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The Easter Vigil Mass begins in a dark church that gradually is filled with hundreds of flickering candles lit from a large paschal candle. This year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, it was livestreamed to thousands from across the Arlington diocese and beyond, perhaps holding their own candles in front of flickering computer screens.
The pope's traditional Easter message before his blessing "urbi et orbi" (to the city and the world) still mentioned countries yearning for peace, migrants and refugees in need of a welcoming home and the poor deserving of assistance. But his Easter prayers April 12 were mostly in the context of the suffering and death caused by the coronavirus and the economic difficulties the pandemic already has triggered.
Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of the Diocese of Arlington and Bishop Barry C. Knestout of the Diocese of Richmond issued the following statement on the Governor's signature of abortion legislation yesterday.
For the first time in his papacy, Pope Francis led the Way of the Cross from St. Peter's Square rather than Rome's Colosseum, where it has been held annually for more than five decades.
The coronavirus is not some form of divine punishment but a tragic event that, like all suffering in one's life, is used by God to awaken humanity, said the preacher of the papal household.
This year, in the Arlington Diocese and elsewhere, the Good Friday service was even more stark and bare than usual, with public worship services suspended and the faithful under stay-at-home orders to stem the spread of the deadly coronavirus now sweeping the nation and the world.
Youths and young adults are connecting virtually through efforts of the Arlington diocesan Office of Youth, Campus, and Young Adult Ministries .
The Mass of the Lord’s Supper, celebrated by Bishop Burbidge, was livestreamed to the faithful.
Unable to invite Rome's priests to mark Holy Thursday in St. Peter's Basilica, Pope Francis thanked all priests for their service and called those who died ministering to the sick and health care workers part of the community of "saints next door."
Know and believe
Grave robbery was a lucrative crime in the ancient world, but it was also perilous and complicated. To carry out the task, one needed at least 10 men working together as an efficient, well-trained team. Stone masons, torchbearers, water-bearers and many strong backs were needed to dislodge a stone as large as six feet in diameter, weighing as much as two tons, and anchored in place by a gap carved into the ground. All this had to be done quickly and silently, under cover of darkness in the dead of night, because by an edict of Caesar Augustus, the penalty for grave robbery was death.