HYDERABAD: April 21, 2019. (Abbas Kassar) Christians of Pakistan celebrated “Good Friday” along with rest of the world, while “Easter” will be celebrated on the coming Sunday (today). Police had provided fool proof security to all the churches on the occasion to avoid any terrorism plot or bad incident.

All the churches of Pakistan were decorated with colorful little flags and decorative electric lights. The biggest service here was held in Diocese of Hyderabad Church of Pakistan where Bishop Kaleem Masih delivered the sermon for Good Friday. Hundreds attended the gathering.

Special prayers were held for a prosperous and terrorism-free Pakistan. Christians will offer gifts to each other and will visit the graves of their loved ones with flowers. Easter is Christianity’s second biggest festival which they celebrate to remember the return of Jesus Christ from death.

Christians attend special services and held prayer vigils. They took to churches in a great number to observe the special day. Besides religious services and special prayers attached to the day, the Christians community also prayed for peace, progress and solidarity of the country and for all their fellow Pakistani brothers and sisters.

Bishop Kaeem Masih lead the prayers at Hyderabad Church and prayed for security, solidarity, prosperity and peace for Pakistan

 He said in his sermon that Good Friday is a day of mourning and quiet prayer for many of them as often they extinguish candles and drape the statues, paintings and crosses in black, purple or grey cloth. According to Christian faith, "This is an important event in Christianity, as it highlights the sacrifices and suffering in Jesus' life. Some members of the Christian community also spend this day in fasting, prayer, repentance and meditation.”

“It is not just a day but week-long celebration for us with prayers and ceremonies in churches. The celebrations start a week before Easter on Palm Sunday when it is believed that Jesus entered Jerusalem, followed by Ash Wednesday,” he said.

“The reason for starting prayers after 4am is that the first eyewitness of Jesus’ resurrection was around that time, which is why the sunrise prayers are held early morning,

Attired in colourful dresses, dolled-up girls and smart boys attended the Good Friday prayers at the St Andrews Church.

Good Friday is celebrated and special prayers are held two days later on Easter to mark the day of the resurrection of Jesus. “Good Friday is celebrated after 40 days of fasting, except Sundays, which is called Lent.

Explaining the crux of the celebrations, father Kaleem said Jesus gave his life for the wrongdoings of his people. He [Jesus] took all the blame on himself and decided to sacrifice himself, he said.