The churches remained closed over Easter. Now the Holy Mass can be celebrated again with strict conditions. For many believers it is also a kind of resurrection.
Oberschleissheim - Monika Kerschbaumer is the first. The 62-year-old walks in green sneakers, blue jeans and a red jacket across the square in front of the Maria Patrona Bavariae church in Oberschleissheim. "I'm so happy!" She calls from afar, and her smile shines out from behind the white fabric mask. It is a quarter of an hour before the service begins. The church bells ring the believers together for minutes, as if they were cheering that Tuesday evening over the first mass after a seven-week break.
Pastor Ulrich Kampe, dressed in gray with matching Nike sunglasses, jacket and suit pants, has just swung from the silver-gray wheel in front of the church portal. Only the priest's collar reveals that the 51-year-old is a priest with the hair combed back. "Today I just want to thank you," he says with a smile, before disappearing into the sacristy to slip on the gold-colored chasuble. Thank you for finally starting again.
A note to the faithful.
© Gerald Förtsch
A priest wears gold when there is a high festival to celebrate. When the churchgoers distributed in the church get up when the sacristy bell rings and open their praises of God with song number 326, the occasion is also clear: "We all want to be happy in this Easter period", the good 20 masked mouths sing to the organ accompaniment, supported by powerful pastor's baritone. The parish is catching up a bit on Easter - and celebrating its own resurrection in addition to that of Jesus Christ.
Monika Kerschbaumer sat in the front row, right in the middle. It absorbs every word, every tone, every gesture. Her glasses lie on her open praise of God during the reading. The Apostle Barnabas, she hears, rejoices in the healthy church of Antioch and exhorts it "to remain with the Lord with a firm heart".
Pastor Kampe deliberately chose the passage. "Seven weeks of abstinence from each other" he attests to himself and his own healthy community. With his arms spread out, he stands at the altar and is visibly pleased that the Oberschleissheimers have stayed with the Lord like the Antiochians. Despite the mouthguard, the amen from the benches sounds as loud as if there were twice as many. A candle burns on the altar for a parishioner who is in the hospital. Not everyone is healthy, but none is forgotten.
Masked and at a distance, around 20 believers stand at the first Mass after the forced break in the Maria Patrona Bavariae Oberschleißheim church.
© Gerald Förtsch
"Open ways for your church so that it can reach people today," is the first intercession in this first service. It has already been heard to some extent, because it has only been possible for believers to meet again for Holy Mass for a few days. With drawbacks: the holy water pools have dried to the floor, instead a disinfectant dispenser hangs at the entrance. As a greeting of peace, the pastor says: "We can now nod friendly." The believers smile behind the filter cloth.
Then Kampe slips on an altar candle-white cloth mask, which his physiotherapist gave him by the way. He steps in front of the first row of banks and donates communion. Church visitors line up in a disciplined manner in the aisle. The host, which they get placed in the hands shaped into a bowl, put a few steps aside in their mouths. To do this, lift the mask for a moment at Knicks and Kreuz in front of the altar. Then a round through the side aisle leads back to the bench. There is a one-way regulation in order not to get too close.
After 35 minutes of Mass, Pastor Ulrich Kampe sings the Easter call for dismissal: "Go in peace, hallelujah, hallelujah!" Hallelujah, Hallelujah! "
Afterwards, the risen religious community stands together for a short chat on the church square. In the middle of it all, Monika Kerschbaumer, who looks as relaxed as freshly showered. She smiles and says: "It's a different feeling."
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