Lenten programs are common annual events organized by parishes and dioceses throughout the country, but the Lenten meditation program at the Apostolic Nunciature in Dhaka this year was a first.
About 60 Catholic men and women took part in the two-hour "Evening of Calvary" on April 1, reflecting on Jesus´ crucifixion and their personal life with the help of music and poetry. It was the first such event held at the nunciature.
The program aimed to help the people "be united with Christ´s Passion and suffering, and the crosses of our daily life," according to Sister Chitra Rodrigues, personal secretary to Archbishop Paul Tschang In-nam, apostolic nuncio to Bangladesh.
The Our Lady of Sorrows nun told UCA News April 11, "We wanted to help them meditate on Jesus´ sufferings so that through these they could go deep into the sufferings of their personal life and come close to God."
During the program, 20 people presented three reflections, five poems and 12 hymns related to Jesus´ sufferings and the realities of their daily life.
Paul Biswas, a student, read a poem written by Peterson N. Nokrek, a young ethnic Garo Catholic poet. High-school student Tithy Catherine sang a Bangla Lenten hymn. Italian-born Xaverian Father Silvano Garello and Alexander Rozario, a Catholic teacher, recited a Bangla-language poem written by Father Garello, one of the two priest-presenters. Other Catholic men and women poets, musicians and singers, some of them well known, joined in the evening.
Archbishop Tschang closed the event by blessing the participants, telling them: "I pray and sincerely wish that this ´Evening of Calvary´ may become a source of courage, strength and great spiritual renewal, touching your hearts and completely changing your life in the Lord."
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