mass.
The churches in Patna such as St Joseph's Pro Cathedral, Bankipore, Padri Ki Haveli Church at Patna City and other parishes were decorated with lights. Flowers and religious messages adorned the altars.
Thousand of devotees had gathered at Queen of Apostles Church, Kurji, around 10.30pm on Saturday night to hold special prayer sessions that continued till the small hours of Sunday. Parish Priest Fr. Johnson Kelakath led the prayers. People were seen in their best attire with candles in their hands. Other churches also had similar prayers services to commemorate the resurrection of Christ.
The Paschal candle, which symbolises the eternal presence of Christ, was lit on the premises of the Kurji church and several other parishes in the city as well on the night of Holy Saturday. The candle has a cross, signs of alpha and omega and the year of celebration engraved on it. The Holy Water is used in different sacraments during the next Liturgical year.
During the celebrations at various churches on Saturday night, the priests held the candle aloft and thrice exclaimed "Light of Christ" to which the devotees replied: "Praise be to God."
"The flame represents light of the world and the characters engraved on it - alpha and omega represent that Jesus is the beginning and the end and rules over time," said Father Devasia Mattathilani of Patna Diocese.
At St Joseph's Pro Cathedral, Bankipore, Father Jerome Dungdung, head of the parish was the main celebrant at the Midnight Mass. He, too, blessed the Paschal candle. There were five reading from the Holy Bible, three from the Old Testament and two from the New Testament.
Those who could not attend the vigil or Midnight Mass attended the Sunday Morning Mass at various churches and parishes. Following the prayers, devotees met their friends and relatives, and wished each other.
"My family and I went to my father-in-law's place to observe Easter," said Sanjay Joseph, a teacher at St Michael's High School, who also had a message for all. "Jesus has taught us to love everyone, including those who hate us as they do it out of ignorance. Thus, we should show kindness to our enemies too as it would bring us closer to God."
Easter was also an occasion for Catholics to savour non-vegetarian delicacies as they had abstained from such food for the past 40 days of the Holy Lent season. "We had mutton, chicken, rice and sweet dishes for lunch," said Jijo, a resident of Kurji.
