In 2020, Easter was confined.
A year later, history seems to repeat itself.
Even though the celebrations can take place with strict restrictions, as Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Tuesday, dragging health measures are pushing Catholics to view Holy Week and the resurrection of Christ again differently.
“
It's the most important week for us,”
says Héloïse, 29-year-old Lyonnaise,
but for two years everything has been different.
We have to celebrate it differently
”.
Advanced Masses, nights of adoration and multiplied schedules, the parishes of France are finding solutions to adapt to this new daily life.
Read also: Digital worship and communion at a distance, the Catholic Church put to the test of the pandemic
Unlike previous lockdowns and Germany, which canceled all Easter celebrations, churches remain open and services are celebrated during the day.
Differences with last year which delight Paul and Claire, thirty-something Parisians.
Alone with their two small children last year, they are happy "
to be able to celebrate Easter with the other believers
".
Gatherings are therefore authorized on condition of respecting the sanitary rules: compulsory mask, social distancing, hydroalcoholic gel, maximum limitation of crowd movements ... "
Nothing very extraordinary
", for the couple who are ready to make several sacrifices to avoid not to miss this essential moment in Catholic life.
Read also: Coronavirus: unprecedented Easter celebrations in a world at a standstill
"We must adapt to avoid postponing to a later date which may be very distant,
" argues Father Charles-Marie Rigail, responsible for the chaplaincy of the Catholic University of Lille.
With 100,000 students educated in the capital of Flanders, the priest ordained in 2013 “
has plenty to do
”, especially in this period “
when young people are idle
”.
He therefore plans to "
put the package
" on the paschal vigil, the night before Easter Sunday.
Usually organized at nightfall, by the light of a large wood fire to mark the new liturgical year, it will take place this year, at dawn between 6.30 am and 7 am for "
that it is still a little. night
”, reports the priest from Lille.
"We must celebrate life stronger than death in this difficult period"
A choice made by many parishes, whether in the 16 confined departments or areas simply under curfew.
The Church thus hopes to take an example from the first Christians who met at sunrise and "
rediscover this joy of the community
", adds Father Hugues de Woillemont, secretary general and spokesperson for the Conference of Bishops of France (CEF ).
The faithful will thus be able to gather around the paschal light, a sign of the resurrection of Jesus.
"We must celebrate life stronger than death in this difficult period,"
argues the former vicar general of the diocese of Nanterre.
An evening during which several thousand adults generally receive baptism.
This year, that too will be different.
Unthinkable for the Church to rush them all on Saturday before the arrival of the curfew.
"
It would make no sense,
specifies the secretary general and spokesperson for the (CEF),
they will take place on Sunday morning at dawn even if some will not be able to be surrounded by their godfathers, godmothers and families
" for lack of power move between regions.
Heartbreaks for some catechumens "
but which should not take away from the beauty of the feast
".
To read also: "My whole scheme has been shaken": the disarray of the catechumens, whose confinement repels baptism
Before the Easter vigil, the ceremonies of Palm Sunday (March 28), Holy Thursday and Friday will also be subject to some sanitary adjustments.
The branches will not be blessed on the forecourt of churches but inside, the washing of the feet will be limited to a minimum number of people, the Stations of the Cross will not be mobile "
but all this is not important
", recalls the spokesperson for the French Bishops' Conference.
He wishes to remind the Catholics of France of the meaning of the liturgy and of Lent.
For those who cannot come, many Masses will be broadcast on television or on the internet.
Two years after the fire that ravaged Notre-Dame de Paris, the foot washing ceremony will be celebrated behind closed doors by Monsignor Michel Aupetit, Archbishop of Paris and broadcast on CNEWS and KTO.
