Kanyakumari:
Fishermen from the coastal villages of Kanykumari district have returned to the shore to attend church services coinciding with the Holy Week. The ‘Village Way of the Cross’ ritual that is practiced in churches, has become even more popular during this Lenten season, in coastal villages.
The Holy Week celebrations of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter are important days for the predominantly Catholic fisher folk of these hamlets starting from Arockiapuram to Neerodi in the district. While the fishermen of the eastern coast stopped fishing on April 15 itself following the fishing ban period, the fishers of western coast have halted their fishing for a week to participate in the services held in their respective villages.
Most of the fishermen of the western coast are involved in deep sea fishing operating from the ports of Colachel, Kollam and Kochi and they started returning from Monday onwards. “We have instructed our fishermen to return to their villages within this week and all of them will be back by Thursday for Maundy Thursday service. Holy Week is very important for all our fishermen,” said L Wilfred, a fishermen leader from Colachel.
The ‘Village Way of the Cross’ has gained popularity in the coastal villages in recent years. Way of the Cross is the ritual where the passion of Jesus Christ is remembered in 14 stations starting from the death sentence to the burial of Christ. With most of the coastal villages nestled with each other and beautiful churches, the ‘Way of the Cross’ is taken about visiting seven nearby villages.
Explaining the practice, Fr M Stephen, parish priest of Kurumpanai fishing hamlet said that parishioners from one church will walk or travel to seven nearby churches with each church symbolising one station. “In both directions, visiting seven churches will make out 14 stations of the Way of the Cross. It has become a popular event in the coastal hamlets in the last few years,” he said. Almost all the parishes have organised such ritual this year which were completed last week itself, he mentioned.
A Lucas, a fisherman from Mullurthurai near Thengaipattinam said that the Village Way of the Cross is quite moving and helps them connect with the passion of the Christ. “We see to that we are together as family for the Holy Week and Village Way of the Cross is like a pilgrimage we take out to our neighbouring churches,” he said. “After Easter Sunday, the fishermen will start back to their fishing harbours at their convenience and fishing activities will resume,” Wilfred added.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Madurai / J. Arockiaraj, TNN / April 17th, 2014