Christians to mark Holy Week from today
Churches across the UAE to hold a number of masses and prayer services
Churches across the UAE will commemorate the Holy Week beginning today, with a number of masses and worship services as hundreds of thousands of faithful are expected to gather to mark the occasion.
Also known as Passion Week, the Holy Week marks the passion of Jesus Christ that led him to willingly die on the cross to pay for mankind’s sin, followed by his burial and resurrection three days later, based on the Christian faith.
Aside from Christmas, the Holy Week sees one of the largest gatherings of Christians in the UAE. At the St Mary’s Catholic Church in Dubai alone, an estimated 100,000 parishioners are expected to descend on Oud Metha during the Holy Week.
The week starts on Palm Sunday, which this year fell on April 14, to mark Christ’s entry into Jerusalem when a large crowd gathered and laid palm branches and their cloaks on the road.
Resurrection Sunday when Christ rose from the dead, more popularly known as Easter Sunday, is on April 21.
The region’s largest parish, St Mary’s Church, is holding eight masses on Palm Sunday,
The Easter Vigil masses will begin at 3pm on Saturday while eight masses in English and one in Arabic will be held beginning 5.30am on Easter Sunday.
four on Maundy Thursday including a Mass of the Lord’s Supper with ‘Washing of Feet’ beginning 3.30pm until midnight in English and Arabic. Nine masses will be held on Good Friday starting at 5am in Malayalam, Tamil, Konkani, Urdu, Sinhalese, Filipino, English and Arabic.
The Easter Vigil masses will begin at 3pm on Saturday while eight masses in English and one in Arabic will be held beginning 5.30am on Easter Sunday.
At St Joseph’s Cathedral in Abu Dhabi, nine masses in English and Arabic are scheduled for Palm Sunday, four on Maundy Thursday, six on Friday, and two on Saturday. Twenty-one masses across the Cathedral in the capital are scheduled on Easter Sunday.
The St Thomas Orthodox Cathedral in Oud Metha announced that this year’s Holy Week prayers will be led by H.G. Yuhanon Mar Policarpos, Metropolitan of Angamaly Diocese Kerala.
The Good Friday special prayers will be held at St Thomas Orthodox Cathedral from 7am. The special Easter prayers and mass, meanwhile, will start at 6pm on April 20.