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At Easter virtual tour in the sacred places

2020-04-10T11:10:10.743Z


From Milan to Jerusalem, from Assisi to Istanbul (ANSA)


In this unusual Easter that has closed the doors of churches, monasteries, temples and synagogues to the faithful, we just have to travel virtually between the sacred places of the world, from the Cathedral of Milan to the Meteora monasteries, from the basilica of Assisi to the blue mosque of Istanbul. From Friday to Sunday there will be celebrations, prayers or concerts to be followed strictly from home in streaming and online on the many social channels.

On Sunday at 7.00 pm the voice of Andrea Bocelli will resound among the empty and majestic aisles of the Duomo of Milan , guest on Easter evening at the concert of sacred music "Musica for hope", strongly desired by the mayor Giuseppe Sala and broadcast worldwide on YouTube ( huTUOek4LgU). "It will be a hymn to life", commented the tenor, who has a passionate relationship with the Lombard capital, "a place that with genuine lyricism and poignant disenchantment can tell the beauty and welcome human contradictions". More than a concert, Bocelli's performance in Milan will be an opportunity to pray together and celebrate the Resurrection.

From Milan to Rome, where Pope Francis will celebrate the passion of Christ from Thursday to Sunday in the nursery of San Pietro and will impart the "urbi et orbi" blessing on live TV and on the YouTube channel. The basilica of San Francesco di Assisi, with the two superimposed churches embellished with paintings by Giotto and Cimabue and the crypt with the tomb of the saint, hosts a direct Facebook (Sanfrancescoassisi) at 10.30 on Easter Sunday. On the same page some videos make us enter the place of prayer to admire the artistic beauties of the famous basilica. The YouTube channel was chosen by the Loreto monastery to celebrate the Easter mass and blessing: you connect to the site santuarioloreto.it and pray from home. On Saturday 11 April at 5 pm, the cathedral of Turin will exhibit the Holy Shroud, the fabric that according to tradition has wrapped the body of Jesus in the tomb, live on TV and on the web. The suggestive convent of the Capuchin friars of Monterosso al Mare , perched on a promontory of the Cinque Terre, also lends itself to spiritual initiatives to loosen quarantine isolation. In these days, in fact, it is possible to phone the convent and ask to dedicate a mass or a prayer to a loved one; to do this, consult the site cappucciniliguri.it which allows you to enjoy the beauty of the sacred place and the adjacent church of San Francesco with the painting "The Crucifixion", attributed to Van Dyck.

In these quarantine days, TV and web cams bring us closer to many sacred places, in a virtual pilgrimage, to pray and meditate on each one with his own faith; it starts from a symbolic place for Christianity, the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem , closed only in 1349 when the plague spread to the Holy Land. Today to curb the Covid-19 the large wooden door of the basilica was barred, where the place of Jesus' burial after the crucifixion is venerated. The Minister of Health, Rabbi Yaakov Litzam, also ordered the closure of the Wailing Wall, the most important open-air place of prayer for Jews, and of all the synagogues in Jerusalem that were ready to celebrate Christian and Hebrew, "Pesach", which celebrates the liberation of the Jews from the slavery of Egypt. The only pilgrimage possible for now is on the websites: thekotel.org and explore.itraveljerusalem.com.

Even the most sacred place in Islam was closed to the faithful and pilgrims because of the risks associated with Covid-19: in the holy city of Muslims Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, access to Kaaba had never been so empty, the cube-shaped building in the center of the large mosque where Muhammad was born. In these days of preparation for the feast of sacrifice "Eid al Adha", which corresponds to Christian Easter, the Masjid al-Haram mosque, the largest in the world, is desolate and silence is broken only by the voice of the muezzin who with his singing calls to prayer. Today you can admire the beauty and majesty of its 7 minarets only on the YouTube channel and on the tourism website: arabia-saudita.it.

The Blue Mosque in Istanbul , which is also closed for quarantine, has just 6 minarets but of a poignant beauty. It dates back to the seventeenth century and is a fascinating religious temple, characterized by Iznik majolica, decorated in tones ranging from blue to green, illuminated by the light that filters through 260 windows that give the large hall of prayer a unique atmosphere. The sultanahmetcamii.org web page allows you to admire it on a virtual tour.

The temple of Somnath in Indian Gujarat, one of the twelve Jyotirlinga shrines dedicated to Shiva which is located in the village of the same name, along the coast of the Arabian Sea, is closed to the faithful. For the faithful, the Hindu temple is the testimony of the creation of the universe: built by the Hindu moon god Somraj, the temple was destroyed several times and rebuilt, it is said, even by Krishna himself. The building dates back to 1950 and is surrounded by an aura of mysticism; for quarantine it can only be viewed on the web by clicking on somnath.org.

The white Buddhist temple Wat Rong Khun, in the Thai city of Chiang Rai, is also closed to the faithful for quarantine. Made in 1997 in white plaster and mirrors that reflect the sun, it is a recent and spectacular building, whose color represents the purity of the Buddha. On the temple's Facebook page there are videos and photos that demonstrate its majesty. The Orthodox Easter which is celebrated on April 19 in Greece and whose celebrations have also been blocked by the faithful, finally takes us to a magical place of great spirituality: the Meteora of Kalamabaka , in Thessaly, the wet heart of Greece. There are 24 monasteries, of which only 6 active, hanging from the mountains and host one of the most important monastic communities in the Orthodox world. The landscape that surrounds them is beautiful, silent and profoundly spiritual, made of spiers and stone pinnacles on top of which rise the towers, the buttresses and the roofs of the monasteries. "Prayer, obedience, solitude to save one's soul through union with God and to find the true values ​​of life" is the motto of the monks of the 6 monasteries, declared World Heritage Sites who can be admired on the UNESCO site and on the tourist one visitgreece.gr.

Source: ansa

All life articles on 2020-04-10

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